chelle

Glad you guys are fine and the rocks did not get anyone further down below. Side note: When at Castle I try to park all the way near the road on the left side of the lot under the trees at the trailhead. Rockfall is hard on trucks and windshields too.

Baker ski area conditions are probably more predictive of conditions on Mt. Shuksan than on Mt. Baker. Although who knows, they're only a few miles apart as the crow flies.

I saw something about a pretty cheap ticket deal through British Airways. You'd probably have to buy a ticket from here to SF or LA to take advantage though. I've also had good luck with Air Brokers International out of SF.

Can you drive all the way up to the parking area yet?

It's so much broader than the research agenda and I personally find the amount of religious right influence over policy disturbing, but then I am in the secular left wing minority.

No river boating gear. Got a tent and some aid climbing gear.

The new passport requirements will go in effect 2 years from 12/31/05. So you should have plenty of time to get your paperwork in order.

So Squid, you into river boating these days? The little bit I did was fun stuff, keep your shoulders strong. But I decided that I had successfully confronted my fear of water and confirmed that it was real. And went back to climbing and biking. I'm gonna give sea kayaking a try this summer though.

The one of Yosemite is a great perspective too.

Dru - The bit about TLC and purchase of the gravel pit... Is this an attempt to purchase the land and prevent the gondola from happening? If yes, we should promote the fundraising effort to make sure they get enough money to purchase the land.

In college my zoology instructor described this as one of the hazards of her summer field study trip to Belize. Two people (a student and another instructor) had been infested the previous summer. I was glad I had a great summer job and was not tempted by the class.

Who cares? Is climbing about being the best? The idea smacks of competition which really doesn't have a place in climbing IMO.

Snowboy-Ever messed around with keyhole? Pretty cool software.

How many people you feeding with that 20#?

CBS - for always being such a watershed of inane technical info your assertion that it is hard to get enough potassium is funny. It is readily available in so many fresh fruits and veggies. It may not be added to processed foods (nor listed on food labels) but if you want to eat healthy you don't want to eat processed crap anyways. During the Darwinian time of human specices evolution salt was hard to come by, which is why our bodies work so hard at retaining salt and waste potassium at every chance since it was very easy to come by. Unfortunately human biological design has not continued to evolve to reflect the amount of crap they add to processed food. If you are getting cramps you likely have an imbalance of electrolytes like sodium and potassium, but other micronutrients may be involved if you don't have a great diet or don't take a multivitamin (e.g., calcium or phosphate imbalance). If you decide to play with supplementing your intake of sodium and potassium before and during a climb, DO NOT overdo it. More is not always better. Electrolytes are a pretty delicate balance and if you overload on sodium or potassium you can have some pretty bad consequences. Rule of thumb would be to eat foods that have salt and potassium (nuts and dried fruits and dried meats) during your climb. Put some kind of gorp in a pocket and have a handful every hour or so. You'll get a little energy and some electrolytes. Replacement drinks are great too. A note on multivitamins...if you don't have a great diet or drink alcohol with meals you are hoping to get vitamins from: Alcohol interferes with vitamin absorption so you may be deficient and not know it. Best bet is to take a multivitamin in the morning with breakfast, a little food will keep your stomach from getting upset.

That's a newer redesigned model - no Jake's corners which is what makes it bombproof in high wind gusts and doesn't include the $30 footprint. But whatever... Looks like SD is blowing out a bunch of tents through REI. When stock runs out, I'll happily entertain a reasonable offer.

Sorry for the confusion. The bikes will be attached to the bike racks on my truck for the ride up the big hill. It's a 4 cylinder but I think it'll make it up the hill. Chilko lake is on the itinerary, so is Turner lake. We're also planning to do an overnight trip up the McKenzie trail to some lakes and hang out a couple days. Before heading up the big hill we're planning to hike out to the Ape lake overlook and check out the views of the coast range glaciers. The mountain bikes are for some cool trails we read about near the east side of Tweedsmuir that open up onto the plateau; and they're insurance in case we have truck trouble and need to ride into a town for help. Bill, thanks for the tip on the fishing pole. It'd be nice to actually eat a fish caught in a mountain lake. Haven't done that since I was a kid. And I'm glad to hear about the bears, it's a worry of mine. We'll have spray with us just in case.

I'm planning a 12 day hiking, camping, mountain biking, backpacking trip along highway 20 for early July. Taking the inside passage ferry up there to start the trip. Anyone have any tips about this part of BC or any must dos along the way?

Anyone get matching funds from their employers out there? Make your donation count twice if you can.

Great condition. $325 (+shipping) OBRO. Includes stuff sack, tent, fly, poles, jake's corners, stakes, and footprint. No leaks, no tears.

What size are your feet? Have 40 below OB that are on the small end.

Norman- Thanks for providing a very realistic, experience based perspective. It has been frustrating that few professionals with expereience are willing to weigh in on end-of-life care and what the dying person is likely to go through at the end. JayB- you question the motives of the person who is chosing to end sustaining care for a loved one. Personally I wonder if Terri's parents (and other family members who chose to sustain life without much thought to quality of that life) are keeping her alive because they think it is what SHE wants or if they are so uncomfortable with her dying that they are keeping her alive because it is the only way THEY can deal with the tragedy of her circumstance. If it is the later, they are very selfish. I suppose that if she had a living will that stated she wanted all life sustaining measures continued regardless of her life quality, the parents are advocating the right thing. Unfortunately that document does not exist and her husband has every legal right to make a decision about what she would want. She has not recovered nor made progress since the heart attack and all the life sustaining measures to date. Just who is she being kept alive for? I wonder if the people advocating that preservation of life is paramount think they may be interveining in "god's" territory. She should be left to peacefully depart this world, let all involved grieve and then move on. The fact that our culture is so fearful of death is why this woman is still alive.

Thailand! Great climbing. Warm water. Good beaches. Other things to do besides climb (snorkeling, site seeing, etc.) Great food. The people are great. From what I know the bungalows on Ton Sai beach near Railay that were set back from the water are fine and are only about 4 years old. If you want a little more adventure you should seriously consider it. Congrats!

Knock it off Dru. We don't even have an identity.

Hey Fern, thanks for the heads up. It'll be interesting to see the results.