rat

1. 20 minutes of brutality a day...maybe something similar to http://www.crossfit.com/ but without the cult of personality...or make up your own 20 minutes of hell (no gym required), 2. throw in some trail running, mountain biking and/or xc skiing, 3. enjoy what you eat, whatever it is, in some sort of moderation most of the time.

more like a jackbooted fascist pig-rigger hanger-on.

that was 16 years ago but i remember "a sea of golden fucking knobs, man." i've always preferred the westside camping---free, open grasslands and great sunsets. it's just an extra bit of walking to get to eastside routes. there are a lot of border patrol agents on the roads and there may be impromptu road checks so be careful with the road sodas. have fun. southern arizona has some great backcountry climbing.

days of future passed (5.10 or 5.6, ao) what's my line (5.10 or 5.6, ao) forest lawn (5.9) absinthe of mallet (5.9) in addition to eric's suggestions in the 5.10 range, i recommend endgame, dem bones and cragaholic's dream. whatever you climb, remember the long slings for chickenheads. as of about 4 years ago, there were a fair number of retro bolts on old routes and the sheepshead had at least one new bolted line that crossed absinthe of mallet. in the unlikely event you get stormed out of the stronghold, try mendoza canyon. regarding the peregrine restrictions, rockfellow domes and the surrounding 1/2 mile radius isn't closed until mid-feb or so.

in response to pope, i didn't notice a bolt on easter overhang a couple weeks ago but my friend thought there was one shown in the instruction manual. the pin you mention might be the "bolt". it is still there and is a-ok. the first belay is solid pins plus nuts. no bolts needed. to clarify, jam session bolt(s) can definitely use some attention since they can't be backed up with modern gear as i recall. as far as leaving old bolts in place....i like seeing those aluminum pop-top hangers. they make me thirst for cheap grape soda. however, pull 'em and reuse the holes if the bolts truly need replacing. enough...

replacing existing bolts, fine. adding rap stations or bolts to existing routes, no way. do not turn this area into another "no time" rock---fat lot of good jim and marlene's sign and trail did to popularize those trash routes. the hordes must of gotten lost after the sign disappeared. my incomplete recollection: yellow bird---haven't done it in a long while but remember that the bolts were sketchy. but if tim says it's safe with modern gear, i would say leave them alone. black widow---sketchy bolts but modern pro works. leave the bolts alone. easter overhang---there might be an old bolt above the overhang but it is redundant. leave it alone. rotc area---i didn't think the bolts in this area were bad. jam session---the one or two bolts on this one could be checked. the flame---the last belay bolts were replaced when someone added a rap route to the hard crack climb below it. the bolt shortly above the last belay is older but still decent. south ramp---the "offwidth" is actually more of a fist crack and protects adequately with modern gear to 5". leave the bolts alone. can't comment on dagaba system or stevens pass motel since i will likely never be able to climb them. so, that really doesn't give you much work to do.

"m" stands for moss in the cascades. referring to the topo in the gallery, what's with the buttress between the cod and beckey routes?

crystal creek tower is nice. the 5.9ish route (doorish?) is one of the longer ones in that area. it puts you on the ridge by mcclellan but the summit is not as distinct as the other spires.

i really appreciated the occasional racists that it attracted. "hey you race traitor, i've got a pistol in my truck.....blah blah fucking blah." and the county sheriff teams dressed all in black occasionally swept through the place. overall though, most folks were live and let live and it was a great place to get piss drunk.

nice.

that was "you're gonna die, we're all gonna die" followed by a cackle. hard to argue with....

outstanding.

at the risk of ruining someone's adventure, here is some recent info on this area. some of this may be on bivouac.com but i am not a member. 1. mclane's approach times seem pretty accurate. 2. winged evil awaits at gentian pass. there are more scenic and less buggy sites along polemonium ridge. 3. mclane's instruction manual is far off the mark for the sphinx. the north ridge is only 170 meters long. it might have been 6 pitches of "sustained" climbing in 1973 with mountain boots and a 30m glacier rope. for most people it will not be worth the walk but is an excellent route if you are traversing the range. unfortunately, we weren't. do not descend to the southwest col---instead, it's best to traverse back to the start of the ridge via 3rd class terrain under the east face. seems like the only people who climb this (or, at least sign the register) are park rangers. 4. the col nearest castle peak has better rock than the one near phyllis' engine if you are heading to mt. davidson. the crux of the n.e. ridge might be getting to it---we didn't, but we didn't try too hard either. the glacier outflow has changed---stay closer to the north/northwest face than is shown in the photo. the route looked nice from above. a beautiful area.

seems likely. thanks for the info.

as dan is unlikely to weigh in on this, i will supply the reality check and full disclosure: grade III (climb and descent. plan accordingly if doing it rt from the parking lot.). technical grade 5.10 (furry and strenuous in spots but not in the "hard" 5.10 range.) f.a. claim is up for grabs because we found a really old nut, minus its perlon, a short ways up pitch 2. no other tat. the old guy rested in one spot leading pitch 1 and the young guy rested once leading pitch 4. the middle-aged guy styled his pitches as usual. mike's topo, while excellent overall, has a few errors from the top portion of pitch 3 onwards. if you get that far, you won't need a topo. this is an insignificant blade of slag. i would have rather climbed chipped and overbolted routes at duty dome or the real pearly gates.

anyone who would NOT recommend the index traverse and goes on to complain about a bit of brushy downclimbing ought to move to colorado. fucking wank.

give an oregonian a living wage... throw your empties out the window.

your lack of cuss words is disturbing. i suggest you smoke more crack, worship satan with more zeal and shrink-wrap your cats.

thanks.

has anyone been there recently and care to fess up some info on road access? thanks, will call canfor eventually.

the approach to the sherpa-argonaut cirque does have a bit of brush but it is not bad---half a day like nolse said. the descent to sherpa-argonaut col is fine. you can use lighter shoes and won't need an ice axe. the same probably can't be said for the sherpa glacier. and the cirque is a cool place. it's a good route with just a bit of gravelly rock near the notch where the more technical climbing starts.

i crash around in the brush a fair amount and,in my opinion, there are no more ticks this year than normal. i occasionally hit patches of them (like 10-15 in a short distance) in both brush and forb covered areas. no big deal...just check often. they are less numerous than and don't whine like mosquitos (or you wanks, for that matter). if you get one, ease it out by its head like chuck's post says. if you pull it out by the body you increase the chance of it transmitting anything in its midgut. i've known two people that had them embedded in their scrotums.....that's just poor personal hygiene and lack of attention from the wife.

"speak no evil". it's truly an embrassment that the perps of this bullshit are locals. eventually somebody is gonna snap. just to avoid thread drift, i bet cattalk, whoever he might be, would likely agree. fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck. we now return you to your regular programming......

now if you could just find a #5 camelot.....i hear the grace period is quickly ticking away......

fuck off, podunk.