It was the day after Dallas' memorial service [October 16], and some of us who were his climbing partners wanted to ascend a mountain in his memory. We decided on Corteo Peak as it was one of the peaks on his list for October. Between the five of us, we well represented Dallas' climbing history: Mark DesVoignes has been Dallas' climbing partner for over 30 years, Mark Nelson for 21, Chris Weidner for 19, Kevin Kiser for 15, and myself for 8. It was a crisp, cold fall morning at Rainy Pass & we were on the trail by 8:15 am. The first portion is on a well maintained trail to Heather Pass, where you can appreciate an amazing view of Black Peak. For those who have never climbed Black Peak, I would highly recommend it as a very enjoyable 3rd class scramble, with superb camping at Wing Lake. At Heather Pass, you turn left and follow the trail to Maple Pass, elevation 6600 feet. Here you get a commanding view of Corteo, and also of a ridiculously large park sign that looks like it could survive a nuclear winter.

  At Maple Pass, you head west and then south, picking your way across heather & talus fields occasionally following a goat path towards the SE ridge. Scramble up the ridge on more heather and talus until you reach a series of ledges that extend across the east face. I had heard this climb described as "kitty litter on downsloping ledges" but we had about 1/2 inch of snow on the ledges which made the traverse a little spicier. Keep working your way up towards an obvious notch between the true and accessory summits, then carefully pick your way up steeper but more solid rock to the obvious top. Compared to some of the choss piles I was on this fall, Corteo felt like good quality rock.

  The summit area is quite sprawling, and has spectacular views of Black, Goode, Logan, Whistler, and friends.  I love a summit where you can really stretch out and lounge. It was a gorgeous sunny day on top and we toasted Dallas with a bottle of Jim Beam. Mark D. had also brought a summit banner (apparently he is famous for this stunt) so we took some group photos & horsed around. After 3 weeks of grief and shock at Dallas' accident, it felt good to be able to up high in the Cascades, enjoying camaraderie, whiskey and a beautiful fall day. I think Dallas would have approved.

  It took us about 4 hours to reach the summit (Beckey says 5 hours from Rainy Pass). We had brought a rope and decided it was prudent to rappell the 2 pitches back to the notch rather than downclimb the steep snow covered slope. We were back at the car about 5pm with significant lollygagging on the hike out.

  It is still hard for me to believe that Dallas is gone forever. Some of my most memorable trips in the mountains were with him. I feel so honored to have had Dallas as a friend and a climbing mentor, he taught me so much about mountain climbing and life. He was the quintessential alpine man. The mountains won't be the same without him. He will be greatly missed but never forgotten.