This post is long overdue since so much has happened in the past several weeks. Quite a few people got out to Gold Bar on January 1st to enjoy some of the winter sunshine. After a mellow morning in the Clearcut and Santuary several small climbing groups united to properly pad Fraggle Rock. We had a fun session on Bob's Balls, Glen's Problem, and several of us sent Obesity. As the climbing wound down, Michal Rynkiewicz inspired us to give that scary top out some well deserved attention (like many other problems need). The top out is no longer fuzzy and doesn't seep. Thanks Michal!

On February 8th I went out to Morphues with Ryan TImm, Blue Hargreaves and Rohan Balakrishnan to improve the approach to the boulders across the log (Devil's Club Forest). The new approach is a 20 minutes hike with no scary log to crossing.

This weekend I went up to Gold Bar to rescrub some of the existing climbs and sent some of my personal projects. You will notice that the Tetris Boulder, Midnight Lichen, So it Seams, Pretty Possum, and Metroid Prime are once again clean.

Excellent few weeks of weather we have had this year, lets hope for sunshine next weekend!

Whitney Alexander on Bob's Balls and Michal brushing off the top.

Chandler Davis sending Obesity in wet shoes.

Blue, Rohan, Ryan and I after completing the trail to Tsumani.

Have you ever driven to the Index River Boulders only to find out that they were not climbable because the Skykomish River water level was too high? I have and it sucked, which is why I started tracking the streamflow gauges of the Skykomish River in order to determine what water level makes the boulders unclimbable.

The U.S. Geological Survey Agency (USGS) has a series of streamflow gauges along the Skykomish River that track the river’s flow volume. Though the main purpose of collecting this data is for use in the scientific community, it also benefits people like us for outdoor recreation.

I have found that the Index River Boulders are generally available for climbing when the “DAILY DISCHARGE, CUBIC FEET PER SECOND” “INSTANTANIOUS VALUE” is LESS than 7,000 cubic feet per second.

To view flow information go to the USGS website and in the search box insert “12134500,” which is the number for a gauge downstream of the boulders. Click on one of the links and compare it to the image I posted below. You can also click on this link and it will take you there. http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?12134500 I have added this resource to the “Links” section of my site, which will be easy for you to access in the future.

From the screen print below you will notice that today’s flow was 3880 cfs.

I also want to give special thanks to Aaron Matheson for sharing the awesome climbing photos he captured while climbing at the River Boulders.

-Pablo