klenke

Just so you know of trail closures, this is what Forrest had to say: trail closures. As for which way is shorter to Twisp, this is what I calculated and put in my Gazetteer a while back: 237 miles from Seattle to Winthrop via Stevens Pass Hwy 190 miles from Seattle to Winthrop via North Cascades Hwy I'm not sure where in Seattle that original calculation was made. Might have been the Woodinville locale. If time is a constraint, I personally therefore make the cut off for which way to go at the little town of Pateros. I have generally found, in experimentation, that it takes about 3.25 hours to get to Winthrop via NCH and 4.5 via SPH. But the latter has taken as long as 5 hours before. Conclusion: drive to Winthrop via NCH.

Nice pics. Nice page. Saw some people I know or haven't seen in a while. Most notably among those of this site: DKemp.

Where's you's drunkn' tomorra's, Tony? Iza might be up fer dat.

No, "trask" is a slur on the whole human race.

No, Matt, you idiot. It's none of those things. There's a hottub full of naked Swedish women at the top waiting for any hardy soul who gives Malachite a go and succeeds. One of the most truly spectacular summits in the Cascades....oops, I shouldn't have said anything...if AlpineK gets wind of this... Nice B4 report, Alex & Tom.

John, you're not an old fart, I mean old fart, I mean old fart. Your comments make sense to me.

Beck said, "these Gentleman dirtbag climbers refrained, because of the possible scandal over that name and the discrediting of the climbers community. "Now, we are enculturated to think 'shock value' makes quality in all sorts of media and semantics issues in this country." A klenke bullshit sociological response: Music history parallel: The Doors were scheduled to appear (for the first time) on the Ed Sullivan Show. They were to perform their hit Light My Fire, only Mr. Sullivan and the TV execs/producers wanted Mr. Morrison to not sing "baby we couldn't get much higher." Jim was to substitute some other word that did not have the drug connotations. Well, Jim wound up singing the word "higher" anyway. Sullivan was so irate he didn't even shake the band members' hands. The Doors were never invited back. But (paraphrasing) Jim said he did it for the shock value. That was essentially the Doors' modus operendi. And so it goes that what was once considered ribald is now considered mundane. In the 90's you had rappers and rockers spewing racist epithets and cuss words like it was nothing. They still do it today though it's not as prevalent. The constant "erosion" of the swimsuit and bikini is another prime example. As the thermodynamic property of entropy intimates, society as a whole trends toward the liberal slope. A relaxation of restraints over time (entropy) causes what was once considered taboo to later be in and then later be lusterless. Thus the need to create new luster elsewhere (to find something new to shock society with). When this new things gets old, we search for the next new thing after that. And so it goes and so it goes. In this way, civilization starts from anarchy, reaches a high point (a maximum utopian index), and then trends back toward anarchy until, out of the chaos (a maximum anarchic index), a new civilization begins to take shape and the whole oscillatory process starts over. Mathematically, the utopian index is the inverse of the anarchic index. Yeah baby!

I haven't been to Miss'sippi's high point. I've only done 14 and these are all Kansas westward. Ha ha, Black Mesa, OK, TR: I had an old 50 Highpoints book that does not mention the new trail at all (not built ATP). So, I went by the old description which is to start from the corner of a farmer's field on private land. This is roughly a mile SE of the high point monument at the base of the mesa. You're supposed to call the owner to get permission to cross his land but I promptly lost my only quarter in the small nearby town's only phone booth. (Classic case of not knowing whether or not you're supposed to put the area code in first for a local call; in this case I chose wrongly and lost my quarter on the wrong number [when you get an automated message you lose your quarter!].) In the event you cannot get permission it is still generally acceptable to go. The other problem was that the town was so dead (it was 10:00AM) there was no other non-pay phone to use. Traveled a gravel road then a dirt track to the aforementioned corner, saw no one about but a bunch of devil-may-care cows munching the cud across the fence in the direction I wanted to go. Parked the car as best I could under two scraggily trees in a small hollow as a way to block the sun. Had to watch out for cowpies getting outta the car. Also had to beware of rattlers. Debated how much gear to take. Finally decided on Nalgene waterbottle and camera. Also decided on boots over trail shoes, which was a good thing since there's lots of prickly things en route. Took a diagonal across the occupied field all the while leery of Da Bull. The cows gave that typical "who's this bozo?" look as they continued their masticating ways. Pretty soon I found myself beginning the annoyingly boring ascension of the ever-increasing slope of the mesa below the escarpment-proper. Lots of long grass. Rattlsnakes could be lurking anywhere. Keep your ears perked. Got to the 50-ft high blocky talus and cliff band and shortly hopped my way to the top of the mesa. Could not see the monument anywhere. The book's poor map showed it was roughly thataway, so thataway I went. The top of the mesa is super-duper flat. It would be quite boring really if it weren't for the plenteous cacti and other prickly fauna. I kept going and going and finally descried something man-made poking up out of the ground in the distance. Finally, after another 5 minutes of winding my way around pricklers, I got to the monument. Sat on the shady side and leafed through the register tidbits, a couple of packaged condoms being the wildest items I can remember. Returned the same way. The bovines again laughed as only bovines can laugh at the passing homo sapien. On the way outta Oklahoma, I went by way of a road into Colorado that goes around the eastern terminus of the mesa. A sign says something to the effect of "Black Mesa Trail" and there is a short road to a trailhead. An older couple is there reading the kiosk. The kiosk says the trail is 3+ miles long (3 miles!!! Good night!). I tell them it'll be a long way (the older man was handicapped in some way, can't remember how; I think he had a cane). I tell them I took the cross-country route which is probably two hours shorter in the roundtrip. They ask me where it is but I take one look at him and steer them away from the way I went. THE END. { The usher will see you out. }

Fox, what you've got pictured there is the highest point in Nebraska (a 5,424-ft buffalo field called Panorama Point). This is the highest point in Oklahoma.

Why should I be jealous? It just shows you're the biggest loser of us all.

Catbird said: "But I totally agree with Bob on the media. It's so screwed up. What's immoral: showing someone getting shot full of lead or a pair of breasts?" They're both immoral as far as I'm concerned. If you want to see someone's breasts out in the open, go some place where they're not modest about it, such as one of those Amazonian tribes...or a Rio beach.

Go to USFS Reports You might have to place a phone call to Methow Ranger District at 509-996-4000. Andrews Creek is closed due to heavy damage from the Farewell Creek Fire. Not sure about the upper Methow River Trail due to the Needle Creek Fire.

A picture of The Flagpole Needles Group. Size limitations on this site have reduced the resolution such that The Flagpole is not as obvious. Click here.

As promised, here's that panorama:

From last Friday:

To add to Dru's point... The etymology of * and niggard (whence niggardly) is not at all the same. Because they sound very similiar, though, people erroneously assume the two words are etymologically related, and thus both offensive. The first word is definitely offensive. The latter is not or should not be. Heck, there's even "niggle" in the dictionary, and that word means "trifle" or "to spend too much effort on minor details" (hardly an offensive definition). "*" comes from "negro", which ultimately began from Latin "niger" "Niggard" is of Scandanavian origin, from "hnoggr" ("niggardly"), from Old English "hneaw" ("niggardly"). Niggardly, as defined in the earlier post link, means "stingy" or "miserly" in its broadest definitions. There are lots of words in the English language that sound the same but are not at all etymologically related. An obscure example would be that of "lickerish" (desirous gluttony, lecherous) and "licorice" (that black confection we all know and love [or hate]).

Eric Hoffman has done the Tatoosh traverse in two stages. Trip reports: 1st stage 2nd stage

Did you know that the person that has the record for the fastest time climbing all the state high points used a car and a airplane. Think about that! Yeah, Ernie, do you think that guy walked between all the peaks? Of course he took a car or a plane. And so did everyone else. Maybe that can be your ultimate goal, to climb the 50 state highpoints (maybe 51 if Puerto Rico joins the union) by foot/bike/canoe a la Erden.

If you all don't knock it off this instant I'm going to have to create a disrespectable list after all and put you kids on the top of it. Now go to your rooms!

Yes, welcome Mr. Roper and Mr. Majors. I can only hope the spray monkeys on this site don't expectorate on your posts. Some of them can't help themselves. These are certainly times where it is never warranted. Harry, here are some pictures of Mt. Custer, since you were speaking of Henry Custer: Custer from Rahm Custer, Northeast Side Custer, South Side Too bad such a chossy peak had to be named after him. And, Henry, I would love a copy of one of your books. I will send you a PM.

Was there a fish ladder?

I took a fantastic panorama of the entire Enchantments Plateau from McClellan Peak on Friday. Just as soon as I get it scanned and hosted on a secret server I will provide the link.

Most of the larches in the Enchantments aren't very cowardly right now. Not many are yellow. Looks like a couple of weeks from now they should really be primed with that monochromatic zinc chromate look. They'll kowtow eventually.

Nary a bug. On Friday at elevations above 7,200 ft there was a fresh dusting of snow (half-an-inch deep in drifts) that lingered on north slopes and sunless areas. Probably getting more up there as I type this.