mattp

I don't know if it is in any guidebook. I just looked at a topo map and picked what looked like the easiest approach - and it turned out quite well when we went up there to ski it. After leaving the trail, you crawl through a couple hundred yards of woods and get on a talus fan that will be pretty well covered, and there is a short steepish slope to a second lower angled and open area, another short steepish transion to slopes leading to an open bowl below the peak, and you turn left to climb up some open gullies on a SW facing slope.

WTF are you saying, JayB? That all poor little Mr. Bush has done has been to resist calls for racial preferences? What world do you live in?

Cannon Mountain, from about a mile or so up the trail toward Colchuck Lake, is a moderate climb mostly on west facing slopes that probably saw a lot of wind and a bit of sun recently. It is not a bad ski run, either.

I bet it wasn't viewed as tacky by most who have been involved in the civil rights movement. More likely, I bet many felt it was a unique opportunity to be seen talking to the president who has pretty much snubbed even the most moderate civil rights groups. However, on the other hand I'll cede Jay's point that it was for sure a good gesture on the part of GWB to show up and show some respect. I don't go so far as to say it was "lose-lose," however: I think he played it pretty well.

I don't get it. Why WOULDN'T people politicize an event of National significance like this funeral? "Respect the dead" - sure, but here is a large platform and no matter what your politics are, we all think our political beliefs are somehow "relevant" to contemplating the meaning of the life of someone like CSK. The whining from Bushies and apologists like JayB is just another manipulative bit of politicizing, trying to spin a story to make their critics look bad: havn't they been absolutely shameless about attempting to exploit human tragedy of every dimension? What is Bush doing when he invites the wife of a dead soldier to the SOU and reading her husband's patriotic letter home? Terry Schiavo or 911 ring a bell? It'd be different if the deceased had left behind some message asking that their memory not be tainted with a political funeral. I have not heard that CSK left such a message.

Isn't Feb 19th in the middle of a three-day weekend? Some of us may be out climbing if that is the case.

It is only about 30 minutes hike from the Deer Creek gate to the Big Four picnic ground, so if the road is gated as the USFS says, it is no big deal. On Big Four, you can have some fun in gullies off to the left of the main face (the Tower Route or some variation thereof), as well as several variations to the N. Face. Also, Hall Peak, to the right, offers more. For full - frontal climbs, it might be in less than stellar condition right now, but I bet you can amuse yourself just fine.

There's some nice tree skiing up there. If you head down and right from where I think you high pointed, you can pick up a logging road that comes out on highway 2 a couple miles from where you parked and hitch a ride back up.

As children, my mother used to take us hiking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. At age 8, my buddy Peter and I camped and climbed Mt. Monadnock in southern New Hampshire without any adults along. This was independence.

Might that be Glacier Peak, rising in the distance behind the Ten Peak/Mt Clark area peaks? [edit - the picture of Stu didn't load for me the first time I viewed this thread. I was talking about the top photo.]

When did they gate the road? It was open two weeks ago.

Bush/Cheney screwed us!

And I'm not even a fan. Onsight kick? What's that?

Mick, on the otherhand, looks like he still pulls down 5.12.

Both touchdown calls were marginal, but probably correct. Still, though, I think the two calls I noted already were totally bogus.

Then the refs move the ball a foot to deny the 1st down? Or did I see it wrong?

They got screwed on the incomplete pass call. The magic fridge was OK too.

That has been exactly my hesitation, Mo. I barely use fertilizer, let alone herbicide. Sometimes, however, drastic measures may be called for. The idea of dipping the ends of the little darlings in a roundup cocktail sounds like it might work. Pulling them up has utterly failed because they are all intergrowing with lots of vegetation that I want to keep, much of it fragile. Not wanting to use slug bait, I've been going out at night to pick cutworms by headlamp for the last ten years, and I might try something a little more effective on those little guys, too. Will that cause me to go mutant? BT on just the plants they are targetting maybe? As you note: just pulling the weeds and preventing regrowth has served me pretty well with a variety of pests, though. I got rid of the ivy and blackberry in this yard without a drop of herbicide. Time for kickoff...

Thanks, guys. I'm gonna need a 50 gallon drum of roundup, though. The stuff is spread nearly throughout my entire lot. Oh, and don't worry. I'll add Japanese Knotweed to my top ten most unwanted list.

The HVAC tape I've used has a much stronger adhesive then does duct tape and it comes with a peel-off waxy backing, but it is also less durable for wear and tear and doesn't stand up to abrasion or repeated folding very well - it isn't designed to be tough because heating ducts don't move around or get brushed up against a whole lot. I wouldn't expect it to hold up well if added to a foam pad.

Hey: now that we have the new GARDENING FORUM, does anybody know how to get rid of morning glory? I've pretty much done in the ivy and hamalyan blackberry that had taken over this lot, but that damn morning glory still grows among all the plantings I want to keep and I can go out there and carefully unwind it and pull it up as often as I want but it keeps coming back. Chemicals?

Japanese knotweed can be a fairly attractive plant in the right location. It has interesting bamboo-like stems and I have upon occasion considered planting it. I've seen it in the "wild" but had no idea it was such a menace.

Bamboo does not root very deep and is easily contained by root pruning. You can also line the hole where you plant it with heavy plastic. It will take a couple of years before it screens your bedroom window, though.

I think we could come up with LOTS of potential political cartoons I'd censor, if you make it crude/hateful/incendiary enough but I generally agree with your principal of granting wide latitude to political expression, Will.