Outdoor and Climbing News from Here and Abroad - 8/25/11

Northwest:

--The Whatcom County sheriff's office says search and rescue volunteers have recovered the body of a climber who fell to her death last month on Mount Baker. To read more, click here.

--There has been a rash of “one-pot” methamphetamine cookers that have been found in National Forest lands and rural areas across the country. The water bottles and liter cola bottles are being used in a process of making meth in a single container. The items are highly toxic and combustible. The bottles contain hydrochloric acid and other toxins. The bottles contain a white powder and often have a hose coming out of the top. There may be an ammonia scent around the bottles. This means the device is in an extremely dangerous stage. They may look harmless but they are dangerous. There also may be other harmful objects such as use syringes and chemicals in the area. To read more, click here.

--There is currently a call out for people interested in helping to maintain old fire lookouts in the North Cascades. To read more, click here.

--Backcountry trail cameras captured candid photos of new wolves roaming in northeastern Oregon's Umatilla County. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said two of the images, taken this month, are the first photos of members of the new Walla Walla pack that seems to be forming at the Washington-Oregon border. To read more, click here.

Sierra:

--It appears that there was a suicide on Half Dome on August 22nd. At this point there is very little information. To read more, click here and here.

--Yosemite has produced some interesting data on human/bear interactions. To read more, click here.

--The Mono County Sheriff Search and Rescue (SAR) Team responded on the night of August 8, 2011, to a request for aid to a family of four, from Glendale, who had called for assistance from Garnet Lake. The group planned a loop hike out of Agnew Meadows to Garnet Lake. The 19-year-old son, however, had become exhausted and the group did not think that attempting to cross either the snowfield below Garnet Lake or the San Joaquin River, both obstacles along their intended route, would be wise. To read more, click here.

Desert Southwest:

--An Arizona man who miraculously survived a 140-foot fall thanks to a grueling and dramatic rescue this week battled to recover after several operations, including one to reattach his pelvis to his spine on Friday. Mike McEntire, 36, nearly died August 13th in a Sedona canyon after losing control of a climbing rope and plummeting down a rocky ledge. To read more, click here.

--Rock-climbing rescue volunteers and sheriff's personnel responded Saturday night to Tahquitz Rock, the 800-foot rock dome that towers above Idyllwild, and helped bring down two people who called for help and said they were lost. The sheriff's department and a Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit coordinator both reported the two individuals were on or near Angel's Fright, a multi-pitch climb above Lunch Rock. To read more, click here.

--Authorities are investigating the deaths of two people found in Joshua Tree National Park, where temperatures have soared above one hundred degrees this week. Authorities believe the man and woman were traveling together when they became stranded, according to a statement from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. To read more, click here.

Himalaya:

--Austrian climber Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner became the first woman to conquer all 14 8,000-meter summits without the use of artificial oxygen Tuesday, when she reached the top of the K2, her team announced. To read more, click here and here.

Notes from All Over:

--In another operation pushing darkness—the second in as many nights—Grand Teton National Park rangers rescued a 25-year-old female who fell about 25 feet while climbing a popular route in Death Canyon called The Snaz. To read more, click here.

--Matt Samet, a Colorado climber, recently published "Climbing Dictionary: Mountaineering Slang, Terms, Neologisms and Lingo." Colorado Daily has a humorous write-up on the book, here.

--In mid-August Denis Urubko and Gennadiy Durov completed a new route on the north face of Peak Pobeda (24,406'). To read more, click here.