rodeo

Yoohooooo, Oh Cave Wench. I figured you'd be all over this already. Ah well, you musta gone to sharpen up your ice tools. I wanna know dude. What am I in store for on the vertical water man?

Bring it on ICEMEN!! I'm fresh meat for the ice grinder and I want to know how and where it's done!! Tell me all about it. I want to know all the gory details of pickin' my way up the frozen trail. Let the chips fly boys, let 'em fly. --Climb on,,,

Only if you count the lews Dru, and they were locked at the bivi site. Unless somebody was in there all night anyway. Nope. Nobody in the lew above Loowit Trail either. Nobody but us poor suckers that had to take a dump in that freezin' a@@ weather. --Climb on,,, [ 11-29-2001: Message edited by: rodeo ]

Well. This time the weather man was right. Those winds up there got downright nasty. The weather during the trip down Friday evening was very nice. Not to cold, pretty clear and it did not look to be changing for the next day or so. That all changed at about 2:00 AM when the winds picked up and the snow started coming down. This wasn't nice fluffy freshiez either. It was that little, tiny, stinging stuff that is just no fun. Anyway, we were up at 5:00 and set to go by 6:00. I figured that even though this was "Little Man's" first attempt and it would be slow, that we should still be able to top out and be back to the trail by dark. I still thought that until we hit the end of the timber. OUCH!! We had to put the snowshoes on just to make it over to Monitor Ridge. The wind was blowing pretty good, but Jr was hanging in there and it looked like the fresh stuff wouldn't be so deep once we hit the ridge and started making our way from cairn to cairn. After dropping the shoes just short of the actual ridge-line, I figured we'd drop over the western side into a nice draw and get out of some of that wind. Not so, says mother nature. By this time the winds were whipping up to nearly 60 mph and a 75lb kid really can't do much other than hunker down and wait this kind of stuff out. Besides the wind, we were still breaking trail in about 2 feet of powder in most places. After about 6 steps on this "protected" side of the ridge, I turned around and motioned for my son to head back over the ridge. Another blast of wind awaited us there. We put our heads down into the wind and pushed back to our snowshoes to see what we were going to do. After digging out a little seat in the snow to get out of most of the wind, we ate and decided to try this trip again another day. So after about a half an hour of sitting around figuring the wind just wasn't going to let up, we put the snowshoes back on and headed out. I got to be the one to cry "no joy" and Junior didn't get turned off of alpine climbing forever. All in all I'd say it was a good trip. Quality time outdoors with my son and a good test of stamina for him. Which, by the way, he did much better than I expected him to. Trip Notes: The parking lot at the Climber's Bivuoac was fairly clear with only 3-4 inches of snow around, although the roadway was iced over due to melting and freezing again. Some of the younger local hooligans showed up with their loud exhaust and louder music around 10 or so but only stayed long enough to get cold and want to head back. The toilet at the trailhead was locked, but the one just above where the Loowit Trail crosses the trail to Monitor Ridge was open. The trail through the timber had only a few inches of snow on it until we got to the edge of the timber near the end of if. The wind did blow a foot or so of the fresh stuff on it in some of the windward spots. There was about 2 to 2 1/2 feet of powder at the timberline when you make you way over to Monitor Ridge for the rest of the climb. Up on the ridge, it was between 1 1/2 and 2 feet deep or so when we got to our highest point. The wooden posts on the ridgeline looked solid from what I could see and were in no danger of being snowed in any time soon. Currently, there is no "volcano pass" required to climb. You are however, SUPPOSED to have a trailhead park pass while parking at the climber's bivuoac. We've seen the threads on that though. The choice be yours my friends. There is also an emergency phone located by the toilets at the trailhead. If anyone heads that way any time soon, take some pix and let us know how your trip went. --Climb on,,,Kevin

Thanks for the info bone. Unfortunately, Uncle Sam calls this weekend as does Toys for Tots. Keep us informed though. --Climb on,,,

You need a ride or something Cavey? Let me know if you do. --Climb on,,,

NEWS FLASH!!! It is rumored that a new individual belonging to this mysterious cell has been identified. His name is Musta Bin Noddin. Bin Noddin is rumored to have been seen in many conference and meeting rooms during the summer months. He has not however, been sighted anywhere near anyplace that would involve serious physical effort or enjoyment of natural wonders of any kind. This member has been associated with AwwwI Coulda bin Ski'in as well as other members of that organization. That is all for now. More news to follow as information comes in.

WOOHOO!! BEEERS I think I will have to be in on this one. Today has been one of those days. See y'all there.

I'm actually thinking about making a winter trip in to Kennedy Hot Springs. Only in winter does 95.3 get considered to be a 'hot' spring. Anyway, it will either be a snowshoe or telemark trip. Go in on Friday and come out on Sunday. This just in... I'm also planning a trip up St Helens the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It will be my son's first alpine trip. He's stoked already. [ 10-29-2001: Message edited by: rodeo ]

Hey Terminal, any ideas where that stuff can be had around here?

And for those of us who are new to ice climbing and don't know where this place is, could someone enlighten me? --Climb on,,,

Can't say as I've experienced the lime in a fresh wound scenario since I tend to forego the salt and lime when partaking of the fine Mexican liquors in abundance, but yeah, citrus fruit is a killer. Remember everyone, ice can also be considered as a mixer. --Climb on,,,

Sounds good to me. Where's the good parking around there?

I was looking for information concerning the Fee Demo Program and found the following link on the USFS site. It might be worth a minute or two to express your views directly to "the man" himself. http://www.fs.fed.us/recreation/fee_demo/commentform.html The wording of the program is at the following site. http://www.fs.fed.us/recreation/fee_demo/PL104-134asamended.shtml Spray away. --Climb on,,, [This message has been edited by rodeokevin (edited 10-22-2001).] [This message has been edited by rodeokevin (edited 10-22-2001).]

Hey everyone, I was just shown an article in the October issue of Backpacker magazine concerning a proposal to build a road connecting the Johnston Ridge Observatory and the Windy Ridge Viewpoint. I didn't see it on their web site yet, but it should be there soon, or I just couldn't find it. Anyway, I know I'm personally against it. If anyone would like to find out more, you can go to some of the following links. http://www.gptaskforce.org/gptf/sr504/index.html http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/SR504/ http://www.wta.org/~wta/cgi-bin/web10.pl?Advocacy+nw+nd+news42 I would also like to thank anyone who has posted before on topics concerning legislative action regarding our public lands. Let's work to keep them free and accessible. --Climb on,,,

Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to Miiiiike.... You know the rest. Have a good one dude. I'm sure you'll find something to do today. So go have some serious fun. --Climb on,,,

lambone, It's Dave Niehaus, the 'voice of the Mariners'. He's been announcing the M's since they first started way back when. Now you know. --Climb on,,,

How about a MYYYY OOOHHHH MYYYYYY!!!!!!

I like the idea as well. Will we also be able to include photos as well?

lambone, can I sign up by calling the gym, or just let you know here? I'll give the gym a call later this morning regardless. --Climb on,,,

I'm heading over to Leavenworth tomorrow (Thursday) morning. I'm not sure how long I'll be there, but I plan on throwing my gear in and taking my chances with the weather. Email me at rodeokevin@yahoo.com and let me know if you want to give it a try. I plan on leaving before 9 or so. -Climb on...

Dru, As long as the sheep are at least 10' above your head, I don't think the rangers would ever even notice them.

Mike, I've heard that Whitehorse is in the "Climbing Washington" guide. Does that book have the best info on this peak or do you know of something better?

Time to bring this back to the top o' the heap. Who all is going to be there? I'm definitely in. You on this Cavey? -Climb on,,,

Does that mean you'll be available for climbing next week as well? I'm on vacation with St Helens as my only planned outing and that's on Tuesday. If you're looking for anything earlier than your b-day give me a shout.