Bronco

I could see someone describing the Cowlitz and Nisqually Glaciers as being located "below Camp Muir". They certainly would feature some 75' holes.

Busy 4 way stop intersections. This isn't 'Nam people, we have rules!

Back in May of 2000, we parked 6-7 miles from the Cold Springs trailhead. Not a big deal, still made it to Lunch Counter despite massively over packing and renting plastic boots from REI. That was the first and last time I attempted to walk a significant distance in plastic boots. There seemed to be a pretty solid boot path so I wouldn't necessarily worry about floatation. A warm and dry spell could shorten up the approach quite a bit, hard to predict this far out.

I guess you'll have to read the article here, not even the super duper translator is working now. https://www.adventure-journal.com/2017/01/i-hate-running/

I Hate Running I hate running, three to four times a week if I have time. I hated it yesterday for a little BY BRENDAN LEONARD SEMI-RAD JANUARY 31, 2017 0 2 I hate running, three to four times a week if I have time. I hated it yesterday for a little over an hour. I have three different pairs of shoes I hate running in. Every time I run, I pick one pair, and I go out and run in them, and I enjoy it about as much as I enjoy brushing my teeth in the morning, except running lasts way longer. I hate running until I run for 50 minutes. There is some magical thing that happens right around the 50-minute mark, where I start feeling like smiling at people I see and/or petting their dogs, and I absentmindedly forget that I am not having fun. Running is tiring. A couple times last year I did it for eleven hours straight, and man, was I tired afterward. Most days I do it for about 11 minutes before I’m like Fuck This. But I just keep going. Sometimes I do some math in my head and think about being faster, and how much less time I’d have to spend doing this if I could run, say, six-minute miles instead of nine-and-a-half-minute miles. Then I think about something else, like how the outside of my ankle hurts. And I keep running. Lots of people are excited about Fitbits and other fitness tracking devices nowadays, trying to get to 5,000 steps every day as a sort of baseline goal for fitness. I wasn’t one of those people until my friend Dan showed me the “Fitness” app on my iphone and told me there was no way to shut it off. Then I realized what a lazy piece of shit I am every day—except on the days I run, when I dominate that 5,000-step count thing by three or four times. All the shirts I wear running smell like B.O. I wash them, and when I head out for a run, I put on a clean shirt, and it smells nice for a few minutes. After approximately 40 strides, something in the armpits awakens, and they smell exactly like they did at the end of my last run. It’s like I didn’t even wash the shirt. I also hate when, while running, I get about two or three miles from my apartment or the nearest trailhead, and I experience what I call “The Drop.” The Drop is that rumbly belly pain indicating something is a bit amiss in your digestive system and it’s giving you a warning shot, that you have probably a 50/50 chance at getting home or somewhere else private before you need to sit on a toilet. Although the idea that it’s 50/50 is misleading, because some of the time it goes away without further event, some of the time the end of the story is more thrilling than the first chase scene in Mad Max: Fury Road, and some of the time you end up squatting behind a bush somewhere. Anyway, The Drop basically only happens while running. You never get halfway up a route at a climbing gym and have something like that happen. My friend Syd hates running, too. He’s run in a bunch of New York City Marathons and other races, which he occasionally claims to enjoy. I asked him one time how much of his years-long running career he’d enjoyed, and he said, “You mean like total hours and minutes?” I said yes. “About fifteen minutes,” Syd said. Which sounded about right to me. Maybe the sickest thing about the whole idea of running is when you sign up for an organized run, like an ultramarathon, and in order to run 50 or 62 or 100 miles in one day, you basically have to spend about six months running all the time just so you can run that far in one day. You get to the finish line of a 50-mile race and people are like, “Congratulations, you just ran 50 miles.” And you’re like, “Fuck that, I just ran 750 miles—you just saw the last 50. Anyway, let’s go get a pizza.” And then you hate yourself and make strange noises every time you stand up from a seated position for about five days and then you start thinking, “That race was so fun, I should do that again soon.” Sometimes I like to say, “I’ve done dumber things for worse reasons.” I also like to say, “I’m not sure that I like running, but I like having run.” Which is kind of a joke, but not really. I mean, have you ever just let yourself mouth-vacuum deep-dish pizza and not stop until you were ashamed? Yes. Way more fun than running 31 miles. So there’s that, the calorie replacement, and a handful of other things about running that are likable. Chocolate Clif Shots, for instance. Sometimes I think about filling up a Camelbak reservoir with Hershey’s chocolate syrup and going for a long run, and how awesome that would be, but the cleanup would be a pain in the ass, so I’m glad someone has thought of my needs and carefully packaged chocolate energy goo in small foil packets so I can hate my life decisions a little less approximately every 30 to 45 minutes while running. Also, there’s a sort of meditative quality in the rhythm of it, when you do it for long enough. You can’t make a good action sports film about it because it’s not sexy like hucking cliffs is, but there’s something to plodding along at a 10-minute-mile pace for hours at a time, and getting to a point where you just stop thinking altogether. Around Mile 10 or 12, I often think how fucked up it is that this is what I have to do to get away from the three-minute circuit of checking my email, then Instagram, then Twitter, then whatever, then my email again, then finally going back to that thing I’m supposed to be working on. Someone has no doubt done some research on why this is satisfying—I haven’t, but I can tell you it’s vaguely enjoyable. Here we are, literally running away from our damn phones in the year 2017. Some people hate running so much that they don’t run at all. They stay in shape riding bicycles, or doing circuit workouts, or using other machines at the gym. I’m not quite in that category, although I was for a decade or so. I guess I’m now in a category of people who hate running, but not enough to stop doing it. I imagine some people have the same feeling about prescription painkillers or day trading. Maybe running is that pop song you know you absolutely hate, but if it comes on the radio when you’re in the car by yourself, maybe you’ll listen to the whole thing without changing the station. Or it’s that super-cute guy or girl you just can’t stand, but if they asked you out on a date, you’d drop everything and go out with them. Or maybe that’s too philosophical, and running is just better than getting soft. So I’ll be over here, lacing up my shoes, wondering how my running clothes can smell so bad when I just washed them, procrastinating my run until the last possible minute, not really understanding why, just doing it, thinking of Denzel Washington in Fences yelling at his son, “Like you? What law is there sayin’ I got to like you?” and wishing it was over before I even start, the whole time with a deeply buried subconscious awareness that there will probably come a day when I can’t run anymore and I’ll miss the hell out of it. Anyway, I hate running. But you should totally try it.

Pretty accurate, especially "the drop"

Thats the NPS for you. We had a ranger who tried to force a bear can on us for the NE Buttress of Goode a few years ago. No thanks!

Thanks for the responses. I've looked at some other feedback and It sounds like most folks who've taken WFA are left a little dissatisfied with the level of detail and the WFR folks report a positive experience. Reducing dislocations might be worth it on it's own. I've done this a couple of times on our kid and it's pretty valuable in the moment. Looks to me like the WFA covers this: Patient Assessment System Emergency and Evacuation Plans Spine Injury Head Injury Shock Wilderness Wound Management Wilderness Wound Management Scenario Musculoskeletal Injury Heat Illness Cold Injury Lightning Altitude Illness The Medical Patient Anaphylaxis The WFR covers this: Body Defenses Pharmacology Patient Assessment System Basic Life Support Wilderness Adult and Child CPR Head Injuries Respiratory Distress Volume Shock Extemity Injuries SOAP Evaluation Process Splinting Wound Management Spine Assessment Dehydration Sunburn Heat Exahustion, Heat Stroke and Hyponatremia Hypothermia and Cold Injuries Near Drowning Spine Management Wilderness Bites and Stings Allergies Lightning Injuries Altitude Dislocations Asthma Diabetes: Hypoglycemia and Hyperglycemia Heart Attack, Angina and Stroke Issues with Ears, Eyes, Nose, Throat and Teeth Improvising Litters, Backboards and Litter Carries It seems like the additional class time would allow for an improved ability to assess a victim and decide the next steps (treatment, what kind of treatment, urgency of evacuation) much more accurately. I currently carry a minimal first aid kit and am curious if I will add anything for bigger trips after the class and limit the small kit for day trips.

I suppose that's only fair considering most of my partners have relatively extensive first aid and rescue training. One was an Eagle Scout. He always seems to want to cuddle in the bivy "for warmth". Is that Eagle Scout training?

I'm considering taking the Hybrid WFR class offered by AAI this spring but wondering if it's really a good use of the additional time and $ over a weekend of WFA class. I took a First Responder class at Edmonds Community College 25 years ago and can't say I've ever used the more advanced victim assessment skills. Mostly just general first aid stuff - blisters, cuts and bruises, etc. I'm not planning to join Search and Rescue any time soon. I doubt I'd go back and re-cert every two years either. I guess having a WFR is kind of like being the guy with the most up to date beacon and a real shovel. Any thoughts?

Photos put a smile on my face, nice!

Shorter is also lighter and more efficient to skin with. I prefer a little wider underfoot for an AT setup as it gives you more skin under your foot where it helps the most and are more funner on the descent in soft conditions. My personal preference is for some tip rocker but a flat tail. Seems to help avoid the occasional tip dive while skinning.

Thinking about getting these for employees instead of the usual boring cash bonus: http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/made-solid-medium-leather-wrapped-stone/4497177?cm_mmc=Twitter-_-share-_-site-_-4497177

Geeze Bill, sorry I asked...

How about the cliff notes version?

How about skiing around Snow Lake? I'm wondering what Colin thinks about the TFT in winter. Seems like he'd have the scoop on why the FWA remains unclaimed.

Let me know if you need a slow partner.

These guys should have them: http://bndskigear.com/dynafitcustom.html You'd better get crackin the snow is coming!

Here you go Dan: http://billygoattech.com Look forward to the TR!

Gnarly snowshoeing! (yuck) I'm kind of surprised you guys actually own some.

Great read and photos, thanks for linking it here.

Here's what it looked like outside the Klien Station when we visited.

I seem to recall Mike isn't much taller than me so it might have more to do with tip/fib length than muscle size. You can rest easy in your macho manliness.

I have similar issues, Mike, and found the Atomic Backland to be a relatively good fit and lower cuff height. You might try them on if you can find them, I bought mine at the Seattle EVO shop last fall. The Scarpa F-1 that was recalled in 2015 also fit me pretty well (actually better than the Atomic) and I think they have a new version out this year with the recall issue fixed.

Thanks for the TR, I spent several days in Zermatt on a family vacation in July 2015 waiting for a weather break that never came. Glad to see it worked out for you on the second go round, it's kind of expensive place to wait for good weather.