Jman

Just gettin' this thing to the top again. Bjorn?... Tim?...

Wouldn't a rope work better?

No, it didn't show up on the board. But I clipped the link from "Edit" to check it out... Funky! <scratching my head>

Cavey- gonna post pictures of yourself (like Will) for the Cell Phone Pu.. er, Possie?

Jon, what the hell was that?!! Khai? What thu..

Sorry, I'm a little slow, but I just put the thing together. No worries, mate. He's entitled to his opinion. Expressing negative, personal feelings about someone publicly reflects worse upon themselves than upon the one being "dissed". One always has to question their motive and, as you said, insecurites they are harboring. You both deserve credit for the work you do, and I'm sure you both do your best. If you're truly content with who you are - it shows. But then again, most everything here is a load of bs, so don't buy into everything.

I understood the nachos thing.

What got you so fire up, Beck?

Keep you 2 cents for continuing spray by spraying about spray on the Spray Forum.

It is... DAMN! I just stepped in a big ole pile of Beck.

<sniff, sniff> What's that I smell? Beck?

I missed the shin-dig... So Pope and Dwayner really aren't the same person? They were BOTH there? in the flesh?! Do we have pictures to post for proof? Erik?... WOW! Must have been good - there's only about 8 of us logged on here this morning! [This message has been edited by Jman (edited 08-15-2001).]

Not to be intolerant of Ibex, that would be hypocritical on my part. I just don't like it when someone is disparaging of others due to "experience". The mountains are first-come, first-serve... even if they be slow. Glad to hear everyone had fun and was kind to each other. That's what it's all about!

Loren- Thanks for stepping forward. I'm sure you're not the "f-ing idiot gumby" Ibex thought you were. Besides, even if you were inexperienced, everyone begins somewhere - those who are "experts" were beginners at one time, too. Mr. Ibex needs an attitude adjustment. Intolerance for inexperience is juvenile and betrays an insecurity of one's self.

Four years had passed, four years of constant reminders. Every glimpse of a rock face, every postcard of a mountain, every carabiner keychain a reminder of that day. Looking in the mirror........I had to wonder if I still had it in me. Sure, accidents happen and people die in the mountains, but it wasn't supposed to happen to me. And it wasn't really my fault. Even my friends have told me that over and over again. But then why does it plague me so. Why does my gear just sit in the corner? My old partners don't even call me anymore. Deep inside I know I have to climb again. That's what Kristi would have wanted…. Things seemed simple at that time in my life when she and I first met, I was youthful and full of energy ready to conquer the world. Looking back now though maybe I was too careless, blind of my lack of abilities and too willing to take risks. I promised myself to change my ways when I first took her climbing, but I didn’t and my recklessness led to my demise… Remembering is like a dream. Dreams are surreal in color, things are out of place, but in the dream they are natural, the way things should be, the way they have always been. It was supposed to be just something basic. Kristi had been pestering me to go for weeks, so I finally hit the books (Beckey, Volume 3) and found something that would be challenging and suitable for both of us, but not too far out there. Kristi was a very good climber. She pulled down hard at 38 and plugged the pro on Davis Holland. I thought I was a stud because I ran laps on Godzilla. (It didnt matter that even after 2 years of trying I couldnt pull the opening move of The Second Pitch.) This was going to be no problem. Like all trips into the mountains, this one started with us hastily packing the Subaru on a lazy Friday afternoon. Getting to the North Cascades was going to be a casual drive, we were going to miss rush hour. After two hours of driving, we pulled in to the burrito joint in Burlington for an early dinner and a beer. Or two. Beers seemed in order as we were thirsty and having fun, and we knew we'd still make it to Washington Pass before dark. The mood was light; the Mexican beer was dark; I was horny. On the way out of the restaurant, we ran into an unlikely pair -- the mischievous Ray Borbon and the notorious sport climber "Lambone." They too were headed for the pass, but their agenda was different than ours. Different, to say the least. It involved a croquet mallet and ball, but beyond that they would not say, and we didn't want to know. Liberty Bell looked gorgeous in the late afternoon sun and I pointed out one of the 50 crowded climbs that I was gonna do someday. We pulled off and geared up quick to take full advantage of the daylight and crystal clear skies. Kristi was a climbers dream date: gorgeous, easygoing and able to carry her weight and more without a problem. We wanted to get ourselves setup for a solid push tomorrow up Early Winters Spire. We had heard there was some steep sections of ice, but everyone assured us it would be no problem. As we hiked in I was preoccupied with thoughts of my warm tent and how Kristi and I would make it warmer... However, lighting the tent on fire while starting the stove was not one of the ways I had intended to make it warmer. As Kristi and I dove through the flaming vestibule, I lost most of my hair and all my eyebrows. Thank god I had shaved my beard in anticipation of the trip, otherwise things could have been much worse. We both laughed hysterically as we watched the tent melt in a pool of bubbling nylon goo, feeling fortunate not to have lost more than some hair and, for me, a little bit of pride. As the last of the flames went out, Fred Beckey strolled up... "Thought I recognized that stench, seen folks try to burn their tent down like that, but never were they successful, I must congratulate you, a North Face down to the ground, how long did it take?" Embarressed as I was, the simplistic and harmless demeanor of the man whom I had only read about, soothed my wretched nerves. Uhhh, it happened so fast, I guess about... Kristi interupts in her zeal of excitement, "it was under 5 min", as if to impress Fred. She doesn't realize the only reason for this silly small talk that he is graciously engaging in, is due to the fact that she is standing there... naked and me in my wicking rei boxers. Finally, several hours later we find ourselves in the back of the car doubting whether or not to continue on with our misadventure filled trek. Most of our gear had been scorched in the fire, except for the important pieces of gear, we had left the rope outside and the few pieces of protection we owned were blackened, but upon closer inspection seemed to be useable. So the next morning we set off for the climb that changed my life forever… It had been a rough night (in more ways than one). With all of my gear and clothes now a melted pile of plastic, Kristi and I had to take turns sharing my REI boxers. But we survived, despite the frequent trips to the brush (those burritos had taken their toll). But, man! what a night of passion in the backseat of my Subaru! We set off at first sign of light. Kristi strategically placed the shoulder straps of her backpack and wore those cherished boxers of mine. Me? Well, I had the rope and the gear rack... so to speak. We made great timing with our light loads, picking up the pace even more so as to avoid encountering anyone on our approach. Still reminiscing about last night and contemplating our upcoming "climb au naturale", it was almost unfathomable that we ran into...

Sorry, Rich. I was just fired up over this whole Forest Pass BS. I didn't want opinions on whether I should or should not pay it. That's entirely a personal decision. My question was about ramifications of not paying it. Thanks EddieE - that's exactly what I was after. What sucks is that if you do not pay, you are forced to appear in court. The force to comply thing is so morally wrong. How is anyone supposed to show that they don't support it?! I think I'll be praying in the woods from now on...

Lisa - great lead in for the "story". Wish I was next on the list 'cause I got some great ideas... But I'll wait my turn. Hurry up hikerwa. Back to the topic... So if it's "processed by the state" is it reported to DOL for further collection thru governmental means? Or does it go to a collection agency? If it's the latter, I could live with that. I pay all my legitimate bills and have excellent credit so I wouldn't give a rip about a parking fee. I know I've had others and that hasn't impacted my credit in the least. Besides, they never can find me, hence it becomes too costly for them to pursue.

CRIME?! What the hell? Did you read any of the prior threads? Get a clue Rich!

What I want to know is: has anyone gotten a ticket and then not ever paid it? What happens? Do they really have any leverage against you? I tried it last summer, but got the "Dear Ugly" letter telling me it had doubled. Still ignored it (more like forgot), then got the certified letter summoning me to appear in court (somewhere in eastern, can't remember where) and the fine was now $50 and if unpaid there would be a warrant out for arrest, or whatever. At that point I called the court claiming it wasn't me, they may have written down a license plate wrong, maybe one similar to mine. The gal was nice and said she would check with the citing officer. When she got back to me, she had the vehicle description (darn, should have know that would be too easy). Anyway, I was very kind and polite in talking with her, explained there was no way I could travel that far and she offered to reduce the fine to $25. Fine. Although it wasn't fine, but if was a fine. I still didn't want to pay it and thought well what could they do? My wife feared they would report the fine to the DOL and we wouldn't be able to renew our tabs. Is this true? And if pulled over would a cop be aware of this "infraction"? I sincerely doubt it would be reported state-wide, but maybe kept on file with local authorities. Can we just ignore these? Isn't the whole thing just a "test" for public support anyway? What happens if we never pay them?

Seeing the Milky Way stretch from horizon to horizon, casting a soft light on all the surrounding hills in the Seven Lakes Basin (Olympics) on a hot September night. And then watching the blinding full moon rise and totally illuminate everything.

Aha! Here it is: http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000361.html The roperugs.com link has some other cool ideas. Check it out. [This message has been edited by Jman (edited 08-13-2001).]

Take it back to REI and get a full refund! Actually, though, I think there was a thread many moons ago about weaving them into a rug. If I can find it, I'll post a link here for ya.

I HATE negativity! And any arrogant jerk stupid enough to call other people names and threaten them should have their head ripped off! Oh, sorry. I tend to be conceptionally challenged. Really, though, I would have to agree with allthumbs on this one. Info on routes only would be rather dull. I think most who continue to hang out here enjoy the daily antics (as I do). And those who wish to get useful info usually do. I've actually learned quite a bit though just from reading "non-sense". Like someone once said to me, this is like a bunch of climbers sittin' around a camp fire telling stories, jokes, shootin' their mouths off, etc. Enjoy it, join in, or leave. We all have to make our own decisions in life rather than leave it up to someone else to "moderate" us. And to have everyone show courtesy and respect to others and moderate themselves... well, isn't that everyone's dream in life? Sometime you just got to ignore the rude ones, or maybe read between the lines, or perhaps be less sensitive. An old proverb says "the stupid one is quick to take offense." I think jblakely has got the right ratio. And coincidentally probably about 80% of us are here for the entertainment. [This message has been edited by Jman (edited 08-08-2001).]

Parker? Parker? Parker?... <hmph> must have been his day off...

pope- did you mean "selfishly" or was that supposed to be "selflessly"? lisa- did you ever consider posting his name/address/etc. on this board and letting all your "psycho" fans here stalk him? [This message has been edited by Jman (edited 08-08-2001).]