Fairweather

My wife, 63yo, bought an ebike a couple years ago and I spent a year trying to keep up with her on my Yeti ARC--but finally gave up and bought a Specialized (yes, I know) Turbo Levo. I've been going back and forth, but the logic of the non-ebike is starting to escape me. Riding my human-powered hard tail after a day on the emtb feels like running with a 100 pound pack on. I'm not tracking any of my elevation gain while on the ebike; it's not my effort. Not sure where this is heading. But it's a good time to be getting old.

Your complaint sounds like MSNBC script. Or a scowl on the face of a crowd refusing to celebrate a 13 year old boy stricken with cancer. How did Democrats become so utterly awful? Ok, you used Nazi allusions, so let's start there. The only folks I see spewing anti-Semitic bile these days are Democrats and progressives. Columbia, anyone? Not Republicans, who, in fact, are united in their support for the Jewish state. Certainly not Trump who, likewise, has attempted to cut off funding to universities who tolerate the physical harassment of Jewish students and violence generally. Who are the Nazis in America these days? Ask a Jewish friend--if you have any. Putin. Yes, I understand Rachel Maddow says you can't be against unchecked financial and weapons support for Ukraine and against Putin at the same time. But do you really think this? It's just, well, a very limited view of the world. Finally, yes, we just had an election and America chose Trump. I didn't like it when they chose Biden--but, hey, that's democracy. And Trump won because of the dripping arrogance and utter contempt white liberals hold for pretty much everyone who lives outside their city limits or a university campus--or the national parks. (Full circle.) Leftists, Democrats, progressives, have become weird and generally disgusting. A cadre of white liberal women and their cucks. A masquerade ballroom full of elites and intelligentsia dancing into the night while The Red Death ravages the countryside. Trump is President because of the thoughts, ideas and actions of the people you surround yourself with.

Exactly. We do not have, nor did we ever have a "treaty" to protect Ukraine as you claim. You should do a better job reading the links you post. Semantics aside, I think it's a good thing that an American President finally wants to stop wholesale slaughter and war--and not feed endless war and corruption. Progressives are sounding more and more like neocons nowadays.

Snowshoed up Star Peak (formerly Squaw Peak) above Hwy 200 this last Tuesday with my neighbor and his 12 year old son. Cold and windy and one of the coolest outhouses I've ever seen.

Spoken like a true "public servant."👍 Remember, you work for us. And we elected this administration. For too long, NPS staff have acted like the public lands they manage belong to them alone. Looking forward--learn to code? Trampling free speech? No, that was you and your Biden/D buddies who, at one point, even tried creating a Ministry of Truth. Corrupt? It's looking like your USAID buddies and their D bosses take the blue ribbon. More to come. Go Elon! Curious, which "treaty bound" country did we abandon?

That's incredible! Some great stories. I never did climb Liberty Ridge--but managed eight other Rainier routes. I'll probably stick to the Emmons or Furher Finger if I make it to a 50 year anniversary climb. I never made it over to the Tahoma Glacier either. That would be nice. My first Olympus summit was in 1980 and I remember looking over to Glacier Pass as we crossed the Blue on the way down thinking that I'd like to find out what's on the other side. I never have been back to do the traverse to Queets Basin, but I did return to Olympus's summit in 2005 with my 14 year old son--and again in 2019 in the pouring rain. If I make it, I'd like to go back in 2030. Maybe combine the climb with the traverse. 1980 2005 2019

Top of Mount Hood, 1977. My first volcano.

I still hike in my Levis sometimes! At least you're not wearing shorts over polypro, haha. Great picture.

I'm coming up on fifty years of climbing in the PNW and, God willing, might be able to repeat a trip or two from the late 1970s. Hiked up my first summit, Bearhead Mountain, in 1975 and will do it again this summer with my grandkids. A couple more years until my Rainier jubilee--and I'd love to repeat Adams Glacier in 2029. I stood on my first glacier in 1974--but, sadly, Anderson Glacier is no more. Anyone here have climbs they've repeated 50 years later? 40 years later? Then & now photos?

Now that's a cool bike! Our dog rides in a trailer--but your dog is getting much better views. Titanium? Love the center stand too.How does the front wheel track? Much skidding off pavement?

Good news, the private sector awaits their arrival.

Dissent is the right of citizens to protest their government. Here we have government protesting its citizens. Not gonna turn out well for them.

From the Superintendent down to the seasonal ticket taker. Keep a list.

But there's enough manpower to station a patrol car at the gate? Makes no sense.

That would be AWESOME. 👍

I took this in 2013 from the top of the moraine. A while ago, I know. Deception Basin is very beautiful.

He's been in place for two years now. All the restrictions/closures at MRNP started with him. Worse than Ubaraga; every bit as obnoxious as Bill Briggle. This is a big problem with the National Park Service. For varying reasons, they come to view the public as the other, and the parks they administer as their own.

https://mustreadalaska.com/controversial-park-service-supervisor-promoted-to-mount-rainier-park-post/

From late 2020: https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/articles/president-trump-signs-great-american-outdoors-act-preserving-protecting-national-parks/ So, how did the new Superintendent spend the money? Mr. King seemed to be able to manage resources properly before he left. Why can't Mr. Dudgeon? He wore out his welcome in Alaska--and now we're stuck with him. And what did the Biden Administration do for four years? (I mean, besides give nearly $200Bn to Ukraine and billions more to fund programs for illegals.) But let's not kid ourselves, bureaucrats will always plead poverty when there's hard work to be done. Or hide behind a wall of indecipherable rules that they themselves get to write. No amount of money will ever be enough to "properly" fund this or that. Open the park, already.

MORA is going the way of the ski industry. Lost to urban elites--willing to pay top dollar for weekend escapades--and a bureaucratic class willing to cater to them exclusively. https://www.nps.gov/mora/learn/news/mount-rainier-national-park-announces-winter-recreational-access-for-2024-25-season.htm

While the Psalms are beautiful, David was a supreme paradox. So too it is with climbing mountains. How to reconcile the beauty with the darkness? Just terrible. I pray for your brother--and you and your family. Continue your walk with God along whatever path He chooses for you, and find His favor as David did. We look forward to reuniting with our departed again someday.

Jim Wickwire

Ha, I didn't even know that was a thing. My bad, I didn't understand the motivation. Sounds like fun no matter what ends up getting skied.

Have you considered Cooper Spur? I've down-climbed it many times. It's also a big fall, but for whatever reason, I never thought too much about it. One of my favorite solo routes. Leaving your skis at the bottom of Cooper Spur's "Chimney," summiting, down-climbing, and skiing down from there would give you about the same amount of vertical on skis. Of course, it's a bit more of a traverse if you're starting at Meadows. But not much more than the traverse to Wy'East from Timberline. (??)

I never saw tracks or shared the route with another party. But that was decades ago, maybe it's more popular now. Re skiing the route, well, I'd say if you down-climb the chute and the traverse, and ski down from there then it's hard to lay claim to skiing the route. Still a great day on Mount Hood! But not a ski descent of the WyEast route, IMO. Laps on the Newton Clark would be more enjoyable for an old guy like me.😀