Fairweather

There are already plenty of laws against littering. But occasionally stupid can be fixed. Not sure about lazy. Sheeesh, can't they just shake off those last few drops like the rest of us?😎

They've appeared just in the last few years. Single toilet paper squares alongside suburban and popular mountain trails. Not the brown-stain variety, rather, as if someone was "dabbing." Has anyone else noticed? If so, is this a phenomenon that is rising hand-in-hand with, how do I put this, REI's recent marketing push toward women? In any event, it's nasty and I wish people wouldn't do it. Crying Indian.

The Doves: Kingdom of Rust

Same story here. Back when the glacier and the Boy Scouts still existed.

USFS would be fine, but as screwed up as Washington State government is, they still seem to be managing their state parks fairly well. For now. I say let them have it.

You answered your own question in your preface. What's more, yes, in many ways the national park service has become the poster child for government dysfunction. Not sure Washington State government would be any better, but, hey, why not give it a try at this point.

Sad, same fate as the first glacier I ever touched. Anderson Glacier. https://www.nps.gov/olym/learn/nature/glaciers.htm

It is the least-visited national park in the nation outside Alaska. Decades of NCCC litigation has rendered it little more than a playground for public-sector elites and staff residing in Marblemount and Stehekin. Park management has let access roads and trails fall into disrepair one after another--in the name of some nebulous green religion. And now they want to expand the park and absorb the National Rec Area? I say decommission the park, retain the wilderness ares inside its present boundaries, and turn management over to either the USFS or Washington State. There is precedent for doing this: https://www.sierra.com/blog/lifestyle/disbanded-national-parks/#:~:text=4 National Parks That No Longer Exist 1,Travertine Creek. Photo by Jonathan C. Wheeler

One more thought: they get cold easier than you do. Less muscle for heat production--even in motion and relative to their total size. Don't assume they are warm just because you are. I made this mistake a couple times.

Now, occasionally, I get to take the grand kids. IMG_7015.HEIC

The wife only allowed me to take one of our two. No, not divorced, rather, some kind of weird Dawkinsesque mentality. Anyhow, he's 33 now, and might beg to differ--but I think I showed him a pretty good time. 1&2 - Olympus summit and Blue Glacier age 14 3 - Baker age 15, I think. 4 - Winter on Ellinor. Age 11? 5&6 - Age 12 in the Wrangell Nountains (Blackburn behind us) Lots of other great trips. His first backpack was Enchanted Valley when he was six. He never has summited Rainier. Under 2? Day hikes only. And car/tent camping. Advice? Have a good time. Don't come home without them.

Do you track your elev gain on the bike too? It adds up fast!

So, the national park system has the money for this scheme--but absolutely no funds to, say, keep park roads open? I have no problem with Grizzly bears or wolves. But NCNP is the least-visited national park in the contiguous United States. Decommission the park, retain the designated wilderness areas therein, and let nature sort out which apex predators wander in and out. Maybe with some help from over/under passages along Hwy20 into the southern unit.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/yosemite-national-park-reinstating-indoor-mask-mandate-amid-high-covid-19-community-level I'm growing sour on the whole nation park ideal.

...more like the gate to the cemetery!

I spent a few days XC in the Olympics this last summer. Can you name the lake?

2023 Goals: (I'll be happy with one or two) One last Rainier climb - Tahoma Glacier Mount Sanford on skis Baranof Island Traverse Complete Cabinet Mountain Traverse S-->N Missouri Breaks Canoe Trip Admiralty Island Canoe Traverse Olympic Mountains - XC Ice River Glacier Environs

Here are a few.

Flew around the summit tower of Waddington with Whitesaddle in 2019--and that was enough to scare the @#!$ out of me. Very intimidating. (What good is a recon if you're not willing to say NO? 😁) The NW Peak, however, was absolutely beautiful. Would love to go back and climb it from the Dais Glacier, or, maybe, Combatant Col and roll the dice beneath the seracs. If you decide to scale back your plans give me a call. In any event, I took some decent photos if you're interested.

Those are some great photos of a great looking trip. Just when I'm ready to ditch my real camera for my phone cam you have to go and post photos like this!

Elites aren't necessarily wealthy. ($179.00 tickets at Crystal Mountain notwithstanding.) In fact, when I think of elites, I think more about folks who have a wealth of free time on their hands compared to the general working population. I think of public sector employees. Insiders. Credentialed. Politicos. Cosmopolitan. Don't you wonder why MORA is leaving access open only on weekends, and not, say, Sunday and Monday? It's simple, really--elites tend to have weekends off. The rest can eat cake.

Yes to both.

Conflicted about this. One one hand, it seems absurd to claim short staffing issues with, what, over 100 winter employees and millions in heavy equipment now just sitting idle in the park. What's more, I'm not sure how keeping the road open during the week is any less labor-intense than prepping it for opening on Saturday mornings. Unless, of course, the real goal here is to allow the road to get so buried during the week that they just throw up their hands and proclaim, "Paradise is now closed until late spring!" On the other hand, Paradise hasn't always been open year round. Recall the book "A Year in Paradise," by Floyd Schmoe describing his isolation as caretaker at the inn during the long winters before the ski hill era. Furthermore, I'm not heartbroken these days to hear that a taxpayer-funded playground for urban elites has been throttled. Let's do the same with Benaroya Hall. I'm guessing cars will start to pile up at the bottom of Crystal Mountain Blvd as skiers and other winter recreationalists seek the path of least resistance to MORA snow.

If we use history as our North Star, he is more likely mellowing nicely at Camp Schurman.

Where did he go?