EV

Thanks, Mike, for checking. Good luck tomorrow.

Is the gate still open 24/7 from Longmire to Paradise? I'm heading up Saturday, would appreciate knowing. No sense in showing up at 6:00 if the gate doesn't open until 9-10. Thanks.

Just curious, but how long did it take you to summit from Lone Tree Pass, and how long back to your car?

Very nice work. Probably the effort of the year! Congratulations.

If it were my gear, and it was recovered in the way listed above and the lead person at Seattle PD wasn't too interested in pursuing this, then I would ask to speak to his/her supervisor. Next I would call Norm Maeling's office, as the King County Prosecutor's Office takes things like this seriously. All Seattle PD does is send info to the prosecutor's office, they are the ones who decide whether or not to file charges, not Seattle PD. After I made the phone calls, then I would write a letter to Norm and the chief of police. You'll get the ball rolling, just stick with it.

Go to Pink Floyd's website - you probably will have to cut and paste link below, click on The Final Cut (Reissue), click on When the Tigers Broke Free, and watch the video and listen to the tune. Awesome. http://www.pinkfloyd.co.uk/main.php?flash=present&quicktime=

It looks like OR has come out with something else to replace the quadratic. http://www.orgear.com/home/style/home/apparel/apparel_insulated/apparel_insulation_therm/52190

The gate was closed on October 18. We, too, were going to do Observation again, but were going to take our mountain bikes instead of walking. It would be sort of a grunt going up, but coming down would be a blast. If I went in this weekend, I'd at least bring mtn. bike along.

It's been closed for about six weeks now.

I wish I could explain this a little better than I am going to attempt, but will probably cause more confusion. I was at FF. Saw the BD placement, the Petzl and Grivel placements. They had two huge blocks of ice, maybe four feet by three feet by 18 inches deep (this is a rough estimate on my part). The ice was crystal clear. You could see all the way through, front-to-back, side-to-side. The BD screw was being placed. You could see the ice almost expoding the deeper the screw went in. It almost looked like an instant spider web. The Petzl was easiest to place, but there was still distortion of ice upon placement, but not nearly as much as the BD, maybe 80-90 percent less. The Grivel went in. There were no fissures, or "explosions" or spider webs created - just a very nice, clean placement. No distortion of the inner ice at all. Perhaps some the folks at FF could be a little more artful than I in explaining this. I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it. Damndest thing I'd ever seen. I hope I am somewhat clear.

I've got a pretty good topo in PDF, but can't figure out how to attach it. Any ideas?

Thanks, Iain

I'm trying to get a read on weather forecasts for this weekend. Now, instead of listing the freezing level on the Rainier forecast, they are showing the snow level. QUESTION: What is the difference between freezing level and snow level? Thanks.

Fuggedaboudit: This is probably too late, and while I've never used the ID, I ended up getting the Bibler I-tent Alpine instead. The choices were down to the ID v. the Bibler. The only thing that nudged me toward the Bibler was the lack of velcro in securing the poles to the tent. A guiding buddy of mind pointed this out, stating the velcro is a bitch to get around the poles when cold, with gloves on - and god forbid if the velcro gets snow in there. Just my 2 cents worth.

Have any of you ever found a heat exchanger for cooking other than the big, bulky MSR one? Or, better yet, is there a way to make a lightweight one? TIA.