jhamaker

Since we are on the topic of lost poles . . . I have 2 friends who have lost 3 poles between them: 1 pole in Goodelle Cr. 2 poles in Access Cr. I hope if they were found that they were carried out. I hate trash in the wilderness. If found and you want them returned for taunting value, I'll make arrangements.

I thought *you* brought the stove pump. I thought *you* brought the pot. I'm now so paranoid I ask to see all stove parts at the tr hd. Drove too close to the edge of a logging rd while trying to avoid a snow patch. It seems the side of the rd was soft mud.

If you can't navigate off trail - don't go. The rock on the Chopping Block is realy nice, Terror is Terrible - so is Degenhart. Autohorn (sp) and Himmelhorn are o.k. by some routes. One of these is a nice scramble, the other had a nice *looking* 5.7 from the pass. The S facing couloir between the two can be steep for some people. Have fun, leave no trace!

The traverse is an easy walk/scramble. I bivyied on Hinman and got to see the sunset and the sunrise. I then decended into the drainage S of Danial and encountered Brush III.

Actual comments left on USFS registration sheets and comment cards by hikers finishing *wilderness* camping trips. "A small deer came into my camp and stole my bag of pickles. Is there a way I can get reimbursed? Please Call." "Trails need to be wider so people can walk while holding hands." "Trails need to be reconstructed. Please avoid building trails that go uphill." "Too many bugs, leeches, spiders and spider webs. Please spray the wilderness to rid the area of htese pests." My personal favorite: "Need more signs to keep the area pristine." "The coyotes made too musch noise last night and kept me awake. Please eradicate these annoying animals."

$ for the Camalots are deffinatley worth it in the bigger sizes because of the huge range. On Cascade granite I find I use my #.5- # 2 sizes most. The # 3 or even #4 come in handy in the 5.5 to 5.7 range or anywere there are big cracks. Buy a #1, then a #2, then a #3 - just to have it. Buy a .75 and .5 if you can afford it or fill the smaller sizes w/ cheaper cams - ones designed to also work as stoppers. Don't bother doubling up - just add pieces from a friend's rack untill you have more money than patience.

There is a small log-jam just downstream of the Access Cr/Big Beaver confluence. We were able to minimize class 3 bushwacking to only one hour - still lots of brush 1 and 2 however you go. The flying blood-suckers were eating us alive, so we ate them back. Yum, yum, blackened black-fly steak, horse-fly haunch, mosquito minion. The couloirs up Access Cr headwall are mostley full of snow. The bivy sites are getting beat up, be gentle.

Hold up. Isn't 8mi Cr. tr hd closed?

Chossiest Low Pks in WA: Seastacks. Awful sandstone.

Went in to from Chambers Lk July 4th and over to the PCT, Big Snowy and Ives. Good skiing on the N side. Most of the PCT is still covered by snow but I hear that Snowgrass Flats melted out last wk. Goat Lake was still frozen. By chequeing elevations of the aformentioned areas, you should be able to guestimate snow levels.

A month ago there was some blow-down between Snow Cr. Wall and the lower lk. Is this still the case?

Now that summer has arrived, I use no stove, an alcohol stove, or a trioxene stove - as long as I don't have to melt water. No one has realy discussed fuel cost. An entire winter seasons worth of white gas costs the same as one single outing of compressed gas. An XGK or Wisperlight will burn gas, white gas, deisel & kerosen, jet fuel . . . I very very rarely have trouble w/ my MSR liquid gas stoves - filter your gas and add a teaspoon of carb cleaner to the gas every once in a while. I know people who use fire paste/alcohol to *reduce* flare-up. If you are realy gunked up - MSR/Cascade Designes does a fine job of cleaning the stove. Ten yrs ago MSR had a strong, fool-proof pump. Now they suck - easily damaged, esp by left handed people. Flare up is not a problem in a Mega-mid - the roof pk is way high. I guess if I was forced to cook in a *tent* I would get a multi-fuel or compressed gas stove. Outward bound used the MSR Dragonfly w/ students for one season - and found that after just a few courses w/ gumby students, the Dragonfly needed serious maintenance. I hate compressed gas canisters. You get only a half galon of melted snow before the suckers start to peter out. You can never tell realy how much gas is in there. I hate keeping the canisters warm in my jacket. Once I had to dig a slot under the stove and burn a candle to warm the canister. Back in the day, canisters were used because they work so well at high altitude - if it ain't too cold (PV=nRT). I've heard good things about the newer Peak1's from Colman - very efficent

Whoa Nelly! Garmont boots chew up my feet. My T-3's (Scarpa) are the most comfortable plastic boots I own. W/ a Raichle therma-fit liner my feet are tottaly toasty below 0 degrees F - and they have never cracked in the cold. Shipped from CND you don't have to pas GST! Try MEC. Rem: They run way small. My men's 8 us foot fit in a size 6.5 three yrs ago.

"If you are using a natural resource for Religous or for Educational purposes, they can't touch ya" Sorry, a Fed (Magistrate?) in OR struck this one down. Get your ticket, then take 'em to court. Call, visit, and write your congress people.

Re: Lower N Ridge of Stuart. About how many pitches to the ledge at (8,200')?

All can be done in a day from base-camp. We brought a rope for some easy leads and a couple of rappells. Bring a sub-minimal rack. Climbs must have been 5.6 or lower because I did them in boots and did not encounter any problems. Leads were very short, you *might* be able to get away w/ a 30m rope if you are terribly weight-consious. I remember downclimbing some stuff w/ interesting route-finding. Beware chossy rock.

2 black plastic garbage bags? Other light weight options are siltarps and ponchos (wich double as rain-gear), both best below treeline or where you can set it up. 1)weight: below 1 lb or not worth it.- else bring a MegaMid 2)breathability: Get the hairy g-tex (Nexus), and get it at least 2/3 around your body.

Go 50 meters for alpine I agree w/ those above. Most alpine routes were put up w/ 40 or 45 m ropes, so 60 m makes no sence since w/ a 60 you will encounter MORE wieght, rope drag, and dificulty of communication. A double rope system, while usuasly safer than a single rope system is not necessarily faster because of rope management issues. The thinner the strands, the more they like to tangle. 2x60 m ropes is the heaviest of all systems. 60 m ok for long steep snow/ice if you carry enough pro.

Any step-in that Grivel makes fit tele boots. The Rambo's have adjustable front-points that can be extended. But for soft boots, you want strap-ons. Does Grivel make strap-ons?

Note: Baker party had frs (range usualy less than 2 mi) successfuly transmitted but not rec'd over a dist of 60mi Rainier party had no radio/phone Hood party had a cell phone Shit happens, we all do what we, personaly, feel is necessary to protect us from it. ------------ Wisdom comes from experience, experience comes from making mistakes. (paraphrase unkown)

As of last Mon: Over two ft of snow starting at the Pking lot (not plowed). Snow turns to mush after only 1/2 hr of sun. Cornices were dropping all over the place. EW Spires, though, good to go as is all of "Liberty Bell" Some small patches of snow melting and getting N face routes damp. Not great skiing, but better than walking. Enough traffic to forgo skis/slowshoes.

Baker, Rainier, Hood. May we all learn lessons from these, and have the courage to apply them.

Tent problems -> snow cave problems -> -> -> Death. OSU students (if undergrads) = inexperienced

>>>The chain reaction began when two climbers at the front of the pack slipped, falling into climbers behind them. They all crashed into the next group of climbers, and everyone tumbled into the crevasse<<< Ref:http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/134464429_webhood30.html Simmilar to an accident in AK a few yrs ago. Moral: Consider not roping up if you can't arrest.

>>>The chain reaction began when two climbers at the front of the pack slipped, falling into climbers behind them. They all crashed into the next group of climbers, and everyone tumbled into the crevasse<<< Ref:http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/134464429_webhood30.html Simmilar to an accident in AK a few yrs ago. Moral: Consider not roping up if you can't arrest.