Dan_Harris

Heard and have seen coyotes around the Sisters (the mountains, not the women) in Oregon. Never seen a mountain lion or even the tracks. Have seen bear and once did a loop and had bear prints on top of mine within 15 minutes of my passing by. Never saw the guy, kinda spooky. This summer a friend did kneel down to tie his boot and looked up to see a bear charging him across the meadow. He stood up, yelled and the bear stopped about 5 yards away, looked at him a minute and then left.

How about naming the sport Triple F, Freshie Flotation Flying. The Butt Ski run down Avalanche Gulch on Mount Shasta is pretty cool. It gets so worn in so it's like a bobsled run

As Peter said,CSU Sacramento, University of Pacific (private / expensive) or CSU Stanislaus are all in Central CA and close to 8 ski areas, climbing, hiking, and whatever outdoor activities you desire. 2 hours closer to Yosemite than Bezerkley. You are also close to the bay area if you really want to go there.

All you guys ranting and slamming each other. It took me a long time to read it all and it just keeps coming. Doesn't anyone work out there? Wait, I'm posting too. Never mind.

Three weeks ago 11 year old Scott Corey became the youngest climber to go up El Capitan in Yosemite. Today he started up again to raise money for the families of the victims of WTC bombing. He is attempting a 15 hour speed climb. He is being led by Bett Rodden and Tommy Caldwell. Information can be found at http://www.thekcrachannel.com/sac/news/localnews/stories/news-localnews-99995820011002-091059.html also at his home page http://www.kidclimber.com

Just got back from an Eastern Sierra fishing trip. Passed the USMC Mountain Warfare Training Center. All kinds of people out in camo with M-16s, and what looked like BD bod harnesses and red petzel helmets. They were all over the rock in the area. Also a whole campground full of green, light weight tents.

I always wear two pair of socks (goes back to sports days) and have not had problems with blisters on my heals.My toes rub and will blister so I wrap them in athletic tape before I head out. No problems then. You could try athletic tape and moleskin combo in areas you know tend to blister before heading out as a preventative measure.You should shave if the areas have hair or OUCH!! when you pull the tape off.

While it is true that our children should be our top priorities, being a parent should not preclude anyone from doing what they do for recreation. Having a past time in and of itself is not selfish unless it is all consuming. I know many who spend very little time with their kids because their job is all consuming. To me this is pretty selfish. In fact these people are even more selfish than the climber who takes off for an occasional day or even weekend. I'm going fishing for a weekend with some colleagues, my family does not want to go, am I being selfish? If it is the risk thing, should race drivers stop racing when they are parents? I have a herniated disk in my neck and was told to stop playing soccer because of the possibility of serious injury from all the heading of the ball. So I restarted back packing and then climbing. By some of these posts I shouldn't climb either. What am I supposed to do to recharge my batteries? I have always been active and needed to do something physically challenging out of doors. Being a parent and husband is just part of who I am. Am I to supposed ignore the other parts of me because of this? I know the risks, my wife knows the risks, my children know the risks. They have learned to take precautions, study the situation, prepare for eventualities in what they do, just as I do before a trip. As with anything in life, a little moderation can go a long ways. I've rambled enough.

What a great thread. I have enjoyed reading some very thought provoking opinions. I changed careers to spend more time with my children. But we all still need to be who we are. We can't live with the fear of what might happen. I teach and see students all the time who are afraid to take any type of risk, even as simple as joining a club. By being smart and responsible about our activities we teach our children valuable lessons about taking risks and meeting challenges, whether it is on a mountain, in school, or at work.

pope, I posted the quote because it has meanings on many levels. I use it with my students to try to inspire action of some kind on their part. So many do nothing with their lives, educationally or otherwise. It was not meant to dis or irritate anyone. I do feel for the family Alex left behind. I too am a dad and that is risky and a challenge. But I am not going to stop climbing. My family is very supportive and encouraging of my pastime.

Reporter: Why would you want to climb Mount Everest? George Mallory: Beacause it is there! Also, If you remove all of the risk, you remove all of the challenge. If you remove all of the challenge, you'll just wither on the vine. - Alex Lowe

The books on tape is great for passing the time when driving alone. It got me from central CA to Seattle and back this summer. Check the thread http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000814.html for ideas of books. Many of these are on tape.

This summer on a drive to WA from CA I listened to a book on tape called "A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush" In the late '50s this guy quits his job, spends a few days in Wales to get some basic rock training, then heads across Europe and on to Afghanistan with his buddy for climbing and adventure. A truly hilarious book is "A Walk in The Woods" by Bill Bryson. The guy had never done much outddor stuff in his life and decides to travel the Appalachian Trail.

I too love books of great adventure and survival. Shakleton's own book has a section about the hell the caching team went through. Kon Tiki and The Ra Expedition by Thor Heyerdahl are both great. Men Against the Sea is part of the Bounty trilogy and tells of Bligh's trip to East Timor in an open boat after the mutiny. But longer than Shakelton's trip, but of coarse the weather was much warmer. Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana is non-fiction. A great adventure. Read it just before or after you travel the California coast. [This message has been edited by Dan Harris (edited 08-21-2001).]

While fishing on the St. Mary River in Glacier Nat'l Park I heard a tremendous crashing through the brush across and a little upstream from me. Suddenly six deer busted out running full tilt, hit the water, turned up stream and disappeared around a bend. If that wasn't spectacular enough, the reason for their fright soon appeared, a huge grizzly. He ambled out of the brush and slowly swam across the stream and disappeared again into the brush. The awe and wonder of nature never ceases to amaze me.

First, a petition will help. Second every climber, whether you climb Hood or not needs to call and/or e-mail your Representatives and Senators (deluge them), especially if they may be sympathetic to our arguments. Being from CA my senators are worthless, but a local Rep. would definitely be on our side. I will be sending in my $0.02 worth. Do it now and then again as soon as Congress reconvenes.

As I read these posts, it made me think back to my youth. My parents took my our family car camping a lot. I would love to scramble around the rocks and boulders near the stream but never thought of climbing. At 14 on a trip to Canada with my grandparents I saw Shasta and the other cascades for the first time. They sure made an impression on me. When I was 14, a friend invited me to join him and his dad for a back pack trip down into the Grand Canyon. Awesome. Still didn’t think about climbing. All through high school and college I never really had the opportunity, or never thought about getting out except to fish, I guess mostly because I was playing soccer year round. I went to the Maritime Academy and drove ships for a while. I always volunteered to change the mast head light whenever they went out, loved the views up high. Right after my college graduation I went backpacking in the Sierras and summited Round Top. I also started skiing to get me into the mountains. I started traveling and car camping with my family and still scrambled around. After I ruptured a disc in my neck and was told I should not play soccer again, I started back packing whenever and wherever I could, (with my wife’s blessings) and still enjoyed scrambling over boulders and such. I have to be busy physically. Finally to celebrate my 40th birthday I got a friend to join me for a climb of Mount Shasta. Since then my climbing has been peak bagging, nothing very technical, yet. I finally went to a gym last week to do my first vertical stuff. I KNOW, I KNOW, it is not the same as getting out on the rocks, but hey, its a start. Looking forward to working on this and getting out onto some rock. It is never too late to start.

Tim - I believe the the book snowleopard refered to is called Central Oregon Caves by Charlie & Jo Larson. The book gives good directions to the cave mouths and fair maps and profiles of the interiors. I have visited a few of the caves, but know of none on Bachelor. If lava tube caves interest you, you may try visiting Lava Beds National Monument in No. California. Winter is great here with very few visitors and some great ice formations in many of the caves.

Apparently they like to climb mountains too! Although they must climb trees better than mountains. My partner found a dead 'possum just shy of the summit of Middle Sister last year. How did it get there?

First let me say that I am glad that the climber was ok and sorry that the climber lost in June was never found. But I want to know why anyone would be trying this peak at this time of year. Last year as I was trying to get info about the Sisters I noticed a definite lack of anything on the net concerning North Sister. I then got Jeff Smoot's book and it said rotten, dangerous, constant rockfall. Climbing it is best done when it is covered in snow and the rocks frozen together. As I travelled to Oregon and Washington I asked every climber I met what they knew of North Sister. Most had the same answer, STAY AWAY. So when I finally went to climb Middle Sister, I could see and hear what they were all talking about. I thought Shasta had a lot.There was constant rock fall all around North Sister. If this guy was camping up there, wouldn't the noise alone tell him something. He had to have seen all the rock coming down and it is not just small stuff. Everyone, keep up the great work of informing other climbers of conditions. Have fun and safe trips. [This message has been edited by Dan Harris (edited 07-11-2001).]

The ship I was working on was having some trouble tying up to the dock due to wind and current. One mooring line has seized up on the bits and was getting alot of strain on it. A deckhand tried to throw some slack into it when it suddendly ran on him ripping his thumb off. All he said was damn it, jammed the stub into his belly, grabbed the missing digit off the deck and headed to get help. We called the Coast Guard who called an ambulance. The thumb was reattached and he was back working and playing softball it seemed in a pretty short time.

In the Central Sierras Painted Lady is located near The Minister. Is something going on here?

How does Adams compare to Mazama? I have gone up Avalanche Gulch on Mount Shasta, Hayden Glacier on Middle Sister, OR and some steep snow fields in the Central Sierras. Nothing very crevassed. Mazama looked like the next step up from these routes.

Called the Mount Adams Ranger District office today. Tis tru, the Yakima Reservation is only open to climbers from July 1 to October 1. Looks like I need to find another route. Any suggestions?

Can anyone tell me what is up with the July 1 thing fozzy mentioned? Being from CA I sent in my registration at the end of April and recieved my volcano pass back with Bird Creek Meadows Trail Head and Mazama Glacier route written on the pass and no mention that I couldn't do this before July 1. [This message has been edited by Dan Harris (edited 06-11-2001).]