plexus

PAGE TOP!!! There goes my virginity !!

Why anybody would want to do the schwak up and back from Blum in the same day is well beyond me !! How about tagging all of the summits of the Liberty Bell group in a day? Anybody try it? Looks like it could be possible....

For long trad routes in Mexico that is Saltillo, near Monterray. Also there is a good place down by the city of Puebla called Los Pedicos. Nice limestone cliffs, sport and trad but all single pitch climbs, on the shore of a big lake. Near Pico de Orizaba is the town of Rio Blanco. They have some limestone cliffs there with some of the most wierd tuftas I've ver seen. Plus your dollar goes a long way down there. Not as far as in years past, but you can live down there comfortably for three months with less than $2,000.

Train by carrying Capt. Caveman on your back while he's . Chase from your camp before they steal your !

• Double checking the knots, double-back and tie-in spot. I've topped out and looked down to realize that I only went through one loop in tying in. • When belaying a sport route, stay close to the base of the climb until the person gets to third bolt, this saves them from hitting the line if they fall. • tie-in belay at base of trad climbs and wear a helmet. • Never letting a newbie belay me on a lead. There ain't no way in hell!! • Never take route-descriptions at face value, especially in the mountains. (Follow the obvious gully to a short class 4 step. My ass!!!) • Always have a few beers waiting at the truck after tagging the summit and getting down safely. Never celebrate too much on top. It's getting down that'll probably kill you.

Tyrone, You might want to try an elkhair caddis fly or switch to red flatfish lure if they don't start jumping for the bait.

Hey AK, Just like you...never thought I'd want to go down there and put it off for years...but it's just too damn good ... Ran out of time to do East Buttress...need to head down there with about a month's time. Also like I could buy rum within park boundaries

Speaking with experience as being a reporter, don't believe anything in the news !!

While doing trail maintanence on Easy Pass Trail today, saw that Greybeard, Mount Hardy and NEw Morning Peak had a nice little dusting of new snow on them. Also on the drive east, Colonial Peak had a fair amount of new stuff... Not that it matters, it will all be done by Thursday

Kloke has a winter clims book.....very, very, very hard to find but has some good winter routes on it. See if you can locate one. If not, go do Mount Si.

But if ya move south, you can't get Mocha Milkshakes from Cruisin' Coffee no more...

It's all about the experience. Is the summit important, that varies depending on the climb. I never celebrate a summit until I am back at the truck, then I pop the top on a few microbrews. Ya can kill yerself getting down those things !! I went to do Frisco a couple of days ago and didn't tag the summit, why? Cause I went a different way than the ones recommended and encountered exposed Class 4 on extremely loose rock. A few hundred feet from the summit, we turned around. Was I disappointed? Not in the least. I spent a day out in a beautiful area with beautiful weather with my beautiful fiancee. On the same note, I was determined to get to the top of Liberty Bell despite getting offroute and doing Overexposure instead of the Beckey Route (don't ask, we took the wrong gully up and wound up doing mid-fifth class moves on the "approach" before making two raps down into the right one). It all depends on how much you want it. Do you want the summit or do you want to have a good experience? It's the best of both worlds when they are one and the same.

The rocks through the meadowy stuff below Wirtz Basin are slicker than grandfather snot!! Thanks for installing a new summit sex toy on top. Without a doubt my entry is somewhere down below (hopefully on that cool benchland to the east of the glacier and west of Sperry). Guess I'll ave to climb it again. I found the climbing near the dihederal to be slimy and wet a couple pitches up and downright scary (5.8ish) without a decent place for pro. I've known others that have reconfirmed my discovery. Is it better near the middle of the wall?

Actually Stefan I used to hate the French as well until I went climbing with a couple this past spring a few times. Real nice guys and were polite. And like Jens said, they climb hella-hard, leading up sketched out stuff I would be puckering TRing. I will say the one guy did have real bad BO

Coffee for the AM; suds for the PM. Good weekend, better half pulled off a surprise birthday party for me Saturday, good BBQ and friends and spirits. Spent today climbing with the old gang back together again at Mount Erie. Not the mountains but still nice to get some leads in with nice warm sunny weather while it is here. In working tonight so I can head up into the mountains tomorrow. Hope everybody else had a good weekend.

Just to give a heads up. Last Thursday on my way to White Chuck Mountain, they are replacing a culvert on the Mountain Loop Highway, about five miles from Darrington. Road is down to one lane. We had to wait for only about five minutes. On a side note, White Chuck Mountain isn't all that. Felt more like a goat looking for some plants to graze than anything else. Looks pretty from the road but is mainly a steep hike with a brief, exposed section of rock scrambling.

That was nice of them. How long did it take you from car to summit? Beckey says 6.5 hours and I have a hard time believing that.

Take time around Whatcom Pass, waste a day up there. It's worth it. This time of year, I'd bring a big-ass mosquito net, the flies can be horrible. And enjoy the cable car across the Chilliwack River...'tis fun!!

Momma and baby BEARS!! I forgot to write BEARS!! I was so excited, thinking about

Yeah, two weeks ago the Big beaver campsite was closed because of a momma and a baby in the area. And momma didn't want to go anywhere. Sounded like a job for the A-Team With their trusty special guest star Armed to the teeth with

Lizard brain, What way did you go up The Temple? We put off the climb until Tuesday cause I saw the Mounties were going to be up there and also saw the weather forecast. Instead we went and saw the movie "Signs" good but not nearly as good as "Unbreakable"

He runs up Mount Erie at least twice a week. Tried talking me into running up Sourdough Mountain with him once !!! I don't even like hiking up the damn thing!!!

Slothrop, Just placed my blue Alien yesterday for the first time. Two friends had found placements for it before I had. Nice little piece

Went to local gear shop today to replace gear either lost or mistakenly placed in my friend's pack down at Yosemite last week. For BD #10-13 nuts, oval rack biner and a new QD that bounced down from two pitches up Cathedral Peak, I spent $54!!! Yikes!! Anyways tried to put off getting the nuts but those are the most used pieces on my rack, expecially No. 10 and 11. I seem to always use my No. 6 and my No. 1 Trango cam. Curious what everybody else's most precious pieces on their racks. DAF, is yours a golden quickdraw?

My definition of a sports climb is anything Retrosaurus wants to put a crowbar to !!