What to do, in the Shoe

  It was a warm night when we got up to our basecamp in Twin Mountain, with a inch or so of new snow which would turn to water by morning.  We quickly headed over to our local burger joint Skeet's for a burger and a drinki-poo or 2.  It was the usual mix of locals there, which in Twin Mountain, is free entertainment.  After fueling up we headed back to our basecamp for a brew or two and some inspiration in the form of the great flick "Into the Mind".
  We sorted our gear the next morning and noticed all the snow was gone, I knew then it would be a sporty day in Shoestring.  As we headed up the gully we found full on rivers running over the ice.  We decided to mix climb around the junk to get in the gully proper.  Just as we were working our way around the first section, fellow climber Dan pulled down 2 large boulders just nearly missing us.  It got exciting fast.  We carried on consciously up the gully through loose choss and occasional bits of ice.

Kevin and Dan working what was left of the ice

     We scrapped our way up the gully to find the crux pitch to be in snorkel like shape.  With 4 climbers above us and no snow, rocks were coming down fast left and right.  We waited a few minutes to see if the rock fall would stop before we headed up the gully to the left up and out.  After a little wallowing in the terra-firma, we popped out on the descent trail.  We headed over to the lookout spot to snap a few pics.

NRMG Guide Kevin and friend Dan taking in the views.

NRMG Guide Kevin high on Mt. Webster

  The descent trail was long as usual, with a mix of ice and rock.  We had a nice chat with an older gentleman out for a Sunday hike on the way down.  We got back to the truck and were relived to take off our boots.  All in all, it was a great, sporty day out in early season ice conditions.