Bronco

Here's an idea - In dealing with suspected thieves loitering on the property, I think it's ok to engage them in friendly conversation to acknowledge you see them standing out. You guys climbing today? Hiking? Is that your car? My buddy had one of those. Well did you walk here? It seems kind of far from town, what is it a couple of miles? Don't I recognize you from somewhere? You look familiar, did you grow up around here? What kind of dog is that? Live around here? Have you heard about all the vehicle breakins at this trailhead? Yep, kinda sucks. Have a good day, maybe I'll see you on the trail.

Published: Thursday, June 2, 2011 By Gale Fiege, Herald Writer DARRINGTON -- In the face of a lawsuit by local environmentalists, the federal government has backed out of plans this summer to spend $1.7 million in emergency highway funds to repair to the once popular Suiattle River Road 26 in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. Repairs to the washed-out road would have allowed access to the Glacier Peak Wilderness, which has been virtually blocked from the west side of the mountains for more than seven years because of flood damage. The road, located east of Darrington, leads to popular trailheads, campgrounds and even Sauk-Suiattle tribal burial grounds. The Pilchuck Audubon Society, the North Cascades Conservation Council and Lynnwood engineer and hiker Bill Lider brought the lawsuit, contending that the proposed repairs would destroy old trees that are home to the northern spotted owl and the marbled murrelet, as well as damage parts of the Suiattle River, which has a scenic river designation with protection for salmon. Lider also objected to the use of emergency highway repair funds for the project, since the last damaging flood was in 2007. In withdrawing plans to make the repairs now, the Federal Highway Administration also said that it will include additional environmental analysis the next time it considers making repairs to the Suiattle River Road, said Clara Conner, an engineer with the western lands division of the highway administration. That's what the plaintiffs wanted, Lider said. "The lawsuit served its purpose. The withdrawal of their so-called emergency repair plans is tacit acknowledgement that wetlands and old forests along the Suiattle River are worthy of more environmental assessment," Lider said. "The Forest Service and highway administration had done the lowest form of environmental review for this and they were playing fast and loose with the rules." Darrington District Ranger Peter Forbes said National Forest Service personnel have been asked not to talk about the lawsuit or respond to Lider's comments. However, Forbes said that any action on federal lands is subject to the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires environmental review before that action takes place. Washington Trails Association advocacy director Jonathan Guzzo said he thought the environmental assessment for the road repair project was good -- "a significant and sufficient assesssment." He said he is sad that the lawsuit changed the plans for repairs to Suiattle River Road 26. If it isn't fixed, Guzzo said, people will have to walk an extra 24 miles roundtrip on the damaged road to get to the trailheads. "That takes any trip in the area out of the realm of a day hike. This is a major hardship for hikers who haven't been able to access the Glacier Peak Wilderness for many years," Guzzo said. "You can do it, but the easiest way up there includes a drive over the pass to the east side." Lider, however, thinks the river road in its current condition can still support plenty of recreation for people willing to bicycle or walk in. "Our goal was never to shut down the Suiattle River Road," Lider said. Forbes said it's possible that repairs to White Chuck River Road 23, located south of the Suiattle, are set to begin mid-month and could be completed near the end of summer. This might allow for a few weeks of hiking from trailheads on that road. Lider's suit did not aim to stop repairs on the White Chuck River Road. The Washington Trails Association wants make it clear that it doesn't support the repair and restoration of every old logging road in the National Forest, Guzzo said. "The Suiattle River Road, however, is clearly worthy of being rebuilt," Guzzo said. "There is a new generation of hikers who have never even been up there." The Suiattle River Road was established in the early 1900s by miners heading out to work their claims. By the 1930s, the road extended nearly 20 miles to the Civilian Conservation Corps-constructed Buck Creek Campground. In the big timber heyday of the 1950s and 1960s, the road was used heavily by logging trucks. From the mid-1970s through 2007, the road was damaged by flooding on more than a dozen occasions, most severely in 2003 and 2007, Forbes said.

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I2urboaloE&feature=player_embedded#at=15

I figured Greg Mortenson would somehow be blamed for Osama's mysterious demise by now. Where are the independant third party timers!?

Another fan of the BD packs. I've used a BD Frenzy for day tours over the last 4 years and it carries great. I beleive in being very organized and accessible with avalanche gear so you always know exactly where to find your probe and shovel. I also shy away from packs with top lids for a specific ski pack as the contents tend to slide forward in a fall and deliver an unecesary and insulting blow to the back of the head.

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20110512/NEWS01/705129812 It appears the MTN Loop might not be opened any time soon.

Thanks for the stoke! It's a great TR when it inspires one to break out the guidebook and check the weather forecast.

I really like premise of this article by Will Gadd (http://gravsports.blogspot.com/): I've received a few emails lately asking about "Sports Performance Diets." To sum up my philosophy on food for sports: You are what you eat, but the human body is amazing at processing just about anything. Here are some free-form thoughts: -Unless you are truly "Elite," and by this I mean actually in the top one percent or so of a sport and not just claiming to be elite because you can do a workout that makes you gasp then what you eat is relevant only in that you have enough decent calories in your diet, but not way too many or you'll be too fat. Some body fat is OK; if you've been 12 percent your entire life then it's probably not worth the effort to drop to six percent, nor is it a realistic goal that will actually improve your performance as much as an extra few hours of training a week. -The classic story about sports nutrition comes from my wife, Kim, who actually was an elite athlete--we know this because she got a scholarship to go to University as a nordic ski racer, along with some Americans and a few Norwegians. The Norwegians would win or place high in the ski race, eat a couple of boxes of Oreos for post-race recovery, have a beer, eat another huge dinner, and sleep 10 hours a night. The Americans would place mid-pack, recover with sports drinks, eat a "Pritikin" (very little fat) dinner, sleep poorly, and not improve. The Americans would also obsess about vitamins, body fat, etc. The Norwegians won races, the Americans worried about their diets... Chris Sharma does not eat Paleo/Zone/WTF. In fact, I can't think of one truly elite athlete that follows any incredibly strict diet. I would bet they are conscious of what they eat because they know their bodies, but not religious about it. Yet there are legions of people out there trying to improve their amateur sports performance through bizzare diets. I would call them idiots, but it's really a form of gullibility brought on by wishful thinking. -Eat today as you will for the rest of your life. Radical exclusion diets of any kind eventually fail, every single one of them. There are no exceptions unless your diet kills you before you "fail" at it, which in a way anorexia or malnutrition can... -The "Paleo/Pritikin/Atkins/Zone/Hollywood/Sports/WTF" diet are all doomed to eventual "failure;" I'd guess that optimistically maybe 1 in 10,000 people following them today will be following them in 20 years. That's the history of every diet ever, so why exactly does anyone think the latest "Best Ever For Sports Performance!!!" plans are any different? Diets and Ponzi schemes all end the same: the people who bought in either quit or are taken for a ride. It doesn't matter if it's real estate, investments or diets, it's never truly "different this time." -Once you realize that the entire "diet" industry, even the "sports" version of it is somewhere between a scam and a religion (many religions have dietary prescriptions come to think of it) then you're on your way to decent nutrition, sports or otherwise. -Generally eat food that's pretty close to the form it grew or lived in. Eat less when you don't need much energy (sitting at a desk). Eat more calorie-dense foods when you need calories (ski touring, etc.). If you're burning calories like mad ski touring then sugar is great. If you're sitting at a desk then it's not in general. -Too much of anything for too long is a bad idea. One slice of cheesecake just doesn't matter. One hundred pieces do. -Read up on insulin, the glycemic index, and listen to your body for what different foods make you feel like. Eat more vegetables for a week. What does that do? Drink less alcohol, drink more alcohol, take some notes, listen. Without the roar of the diet industry in your ears you might be surprised by what you find. -Exercise hard, regularly. Exercise easily for long periods of time, like walking, regularly. Do sports that require serious effort at least once a week. Set aside one hour every single day to go out and breath hard, outside if at all possible, but at least breathing doing something fun. -Spend way less time thinking about food than you do enjoying it. If you're spending more time thinking about what to eat than you are eating it then you have an eating disorder. I've seen a lot of athletes spend more time worrying about what they eat than actually training. -There are no magic bullets, no metabolic master blasters, etc. etc. Sorry, the guy who trains 30 hours a week and eats at McDonalds will destroy the guy who trains five hours a week and eats a perfect Paleo diet. If Paleo boy steps his training up to 30 hours a week then he may be able to compete with McDonald's boy, but even then I'd bet that the skills, quality training time and attitude would still kick Paleo Boy's ass... -Accept some fluctuation in your body. When you're training really hard and consistently you'll be leaner, stronger and generally "fitter." When you're only training two hours or less a week because of work, family, whatever, your body will change. This is OK, it's normal, either change life or accept it. Yeah! Now I gotta go train, it's been a lousy two months due to all kinds of great stuff. I traded some fitness for some life stuff for a while, now the stoke is high again, time to get after it!

Found a fleece jacket Saturday am just above Source Lake below Chair Peak Basin. Please let me know if it's yours.

Looks like Roscoe from Dukes of Hazzard is on the loose.

Where you the biggest, oldest or smartest kid in your class? Anyway, congratulations. Did any of the teachers hit up on you? None of the above.

"Hazardous Enigma"

Passive? The allegations - including from a number of other people like Gordon Wiltsie is that he was anything but passive I was just passing along my personal observations from meeting the guy and listening to his speech to 8th grade graduates in the Rural School District for which he did not charge a fee.

Having met Mr. Mortenson, I doubt he intentionally defrauded anyone and if anything was just too passive with his organization and it's accounting. I think Krakauer is just trying to sell some books. The story about the Taliban guys reporting to have "protected" Mortenson instead of holding him captive seems convenient. There seriously have to be bigger DB's to go after than Mortenson.

Great effort and style on the winter ascent. With such a quick trip, was there any concern for lack of aclimation? I guess staying the previous night at 6,000 or 7,000 feet was probably good enough, eh?

Can you move faster with a pack that's 5lbs lighter? Can you move faster with 5lb less fat? Is it possible that the climber at 160lbs and 10% body fat has any advantage over the 155lb climber at 7% body fat? How about an unplanned bivy? Lighter clothing and sleeping bag? How about when you run out of food on a 20 hour push? I'm all for being as fit as possible, just playing devil's advocate.

Would you be able post some more info on some of the mental fitness training or methods? I've read a book (Mental Toughness Training for Sports) and of course Twight's thoughts in Extreme Alpinism. Any recent articles or studies that you can link to?

I prefer "deskjockey". I know that I enjoy long days much more knowing I've done everything I can to lighten my pack. When gear needs to be replaced, I generally look to the weight right after the price.

Sick-point-sick on the sickter scale.

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/993003/TR_Lake_Wenatchee_AK47_12_12_2#Post993003

You got me with the moderators sweeping the prizes. I just hadn't finished typing my diatribe complaining about it yet.

do you put the needle through the core or just the sheath? How about a small description of what works? or a photo? I just weaved in and out of the sheath. I made about 20 laps around the rope to create a 1" wide "mark". Oh yeah, don't cut the core with your needle or YOU WILL ALL DIE. ::

Nope but, I've had some partners look at it kinda funny. It's not pretty but it is effective. I wonder if a guy could find some reflective thread, that would be sweet -

Next time you're on the couch, get a needle and some bright colored thread and mark the middle with a one inch swath of thread. Mine has held up for several years.