Lady Found Old Man's Rock Slide! Nice Story

[ksearl]

Nice story about a lady who went in search of the Old Man's remains. It seems they found the rock slide they were looking for. Does anyone know if this is a common destination for people? Also, does anyone know if there is a trail to it??? Or is it a bushwhack?

http://www.timesunion.com/living/article/Pilgrimage-to-remains-of-a-fallen-mountain-man-959449.php

Thanks,
Karl

 

[DougPaul]

There is a big land-slide scar on the cliff face below the old location of the Old Man. I haven't been there since the collapse, but I'm sure there is a big pile of rubble at the base of the face. (There are lots of other piles of rubble below the face...) The grey paint and remains of the turnbuckle are unique to the Old Man.

There are climbers' trails to the base of the face. Climbers' trails are often very rugged... (The area below the face is a big tailless slope ranging from gravel to car+ sized boulders and a number of trees show scars from falling rock.)

The base of the face is not the safest place to hang around...

A number of climbing routes used to finish in a chimney along the (viewer's) left side of the Old Man. You could also walk out on top--it was a loose heap of tottering boulders held together by cables and large bolts. There was a grey-painted sluice-way along the back side of the Old Man to divert water away from it.

Doug

 

[Jimmy Legs and Little D]

Good story, Karl.

I still remember the day the Old Man slld down into the valley. After coming out of a local Starbucks, we heard the news on the car radio that the Old Man had fallen. I was pretty shocking to say the least.

Donna

 

[RoySwkr]

If you take the bike path (walk or bike) to a location under the site, you can look for herd paths up. Note that the boulders could be scattered quite some distance vertically and somewhat horizontally, the writer seemed content to find one not do a complete reconstruction.

 

[slevasse]

If you park in the climbers lot, just south of profile lake (that is the name right?) and then walk along the bike path until you come to a very large boulder right on the edge, there should be a herd path of sorts right in that general area that goes right up to the base of the cliff. You will have to deal with the talus field, but not carrying a pack with climbing gear will make it suck just a bit less, just a bit.
It generally isn't advisable to walk along the base of cliffs without a helmet, but in the case of Cannon, anything that generally comes off will likely be big enough so that the helmet really doesn't help too much.
There are definite times to avoid the base of Cannon cliffs, like right after a large amount of rain and spring. During the winter it is generally ok to explore the base, but be cautious of falling ice and snow, but for the most part the rock is frozen. Of course use caution and good judgment....Basically if you see people running from the cliff, run faster.

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

If you park in the climbers lot, just south of profile lake (that is the name right?) and then walk along the bike path until you come to a very large boulder right on the edge, there should be a herd path of sorts right in that general area that goes right up to the base of the cliff.

Correct on Profile Lake's name. The climbers' route to the cliff described above follows the slide path of the June 17th 1997 rockfall, which was much larger than the rockfall from the Old Man's collapse; the large boulder was the farthest traveled piece of debris from the 1997 rockfall. So, once you arrive at the foot of the open talus slope from the 1997 slide path, you can begin working up to the right to reach the Old Man debris, which did not extend as far down the talus slope as the 1997 rockfall.

This link to an article by Jon Sykes has been posted here before, but remains a good read for what was lost on Cannon from the 1997 rockfall, such as the Whaleback Crack route.

http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web07f/wfeature-cannon-cliff-exfoliation-evolution

The Old Man broke away just cliff side of the concrete drainage sluiceway that remains, along with some turnbuckles sticking out from the rock left behind.