mattp

Nope. Trophy Wife is worth the hike and not a bad schwack as there is something like the rough trappings of a trail headed over there. It is the combined result of game animals and climbers. Just start pawing at the bush and heading that way and you will find your way along the bottom of the cliff. This place has a lot of potential. I don't blame you or anyone else for thinking it is overgrown. It is Western Washington and covered with life. But if you persist the Darrington Effect kicks in. First you find that a climb that looks mossy from below turns out to offer clean holds, but then you find that a "trail" that appears non-existent actually exists. Don't let the wild rose and anenome bushes get you down. They are beautiful and although at least the roses may have some thorns, the anenome does not and the area is highly scenic. The rock is very interesting and this place is a treat.

Any news?

Maybe we can set it up with a retinal scanner and you can only enter the can to poop there every other day or something.

There are some issues to work out here, for sure, Mr MC, but the whole point of buying the area was to maintain access and we're looking for solutions that don't involve hourly closures or seasonal ones. You are right about the concerns you note and we'll be looking for good solutions here. And, Stephan, thanks for the thanks but this was truly a team effort. Some folks who dug really deep for this thing probably won't come forward to claim credit but we had a lot of people working on this, both on our "team" and off. Over 400 individual people have donated to the fund so far, and over a dozen local businesses and clubs also kicked in. This recent bit of publicity is helping to push us toward our fund raising goal, and some kind of toilet type facility is definitely on our list of projects. Mr. MC is right that it'll be expensive. Think of the Index Fund next time you drink coffee on the way to the crag!

The Washington Climbers Coalition is planning to celebrate the 2009-2010 Index Fund campaign at Index on Sunday, September 19, 2010. With donations from over 4090 individual donors and fund raising events conducted by over a dozen local clubs and climbing-related businesses, the WCC has purchased the Lower Town Wall and we are celebrating 50 years of climbing at this, Washington's most famous crag. This event will take place in the Index town park. It will include displays and ceremony, catered barbeque, and slideshows after dark. Admission is free. Out at the Lower Town Wall, two local guide services propose to offer some professional supervision for guided climbing. Other entertainment and activities are under way.

One of the physics lab guys told me that the pendulum research had an application for submarine navigation. They could drive a nuclear sub to Japan watching the pendulum with their laser, and "map" the trip by recording how the pendulum was pulled by undersea terrain. They would make this trip while using the standard navigation equipment which would require use of signals detectable from orbit. They could then later repeat the same voyage without using the navigation equipment so no enemy satellite could detect where the sub might be going.

Take safe sex or dreamer direct and you'll avoid this spot if it where I think it is.

I don't have any idea what the "denial rate" stands for, Fairweather -- do you? (What types of claims are denied?) Meanwhile, for many years the studies have all shown that people are more satisfied with their medicare insurance program than they are with private insurance. nationaljournal.com, department of health and human services data

1. "the state should only pay public sector employees what is necessary to staff positions with people who are qualified to do their jobs..." I guess so, if you think that merely filling chairs should be the goal of any public sector hiring. Personally, I think that in many positions we don't just want people who are "qualified," but actually we want people who are good at their jobs. Maybe you agree with this and have simply assumed a different definition of the word "qualified." If so, I agree with you. When it comes to gardener or bus driver, it may well be the case that government employment pays better than private. When it comes to "professionals," certainly not even close - even accounting for these disgustingly lavish benefits you complain of. I think the idea that we pay these people more than they are worth is just plain wrong, but I'm not an economic or vocational analyst. 2. "some functions of government are more essential than others, and deserve a higher priority when it's clear that the economy isn't generating enough resources to sustain all functions of the government at their current level." OK, here too I may just agree with you. I'm not at all convinced that the State government needs to be running liquor stores or the ferry system. Health insurance, though, should absolutely NOT be run by private business. That is an abomination and any argument that the private sector is more efficient here is completely whacked. We KNOW that medicare is more efficient than Prudential and in this example you righties argue that medicare is less humane or driving the doctors out of business or .... but not that it the government run system is less efficient. Since we're going by the numbers here: 1. From what I've seen, the data supports your claim that doctors, lawyers, and other folks at the top of the professional ladder make less working for the government than they would in the private sector, even after adjusting for pay and benefits. I still claim that in my regressive fantasy where the highest priories of government - those things that only the government can do - get the highest funding, there'd be more resources available to dedicate to things like paying for judges, public defenders, etc. I still wouldn't pay more than necessary to staff the position with qualified personnel - and I think my definition is the same as yours - but even in that scenario there'd be money to pay for more of them. Ditto for MD's that want to work in public health, etc, etc, etc, etc. 2. The health insurance issue has been beaten to death, we disagree on that point, and there's a gajillion threads where where I've hashed things out with either you or folks that agree with you here. 3. One easy way to save a ton of money at every level of government would be to stop prosecuting and incarcerating sane adults for things that they do to themselves or that consenting adults to one another. Start by decriminalizing marijuana, move on to other drugs, and eventually get to full legalization of drugs, prostitution, etc. Prosecuting people, incarcerating them, seizing their property, and depriving them of their livelihood for things that they do to themselves or with other consenting adults isn't a legitimate function of government in the first place, and in the spirit of grand bargains I'd be more than happy to shift every dollar saved by ceasing all of the above to...funding the pensions and benefits of public sector workers. agreed.

OK. Now you've moved on from class warfare (government workers receive lavish benefits and every one of them or they as a class resist any possible suggestion that they should share in the economic downturn), based in incorrect fact (government agencies are not making any real compensation cuts). Thank you. But let's take your "points." 1. "the state should only pay public sector employees what is necessary to staff positions with people who are qualified to do their jobs..." I guess so, if you think that merely filling chairs should be the goal of any public sector hiring. Personally, I think that in many positions we don't just want people who are "qualified," but actually we want people who are good at their jobs. Maybe you agree with this and have simply assumed a different definition of the word "qualified." If so, I agree with you. When it comes to gardener or bus driver, it may well be the case that government employment pays better than private. When it comes to "professionals," certainly not even close - even accounting for these disgustingly lavish benefits you complain of. I think the idea that we pay these people more than they are worth is just plain wrong, but I'm not an economic or vocational analyst. 2. "some functions of government are more essential than others, and deserve a higher priority when it's clear that the economy isn't generating enough resources to sustain all functions of the government at their current level." OK, here too I may just agree with you. I'm not at all convinced that the State government needs to be running liquor stores or the ferry system. Health insurance, though, should absolutely NOT be run by private business. That is an abomination and any argument that the private sector is more efficient here is completely whacked. We KNOW that medicare is more efficient than Prudential and in this example you righties argue that medicare is less humane or driving the doctors out of business or .... but not that it the government run system is less efficient.

Maybe I missed something, Jay, but I think you may be making this stuff up. Maybe you relish in class welfare and all, but seriously: did some State worker take away your binky when you were little?

Your dream is coming true, Jay. There have been hiring freezes and budget cuts imposed on agencies across the board for the last year and a half or so, maybe longer. The demands on these agencies haven't gone down, though, so salaried workers are working uncompensated overtime and temporary employees that are not entitled to benefits are doing work that used to be performed by career employees. You wouldn't be "aware" of it, though, because the State agencies are largely run by dedicated people who are struggling to do their jobs, and they are not busy spewing a bunch of political hoo hah such as what you have apparently been reading.

I hope to be able to attend. Not only does this place NEED the attention and others will benefit, but it is satisfying and just plain fun to work on these projects. I've worked on trail projects at eight or more different Washington climbing areas over the years and not only did I have a good time but I enjoy going back and seeing how these projects have been a good contribution to the areas ever since.

Klipchuck (I think that is the name) is a nicer campground in my opinion. It is not right on the roadside, and it gets morning sun. Worth an extra ten minutes' drive.

In my opinion, the SW chute is best as a descent route. It is a great ski run, but to climb it you'd undertake a very nice hike to the bottom and then burn calves for what - 3500 feet? The FA was completed by one of the strongest guys I ever knew, and I bet you, Mr. Kukuzki, are pretty damn strong too. But what about the rest of us?

I love this picture: I like all the pictures, but this one shows a meat hook bolt hanger, similar to what I removed and replaced in Darrington some years ago. I bet these were installed by the same climber. Thanks, as always, for posting fun stuff here on cc.com.

Good stuff.

11. Log on to cc.com at least 5x daily. Scroll list of recent topics.

You can also avoid the crowds by climbing late in the day. Everyone else leaves the parking lot between 5 and 8 in the morning. I have not climbed the North Ridge, but I like the Northwest Ridge. It has a couple thousand feet of rock hopping, and a short steep snow climb near the top that is one notch more serious than what you'll encounter on the South Ridge.

Mt. Olympus? This is an outstanding objective and the actual climb is fairly easy. It'd be well worth an expedition. You might not be 4 or 5 days on the trail but, assuming you come from Seattle, the trailhead must be close to 5 hours' drive all in itself.

I've often wondered whether one may be "better" than the other. I thought the "1951 route" made sense to me at the time and was overall a good outing. Where the photo is labeled "steep heather" it is indeed VERY steep and there is only a short bit of technical rock. I thought the tree climbing where Tom is pictured was kind of cool in how the tree trunks made perfect stair steps - but I like climbing in Darrington so what do I know?

What's your reasoning here, Joseph? I used to install a lot of those Fixe chain / ring units but they shipped a whole batch of "stainless" powdercoated units that were not stainless and rusted within a year and many of their welds were looking pretty sloppy so we gave up on them. Chains are more convenient at the belay and you don't have to drill the holes within a quarter inch of the right distance from each other for them to lie correctly. If you buy good chain and larger lock links they cost just as much as the Fixe stations, but if they receive heavy use for toproping it is a simple matter to swap out just the bottom lock links. At Index we used to see dozens of tat anchors all over the cliff when looking at the wall from the train tracks. Now that it has all been replaced with chain we see nothing. For this reason, I and some others have worked to replace all the sling anchors at Three O'Clock Rock in Darrington and it looks a lot better. The few stations left with tat on them are glaring.

Yup. We want the shots. You make that climb sound casual, Tom. Despite the low technical difficulty, that was not my impression of it.

You and your type are so busy talking that you don't read at all - do ya. Your false attacks are just that. It may make you feel intelligent, but for everyone reading- it has the opposite effect. On this point, Bill, I think he is right. There was no cry about deficit spending when the Bush administration started two wars, both of which were a bad idea, and simultaneously initiated massive tax cuts. As to the topic of this thread: I don't want do get heavily involved in the discussion because it will only become a mud festival but I can tell you that I work in a State agency and there is a higher level of dedication in my office than any private entity I have worked at in the past and, at the same time, salaries and wages are lower than in the private sector and the work demands are not less.

We now have $233,000 in the bank and are pretty confident about making our $300,000 goal. That custom print that Steph labeled raised a good sum and there are more than a few cc.com regulars on our donor list. Index is happening, folks.