rat

glad to add some fuel to the fire. carry on.

http://www.harvardmagazine.com/2007/07/debtor-nation.html

excellent info. ever try that with thimble berries? very delicate berries but excellent flavor. huckleberries on the east side of the crest ripening at about 3-5k.

dry pita

it's simply not true that "many cliffs", like peshastin, have been "basically destroyed by young primadonnas". the peshastin routes you mention are respected classics and while not beginner routes are "safer" now than ever, thanks to the two freds' bolt replacement efforts. i would argue that there are far more well-protected easy routes now than ever. runout climbing is a skill. obviously you once had that skill. why shit on the route simply because you've lost that skill and/or chosen not to take those risks anymore?

if you mean by "mixed ethics", ground up vs. rap bolting, yes. however, the trend toward bolting cracks is a relatively recent trend that has accelerated. of course now that we're all concerned about offsetting our carbon impacts, bolted cracks make perfect sense. bolted cracks are arguably more eco-friendly than manufacturing all those fancy widgets. thank god the crack bolters are looking at the larger picture and leading by example, so to speak. and if you just learned that croft skipped a summer in squeamish to climb in worthleavin', you're a bit behind yourself. i don't give my ass to just anyone. consider yourselves lucky.

$1.4 million? with much of the second growth now at a profitable size, you folks in the skykomish river valley are going to be shelling out a lot of money to protect your "viewsheds".

why censor the discussion? a quick look at the usfs map shows all the land bordering the north side of the highway between the merritt turnoff and nason creek rest area is privately owned. it's unlikely that any land trades have occurred to change this. provided this is true, a trail starting from the highway about 1/3 mile west of the merritt turnoff that beelines for the west 1/16 corner of section 3 might cross the least private land (maybe 100' or so). an alternative route, all on public land, from the microwave station on round mountain would add too much bulk to your spurt climbing legs. there is a boatload of that rock on dirtyface mountain as well. chelan county's document site (icris) generally blows unless you know the name of the grantor/grantee.

from http://wdfw.wa.gov/do/weekendr/weekendr.htm Wildlife viewing: The golden eagle pair that traditionally nests on the cliffs above the Tieton River, on a portion of WDFW's Oak Creek Wildlife Area in Yakima County, has picked its nest site for this year. And that means the closure since early February of the lower section of the Tieton River Trail has been lifted. WDFW habitat technician Bruce Berry, who works at the wildlife area, explained that because the eagles pick a different nest site each year, the whole lower end of the trail is closed to all use until the eagles settle into nesting. "Then we post an off-limits area around that particular nest site," he said, "and allow hikers and climbers to use other parts of the three mile section." This year access to the Royal Columns and Bend climbing areas will be available because the eagles nested elsewhere. Berry noted that some years the eagles pick the climbing areas to nest and they are off-limits until mid-July. "This year everyone's happy," he said, "eagles and climbers." Berry said the nesting eagles can be spotted within 300 yards of the open portion of the trail.

climbed at lower/upper castle the other day. midnight still has a ways to go. clem's holler and vicinity looks ok. haven't been up the icicle in a while but i'm sure you could find some dry-ish lumps.

for sale: a5 haulpack similar to that on pg. 10 of http://www.bigwalls.net/climb/A5f/1996Catalog.pdf the version i have is slightly older and differs in that the 3 haul loops end near the upper margin of the bag. you need to girth hitch 3 slings to these loops to created the hauling point. i hauled it on a few short routes but mostly used it as a crag pack. some minor abrasion but no holes. sorry, no photos. $50 (includes shipping).

true enough, and the quote is spot on.

did you meet kc's sidekick, ray ray? quite a pair.

all there but looking kinda white (snow lenses?) and maybe a bit lower angle then usual except for the last pitch.

when dan and i did it, white fright wasn't an option and we scooted left on country club and then up the chimney. after talking with dan, i think he and peter did it that way as well, due to fading light.

cool. maybe you finished via the "white fright" slabs above the country club ramp? those look fat this year. leavenworth, land of wi3.

grabbed it.

dan and i went up to look at that after bailing from the pencil. cool mushrooms on that line but it was melting jackass fast in the sun. we fled. glad to hear no one was hurt up there over the weekend. as of monday morning, the pencil was still standing but it was raining on stevens pass.

i'll grab it for you if someone else hasn't stepped forward. send me a pm with location and your address.

great effort. is the third photo the east face of tricouni?

drury has been soloed at least 2x in "modern" (internet) history and who knows how many times in the "dark ages".

cool. cowabunga dude touched down with a sorta scary wi4 pillar on the right side....cracked at the top. the solarium was thin, chandeliered and also kinda scary...bring rock pro to 2". the wet lady was fat fun.

"dan is a giant among our people." (mike schaefer)

that looks like some fun skiing. nice photos.

oly, eric #1 is the big baller. i am eric #2, the extremo kayaker. get your facts straight. good job, colin and mike.