crazy_t

Raindawg (and Archie too), that's quality stuff! You guys are usually right on the money though. Hey sun, I'm sure your gf's parent's will be impressed by your "caveman on the beach" plan. Of course, simplicity is good and you have some elements of a good time there, but I don't see where she or they fit into your vision. Why are people dissing you? Tough one, I can't figure it out. Hey, should be fun though. Write about it afterwards, people will likely be more interested then.

White Center has a vibe, people are real (if spicy). One of the only diverse parts of Seattle.

if you are traveling mainly in one direction on the route (in relation to the sun or wind) during the worst part of the day that can happen, it's happened to me. Sounds like sun/snow issues.

Yeah, who are we kidding, "West Seattle blows". Cap' Hill is where all the cool people, and climbers, are at. Over here we're just posers, dreamers, gapers. "Wannabees". We're moving to slow here, not to mention the hindrance of that "WSB", to ever get ahead of the curve.

Part of the draw here in West Seattle is the "absence". Don't need to live directly in the city to benefit from the city; prefer the relative quiet. And the bridge "megacluster"? That's a joke. You have convenience to crack, drunken clowns etc. in your backyard on Capitol Hill, I don't envy you that. Having lived in some amazing mountain towns, this city on the whole has been a real step down (just like almost any city would be). Any climber, skier living here has to pack up their car and drive through town and highways for at least an hour to, and then back from our favorite outdoor activities. Kind of alters the experience and relationship with the hills. Nice mountains around us all, though.

yeah, Fremont etc. are way better "mountain towns".

"Fight Center", I wouldn't live there but I do like it. Authentic vibe, some good joints (taco bus/ taqueria Rincon on 16th/Ambaum is amazing). El Salvadorian bakery on Roxbury. McLendon's. I like it there. A friend and I went on a pub crawl in White Center a few years ago. We went to 6 or so places from 5-7 pm, saw some real flavor. Marv's Broiler, Triangle, Long Van (now Moon), Brewsky's, the Pacific Rim and a couple of more. We saw some sort of altercation or "challenge" at each place we went to, it was wild. Then we got called out as cops (untrue) by a guy we had seen at 3 consecutive places. Pretty lively locals there. That Pacific Rim brewery has a funky tasting room too. You can bring in your own to go containers of any size and shape, they charge you by the ounce for beer to go. West Seattle, hey it's pretty sweet. If you don't work regular 9-5 hours the driving issues are nil. Nice waterfront, parks, community feel, some good restaraunts/bars/coffee, close to the airport.... and close to White Center..

look into Remote Medical out of Seattle. Check out their pass rates, and they seem to have be recognized more widely. I just took a wfr with them, it was great.

"I believe there are various levels of defilement. Plowing a road up to 15,700 is one I'd put at the high end." Hopefully you don't find upon arrival that the human impact on Aconcagua is on (or above) your high end, too. You may have a challenge here, look into it before you go.

Apart from your issues with human encroachment on this peak, a big hurdle currently is route conditions/choice. The snow/ice on the mountain has deteriorated severely in the last 5 years making it more technical, prone to avalanche hazard from recent snowfall, and has generally changed the nature of the standard route. There is some good news in the route category though, from what I hear. Per your "chief complaint" I've never climbed it, and don't know how to answer that question for you. I have a lot of friends who have, even one there as we speak. "Defilement" is all around us, and is serious, but we are all really part of the problem. It seems like you are already at your own conclusion though.

I guess you would know...

probably was the next stop for it after that similar call from over at oregon jack that a.m. ....

That's funny stuff

so there you have it.

In those situations, it's usually best (for me) to say something. Hopefully in the form of a joke or something, to give them a chance to ease off rather than get defensive. Ultimately too, you never know the story behind the story, but if you don't get it off your chest in a timely way, it will bug you for the rest of the day, and I usually enjoy my time out better when I'm not thinking about human issues. But the guy crowded you (if the situation is like you described it), whether he intended to be pushy or not. Not a "big deal" (ala rumr) but low on the style points scale.

it's classic, when you are getting into a nice groove somewhere, starting to have fun, and then the "city" comes right to you.

tasty

Trip: Baker, "mid" Squak ski - Date: 7/1/2007 Trip Report: Skied Baker on Squak today from 8200', It was very nice, from 8200' to top of RR grade. Below there it was scrappier but you could ski to 1/3 down that big hill under Schreiber's Meadows; alot of this section was mank/ cupped. Firm snow up high, corned up well, a number of small slots but mostly perp to skiing and not too open. Best 8200' to 6200' or so; it was fun skiing. Saw just 1 other set of tracks, a nice line of tele turns from Sat? parallelling the Easton climbing track. Can drive to TH, there are a number of trees down on the lower trail and some funky bits of trail that needs to melt out and see log clearing but that's about it. Glaciers in good shape, skiing looked good from the summit to where I started (looked like extensive swaths of the good corn-making snow from the top down, broken up by crevasses but pretty navigable). A party of 4 left a real visible track up the Squak that looks reliable, as does the normal Easton line. That skiing lookers left of the RR grade up to 6500 or so is all funnelled out. Almost all camping above 4500' was on snow, maybe a little will change over next 2 days. Easton and Squak climbing/skiing should be good + for this week. DG, sorry for the mix-up!! That blew.

That Diamond and the Cirque, one of my favorite places in the world. Thanks for the pics!

? Now we're a party of 2

It does look good right now. Currently jonesing, but looking forward to doing something tomorrow.

any ideas on where to look for them?

Is anyone not using their permits? An impromptu group of 3 would pay/trade you for them. PM me, or cell 206-396-2059, thanks!

Anyone been up there this week? Skiability reports?

tomorrow might be the day to get out, freezing levels climbing...