robert

I just called the ranger. He said that the road is drivable to Morrison Creek campground which leaves a 3 mile walk to the trailhead for the South Spur. He didn't have a climbing report.

Like I said in my post, I was stupid and lazy. You can call it Darwinism, but I think Capitalism is more accurate. I didn’t want my wallet to get wet and I should have just put it in a Ziploc bag, but I didn’t. Will I do it differently next weekend? Yes. Is there a huge cost to me for my mistake? No. One of the problems with this type of fraud is that there is very little incentive for anyone to do anything about it. I am not out anything. I canceled my cards and all of my transactions will be credited back to me with no fees assessed. My bank said it is cheaper for them to just eat the $1950 they debited out of my checking account; my credit card companies said basically the same thing. Safeway, where all but one of the charges took place said that people make purchases similar to those made by these people all the time and there is nothing they could do to distinguish thieves from any other shoppers. The K.C. sheriff may look into the crime, but I doubt it. When I had my wallet stolen out of my locked gym locker a few years ago the Kirkland police took my report and said very frankly that they would not be investigating the issue. In the end it is the tragedy of the commons. There is not enough incentive for people to solve the problem because the costs are spread across the whole population.

Watch out Dave you wallet may not be safe after all.

I turned 30 last year and I have noticed that I have to watch what I eat much more carefully than I used to. I used to be able to anything I wanted and I would never gain weight. When I was 25 I could eat >3000 calories a day and not see any change, now I need to say well under that or I don’t want to get on the scale. I have developed my own special calorie cutting diet, though I expect that a doctor or nutritionist would cringe if they heard it. Basically, I skip dinner a couple of nights a week. I have found that I lack the will power to resist the constant stream of cookies, candy and other treats in my office and that I can often get to bed without getting too hungry if just have a piece of toast or some tea in the evening. I still can’t eat everything that I want, but it is better than it was. I have heard that lifting heavy weights is more important as we get older because muscle burns calories that our slowing metabolism is not. I don’t know if that is legit or not, but I know that reducing the caloric intake is certain to work.

Hey that is where mine was. I was at the Lake Annette trailhead.

I know that none of you are as dumb or lazy as I am, but just in case someone out there might be, I thought my recent experience could serve as a warning. Don’t leave your wallet containing your debit and credit cards at the trailhead. Not even if you think it is well hidden. I did and copies of my cards have been getting used all over the eastside. You might not even know that anything is amiss because they don’t need to keep the cards. They just need to swipe them and put them back. Either put it in your pack or leave it at home. It is just not worth the grief.

It is also pretty tough to use when it's windy.

Funny. I was just about to say that hardshell and softshell both beat wool and oiled canvas. Wool does have some great characteristics, but it is pretty heavy and really hot. It does make great socks though.

I have used an umbrella a couple of times, but since I now using hiking poles all the time it is a bit of a hassel. I have rigged them up tucked into by pack, but I haven't found a really stable attachment. I have found nothing that can stay dry in wet brush. My best there is to be the last in line. At least some will have been knocked off by my partners.

Slothrop, It was snow on the way up, rain for a good portion of the decent. Hardshell is not the perfect answer, but it works in some situations. I like my Gore-Tex, but I was wearing softshell pants and they were great. I didn't wear my softshell jacket because it is warmer than my G-tex and my pants. I will have to add a softshell jacket to my "to buy" list. Maybe it will be the answer, but for now my hardshell works when I need it.

Fortunately the vents on my Arc’Teryx are in locations where the rain is not that likely to fall, i.e. under my arms. The pit zips on my jacket are open almost all of the time and I have never gotten significantly wet through them. I say significantly meaning more wet than I would have gotten with sweat had the vents been closed. Last Sunday I was hiking Silver Mountain and it was snowing and blowing pretty hard. I had the pit zips, chest zips and even the main zipper open (with the storm flap closed with the Velcro dots holding it together). Some snow blew in, but very little and I stayed quite dry. I would say not much worse that I would have been had it not been snowing and I was just hiking in my MTS shirt. I agree that there is work to be done on laminates, but they are better for me than true rainwear that doesn’t breathe or no rainwear. On the durability front, my wife destroyed a pair of Arc’Teryx XCR pants glissading down Mt. St. Helens on firm snow. The snow was hard, but I think that they should have done a bit better. REI took them back and we got another pair, but she won’t make that mistake again. I have never had any trouble with the durability of my jacket.

If you are interested in a multi-peak traverse I really like Silver to Abiel to Humpback. The really nice thing is that it ends up right where it starts. Watch the decent from Humpack for Avy, and the climb of Silver if you hike into Lake Annette rather than cutting up to the North Ridge right from the Iron Horse Trail.

I like a lot of the trips on Steve's site, but I would add the East Ridge of Bandera. It is not a trail hike, but more of a cross country ridge scramble. It is fairly interesting with some areas of exposure and it is safe in virtually all avy conditions.

I found this article in a CAD magazine that I get at work. I thought that it was so funny I just had to share it. Exoskeletons for Humans It is a small write up on a project to make a lower body robot that has an integrated backpack. They say that a 70 pound load would feel like 5 pounds. Can you imagin seeing somebody wearing this come towards you on a trail?

Kurt, I just got a flyer from Avocet offering the new Vertch II. You can buy them from avocet.com. They have broken the climbing version and the ski version apart, but I think that they both have both functions. I am not sure what the real difference is. My old Vertch is still hanging on after 11 years. I also have a Suunto and I like them both. They have remarkably similar accuracy. Robert

I use Smartwool Mountaineers and insulated boots. Sometimes I use a liner, but that is pretty rare.

I grew up on Orcas. There is very little if any bouldering to be found and no climbing. I have heard that there is some bouldering on the northeast shore, near Eagle Lake. I have screwed around at Madrona Point near Eastsound, but there is nothing much hard there. There is plenty great Mtn. Biking in Moran State Park. There is good hiking there too. For bouldering pretty much all of the shoreline is steep and rocky. If you want to get your fix just find an accessable spot, but don't expect anything super hard. It will be super scenic, and if you traverse you can get your self in a position where if you fall you go swiming. Have a great trip.

Josh, I was up there last weekend and didn't see any good water on the east ridge. There was melt water gaining the glacier at about 7200'. There were some open cracks in the glacier along the east ridge that might have some drips, but I wasn't looking for them.

Climb: Eldorado-Northeast Face Date of Climb: 7/10/2004 Trip Report: We got out of town a bit later than we wanted to and after a stop in Marblemount for a permit we were fighting our way over the North Fork of the Cascade River at 5:00pm. I had it pretty easy, but Mike had the pickets on his pack and they were getting caught on everything. The approach was great. The trail is nice and steep and the talus fields were rock hopping fun. We arrived at our planed 5600 foot camp at 7:45. It was a great spot with plenty of running water and a good view. We saw and heard marmots and snaffles on the way up and I expected some nocturnal visitors and possibly some destructive chomping, but we escaped unmolested. We were up at 4:00 and hiking by 4:45. We followed the trail up to the ridge dividing the Eldorado creek basin from Rouch Basin and found the gully pretty easily. Soon we were heading up the polished granite below the Eldorado Glacier. The cloudy skies overhead hinted that they might not be sticking around all day. Sure enough as we were climbing towards the 7400’ plateau the clouds began to part yielding a great view of the Triad, and further along, the summit of Eldorado. Inspired by the improving weather and firm snow conditions we headed for a gap in the East Ridge and our first view of the Northeast Face. The face was a bit underwhelming, and a bit soft. We roped up and headed for the steepest section. There were a couple of open slots, but their faces wouldn’t hold a pick so I lead up some not that steep snow shafting my tools. A long traverse above one crevasse and below the other was as interesting as the climbing got. Maybe the face gets steeper as the snow melts, but other than one ten foot section it didn’t seem steeper than 45 degrees. We reached the intersection with the East Ridge just as a group of eight was getting to the arete. We could have raced them there, but I thought I would be courteous and wait. This was an example of nice guys finishing last as we sat in the snow for an hour and a half while the other group climbed the 200 feet, not vertical feet, linear distance, to the summit rocks. It did give us time to discuss the fact the Nelson says August and September are the best months for the climb. We figured with this being a low snow year we would be okay to go now, but it would probably be much better later in the season. The whole time we were sitting there it was snowing and we had only about 40 feet of visibility. We shot over to the summit snapped some photos and headed down. The snow was quite mushy by now and limited the glissade possibilities. We got in some good slides and were quickly hiking back across the Eldorado Glacier into Rouch Basin. The climb back up the gully and down to camp was uneventful. It was raining when we got back to the tent and it probably had been for awhile. The trail to the talus field was a muddy mess. The decent of the wet mossy talus was the most technical section of the trip by far. Fortunately the forested section of the trail was in pretty good shape. The roots were slippery, but the tread was pretty firm. All in all the decent from 5600’ took almost exactly as long as the hike up had taken. Gear Notes: Took screws and pickets. Placed one picket. Two tools. Crampons and standard glacier gear. Approach Notes: Approach trail steep and efficient. River crossing easy but you have to fight through the tree branches. It goes without saying, but decending the wet mossy talus was not fun.

If you have been with AT&T for two or more years they will give you a new phone. Just go into one of the AT&T Wireless stores and tell them that you would like to upgrade your phone. They will look at your plan and the new plan that you want and tell you which phones you can get. Some you may have to pay for, others will be free. It is just like when you sign up for new service. If it doesn't work out I am pretty sure that I have a dual band, GSM/TDMA phone at home. I will check.

Wow. What a bummer. I am glad it is not more serious than a broken leg. Here is to a speedy recovery.

Anyone have any more information on the injury? My partner and I were going to climb the North Ridge Sunday, but we turned around at the base of the snow slope at 8000' after I suffered a bout of food poisoning. We ran into Stephen and Elaine Ramsey while we were both crossing the Coleman and watched them top out the slope as we were getting back to the tents. I know that there were supposed to be some other cc.comers on the route, but I didn't see anyone but the Ramseys. Of course there are other north side routes, but any information would be appreciated. Otherwise, congratulations on getting to the summit. Were you at the higher of the two groups of tents and the black buttes? We were at the lower end in a blue and grey megamid.

Thanks for the explanation. I will try it since I have it. If i like it I will keep it, if not I will send it your way.

NOLSe, For what type of climbing are they great?

I just got a C/M Quark today and the leash is attached to the shaft with a bolt and this thing that they call the Clipper. Does anyone use this or see any reason not to take it off and just attache the leash through the hole in the shaft?