Jim

A group of us tested several beacons last winter in the Wallowas while on a BC trip. Buried - the Tracker II came out on top for precision and range - besting the Orthtovox S1. Your results may vary

Wrong. I have an old iPhone4 and get GPS satellites just fine and use Giaia GPS - which is a great program by the way.

My late father saw several over the years up at Buck Creek Pass, up to about 1954. There was a healthy population here, and it was completely lost due to human encroachment, unlike what is claimed here without basis in fact. I saw a presentation recently at a wildlife conference that looked at the energetics for the griz in the North Cascades vs. the greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Basically the pretty convincing conclusion was that the North Cascades can support some griz, but not anywhere near the densities found where they are doing well because of the habitat and prey abundance. The thoughts are that griz was never a high density species in the Cascades and never will be - but that the population could be bumped up a bit with some assistance. That's the non-technical thumbnail sketch I got from the presentation. From the USFWS perspective, they look at the Cascades as a way to increase this Distinct Population Segment as another step in Endangered Species Act Recovery. Given, however, that USFWS is the stepchild of all federal natural resource agencies and has very little funding to spare, I'd say give this and the politics - an introduction program is a long shot.

One other item - for the Canon lens you might try Glazers Camera in the Lake Union area - they have a decent selection of used lenses and you might find something here. I find the folks here very helpful. http://www.glazerscamera.com/store/used-items/used-lenses

I use binoculars for fieldwork regularly - but it depends on what you want to use them for. Scoping out routes and need to be compact? Longer distance critter watching? Birding in the forest at closer range? My advice would be to wander over to the Seattle Audubon Society's office in Wedgwood where they have a good range of optics and a very informed staff person that can help you out and you can step outside and try a few pairs. Camera - again depends. I shoot with a Nikon 7100 - you can pick up a body for about $1k. My very strong advice is to not scrimp on a lens and stick with the brand lens whichever company you go with. For when I want a lighter setup I just love my Sony RX100 - this camera sticks in my chest jacket pocket or side softshell pant pocket and it just takes great pics in .jpg or RAW format. One downside - no viewfinder but great optics. About $700. Oh - BootsandPants - FYI - loved that Iceland report and pics - may be emailing you in future for some trip advice. Awesome trip report.

Ah, yea. But no one is climbing up to or around them on those skyscrapers, buildings, or bridges. They do quite well under the I5 Bridge and on the Mutual Tower downtown Seattle. Would be a good idea to give 'em a break until the youngsters fledge. I passed this note on to the district wildlife biologist - thanks.

Rats! Not this week. Working on the peninsula end of the week.

I recently picked up a replacement for mine and went with the Black Diamond Dawn Patrol LT. I had another older soft shell that had a thin insulation layer - I run hot so was looking for a minimal shell. I recently used the BD jacket on a week long yurt ski in the Wallowas. With a thin layer underneath I was able to regulate pretty well and keep the jacket on for climbs up and just threw on the puffy when we got to the top and was time to strip the skins. Seems pretty wind resistant and water resistant as the ski back down at the end of the week went through wetter snow. Dawn Patrol LT

Too bad I could not make this one - I even have one really weird piece of climbing hardware for general discussion! Next time Oly, save a large T-shirt.

I also went to Bouche and he seemed very competent, reviewed my X-rays, build a padded insert and gave me some advice, and hoped I did not have to return. Hendershot- how are you doing now?

Been that kind of work week - TODAY is Thursday, duh! Gotta be somewhere at 9:00 so may stop by for a quick brew - but will have to pass on the round-robin bocce ball tournament. Haven't been here yet but it's on the list!

.....but who won at bocce ball?

If anyone cares or has had a similar injury - the above advice was about it. Just needed a long rest, iced if flared up, some aleve now and then. After 2.5 months, ready to get back at it.

Thanks - hoping some down time will do it.

Yep, did the Google thing and this sounds familiar. You use these folks?

Any references for one in Seattle? I think I tweaked a tendon around my sesamoid while cranking my fruitcake laden self up a route in the gym. Taking a couple weeks off.

Well, I don't get around here as much as I used to, but I'm glad I checked in today. Gave me a chuckle.

Agreed. Probably 99% of bike riders have a car and pay taxes already. No reason to discourge biking. I'm continually amazed at the vehmence towards bikers just because one might have to wait 30 seconds or so to get around a biker occassionaly. Granted - there are the jerks. Recently in Seattle I was in a 10 car backup because of decked-out road wennies just had to ride twosies, instead of in a line. I beeped at them when I went past and the caught up to me at the light and asked what the problem was. I let them know that I commute most days and that they were not adhering to the bike laws by blocking traffic like that - if they rode single file then there would be no problem. Plus I told them their "outfits" were ugly.

They did the flag thing at the crosswalk in front of my wife's middle school because the old guy crossing guard got hit by a car - twice! Once he was in the hospital for a few days, the last time he just got bounced around.

I love the faux outrage over bicyclists while cars kill and maim thousands a year. For the most part, bicyclists can be an annoyance while a car, at several thousands pounds, has to merely bump a bicycle with tragic cirmcustances. We can likely all come up with idiot bicycle and idiot car driver stories. I find that the vast majority of car drivers and bicyclists to be aware and safe. Thought this was timely in the NYT yesterday: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/opinion/sunday/is-it-ok-to-kill-cyclists.html?_r=0

your guy should fix it, especially after all the whining your side did during GW's years in office. he hasn't, and you are silent. sorry, but your complaints now are just crocodile tears Shite - the House can't even agree to get a Farm Bill passed. What makes you think they can manage anything beyond the 41 (or 43rd?) vote to appeal Obamacare.

Really? What changes has he offered? and he almost certainly has ignored FISA. Of course, we have no way of knowing since he hasn't bothered with the "transparent" government he promised. You can absolutely say that Bush opened the door, but Obama has not only walked through it, he's having a party on the other side where anything goes. Well, now you're back to makin' stuff up. There is no evidence that Mr O has gone rouge and run around the FISA as the Bushies did. Friggin' A - you and the American Taliban are going ape shit over a medical plan that was passed by Congress and then vetted by your handpicked majority of the SCOTUS. Jesus, get over it and try and come up with an agenda that people might actually vote for instead of trying voodoo and storm the Bastille tactics. And just for giggles - here's what Obama has proposed for FISA improvements. At least he recognizes it is a rule of law. ________________________________________________________ The president's proposed measures focused on reforming Section 215 of the Patriot Act and Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act, under which the NSA's surveillance programs are considered lawful. The reforms would focus on creating more oversight and greater transparency, particularly through modifications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which currently authorizes the surveillance through highly classified opinions. Obama specifically discussed creating a special advocate who could challenge the court on the basis of privacy and constitutional concerns. He also expressed support for making more information public, and upon his directive, the Department of Justice released the legal rationale for the government's collection activities under Section 215 of the Patriot Act. The president added that the NSA would be creating a civil liberties and privacy officer, as well as launching a website to serve "as the hub for further transparency." And finally, Obama announced an independent task force of outside experts that would review the government's surveillance efforts, in terms of both privacy rights and impact on foreign policy. The group would produce both an interim report within 60 days and a final report by the end of the year with findings and recommendations

Not trying to hit too hard here, but you were boderline hysterical back in the day, and I recall that you were calling for impeachment over wiretapping among other things. How 'bout now? Well you get my vote for becoming the CC.com historian and archivist. Before I address the dodge question - I wonder why you shifted gears from the topic at hand, Obamacare. It seems to captured the imagination of the American Taliban, I mean Tea Party wackos. I hope it was worth the $2 billion lost during that political theater. While I think our NSA-fed, chicken shit, government has gone way overboard after 911 - you are missing a clear distinction between what I was complaining about Bush and what Obama is doing (all of which I don't agree with) The FISA court was set up for a review of data collection of communications AND it also had an emergency system set up for quick review of requests. Bush and Company said the hell with these minor safeguards and just started yanking data off communication systems WITHOUT A WARRANT. That's what it was referred to as warrantless wire-tapping. I think the FISA court is not transparent and needs some major tweaking, Obama has offered some changes, not enough. But he never took the privilege of deciding to do a run around the FISA court. I agree with KK - stop the nonsense on Obamacare, try and make it better. If the voters really don't like the whole mess then they can put the Taliban in change and I'm sure we'll get on the right track quickly. Cheers. Go Hillary!

Niether of these are possibilities. But that doesn't mean the GOP wackos will not waste more time having hearings, standing in front of the podium ad nauseum, and voting - for the what? the 45th time to repeal the act. Democrats lost the vote for Medicare Drug coverage not too long ago - rembmember that big pharma give-away? But after it passed, they buried the hatchet and actually help tweak the act instead of grandstanding. If the GOP put 1/10th the energy spent on this show towards actually legislating something might actually happen that was useful.

Ditto - while I've some qualms about, voting yes. That and hearing, again, free speech for corporations (read money) is getting quite old.