Norman_Clyde
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Posts posted by Norman_Clyde
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I have not gone up the East side of the valley in winter, but in spring and summer have noted that the trail crosses several large avy paths. Seems to me the winter route danger is mainly when you get close to Source Lake. Would you consider the eastern approach a safer alternative?
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Most of the way up to Muir is sufficiently low angle to be safe, but to get up onto Pan Point you have to go up a steeper slope. The "summer path" has slide danger whenever it gets sufficiently loaded. I've certainly seen evidence of wet slides there. Keeping to the SW ridge line on ascent would usually be the safest policy, but (obviously) is no guarantee of safety in bad conditions.
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Does anyone know which side of the valley the victims were on? That is, were they on the standard W. side winter trail, or the E. side summer Snow Lake Trail? Because this has been reported as happening on the "Snow Lake Trail" I have been assuming it was on the E. side, which crosses its first large slide path less than half a mile from the trailhead. Indeed, for that reason I thought most people avoided this trail entirely in the winter.
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I have only a little experience in the past couple of winters digging pits and reading the daily avy bulletin. Avalanche hazard still scares me more than any other aspect of risk management in the wilderness, because it's the place where experience and good judgment seem to count for the least. By saying this I am not trying to dismiss the importance of the knowledge all you backcountry skiers have gathered. However, knowledge seems to take us less far in the game of estimating avy risk. People continue to put themselves on avy prone slopes on purpose for the fun of it, with tragically predictable results. I am somewhat relieved that I don't have the same freshiez lust. I may be fooling myself, but I feel more able to manage risk on solo climbs in stable spring/summer conditions of various sorts than in most winter backcountry situations.
That being said, it is also interesting how much simple logic can be applied when assessing avy danger. 2 dimensional facts regarding base layer, new layer, temp, humidity, slope aspect, local terrain, etc. etc., applied correctly can reveal a fascinating 3 dimensional picture. Even more interesting is how this cold logic then comes into conflict with the animal urges that put human beings out there in the first place. The phenomenon of "I've got a beacon, therefore I can cross more dangerous slopes than I did before" tops the list. It might be easy to conclude that a beacon is the same sort of safety device as a climbing rope-- but it's NOT. I was hesitant to buy a beacon at one point because I feared it would lead me to take more risks. One thing that I have learned during the moderate amount of winter backcountry stuff I have done is that you don't know what you don't know, until you can add all these processes together on your own, plus be aware of the dynamic interplay between thrill seeking and risk avoidance within your group, or your own head.
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Gate opening time depends on how much plowing they have to do beforehand. Reasonable to get there early if the night was clear, but you still may have to wait until 9 or later before leaving Longmire.
I think that if you leave your car overnight at Paradise you're supposed to park it in the small lot by the flying-saucerlike visitor center, rather than the Paradise Inn-- probably so they can plow the whole parking lot at the start of the day.
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Here's a photo for inspiration.
But it looks like someone beat me to it.
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Cholesterol control recommendations have gotten WAY aggressive in the past few years. I was a little suspicious of this trend at first, wondering if drug company profits could in some way be involved. Over the years, the studies have been repeated and the findings confirmed many times, making me a believer in the general guidelines. However, if you have a total cholesterol of 232 and no other risk factors, your heart disease risk is not going to be overly high. HDL is also a big part of the picture. Women tend to have higher HDLs on average. If you have an HDL of 50 or 60, with a total cholesterol of 232, then your LDL is not likely to be too much over 130 and I would advise you not to be too concerned.
If you want to investigate further, there is a worksheet on the web at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute which will calculate your ten year heart attack risk. Try googling nhlbi.org or .gov.
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Lowell, you may indeed have found the Holy Grail. What an outstanding achievement in grass roots historical research!
Do you think Gert Harby's niece would consider donating her father's materials to an organization with the capability of organizing it for archival purposes? The Mountaineers would probably be interested, as would the University of Washington. The Ptarmigans are important enough in state history that any primary materials relating to them, in my opinion, would do well to reside at the university. I will look up the name of the curator for photos and pass it on to you (although you may already know this person from your own research).
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200 bucks or make an offer.
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I've sold my tele boots and gone AT. Need to sell the above so I can get pair of AT or alpine skis, 175 to 180 cm. They have Riva bindings, I'm not sure what kind, with springs not the compression cylinders. Scuffed on the top, but the bottoms are in good shape. If no one here wants 'em I will trade them in at Second Ascent.
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Terra Incognita by Sara Wheeler. An antarctic travelogue and a great read. Makes you want to sign up for the next austral summer at McMurdo. Available on CD thru Seattle Public Library (once I return it).
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W's Record
in Spray
GWB may have studied history more than you think.
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In my opinion if you want to do it right, you will give up some of your time now (or in the near future) while your kids are really small, understanding that eventually you'll get it back, and that the investment in another person's future is worth it. Not just worth it: mandatory. These days, society doesn't give much of a nod to the value of one person taking care of another-- but it is what we mammals/primates/human beings are all about. You can connect with nature in a new and different way, by doing what people have done for each other for the past several million years.
My fitness level declined during the three periods of my adult life when there was an infant in the household. However, it didn't take that long for small time windows to open up. Lucky for me, I like to run, so I can get good exercise in a very short time. Getting out there for even 20 minutes is worthwhile.
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How long does beer keep?
It might not get rotten for quite a while, but it would definitely lose its vibrancy after a few cycles of freezing and thawing.
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I'm about ready to abandon tele skiing in favor of snowboarding or randonee. My tele boots won't fit crampons (I don't think), so this setup is out for a trip up Rainier. I can use a snowboard with my plastics but couldn't skin up unless I spring for a split board (unlikely). I can do it all with an AT setup but I cringe at the price. So in the end I'll probably just walk up and down again. I skied up to Muir once with really crummy non-alpine touring skis: not that bad on the way up, but getting down took exactly the same amount of time, what with falling down every 20 yards and struggling back to my feet again. Walking instead would probably have saved energy.
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I soaked in the spring once after summitting Glacier, and the three non-climbers present, one of whom was a micro-brewer from Anacortes, nicely shared a big bottle of the latest brew with me. The company was more pleasant than many a contact with strangers in the backcountry.
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My Nike watch still works, but is no longer functionally usable because the watchband has broken on me twice now. Actually, the housing has fractured at the location of one of the watchband pin holes, rendering the entire unit un-wearable. I sent it to the company and they fixed it at a cost close to a whole new watch, taking two months, then it broke again about 3 months later. I'm thinking I'll get a Suunto.
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I'd take some of that info with a grain of salt. For example, the Carbon River drainage is listed, but only a couple of minor bridges are out. The suspension bridge is fine. I'll bet that not every region listed has lost its major hiking thoroughfare.
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I failed to summit and took 3 days. Does that count as an almost?
It's true that there are no big obstacles until you get to Perfect Pass, just a lot of trail miles and a fair amount of elevation gain, loss, gain. But the pass is so annoying, and slow, and unpleasant that it's a real monkeywrench in the works. At least it was in July. However, earlier in the season, if instead of struggling up 45 degree brush slopes one could proceed directly up firm snow, it would be a LOT more fun, and maybe realistic to do in 24 hours, if someone really wanted to.
I haven't explored the impasse myself, so I can't really comment on that portion. I heard it's a little exposed if you're wearing a full pack. One more time saver, maybe, if you're traveling light.
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I'm sure that the construction can be done in a way that impacts the wilderness minimally. The real change to the place will be the increased traffic, population, and general awareness of the place. It's not exactly remote as it is, but the road will probably have to be widened for safety, and there will be a twice daily rush hour-- this only after several years of chaotic construction traffic. I wouldn't oppose such a project, but I may try to get my kids up there to see the valley before the whole undertaking starts.
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Very cool. So did you guys have to set up running belays on the face, or could you just solo?
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Hey Bug, I may take those boots off your hands, if my daughter's feet are the right size. I'll take a look at her shoes when I get home tonight. She's fired up to begin snow sports.
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I care, I just didn't have a clue as to the answer.
Next question: how does Breccia Peak encircle Round Lake, unless the peak has a big crater on top with the lake in the middle? I'm not trying to be a nit-picker, just hoping to increase my knowledge of the Cascades, like knowing the difference between a lake and a tarn.
Never mind. I found it on Topo, and the mountain really does encircle the lake.
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I've just got to get a soft shell. My belay jacket got soaked through once again on Wednesday up Ipsut Creek. Very little advance planning went into that outing, however: no pack, no water, just a run up the trail to see how far I could get. Made it to the Carbon before the snow got too heavy.
Mt. Seattle
in Olympic Peninsula
Posted
I think that Flying_Ned has. Try sending him a pm.