Norman_Clyde

I was pondering the snow cave/stove combination as I drove home today. I've never fired up a stove while actually inside a snow cave. How do you decide when you have enough extra ventilation, and how do you provide this extra ventilation without spoiling your cave? Dig an extra kitchen room with a chimney?

I have exercised only once in the past ten days. I can feel my resting pulse creeping back up. But after today I only have two more shifts this month, so maybe I can make up for it before Halloween. I do not have any motivation to set speed records on Rainier in the winter. A more measured ascent on a crisp winter morning, no other parties but our own, is what I'm dreaming of.

My winter ascent plans have been thwarted by weather each of the past two winters, because I was a weekend climber. This year I will have many more two and three day periods free, weekdays and weekends. Come February I will be watching for windows of good weather. I will hope that some of the parties on this board/this post will be available on short notice if a few good days appear.

I went to Carnation with the kids to pick pumpkins this afternoon-- who can imagine more pleasant weather for pumpkin picking? We passed mile after mile of flooded fields, finally arriving at the designated pumpkin patch to find it deserted. We had a great time sloshing about in the field, hefting pumpkins which felt light from the dry summer but whose stems were already rotting from all the rain. (We picked 3 good ones and left a check, figuring the owners don't mind customers using the honor system.) Sammamish Slough and the Snoqualmie are about to burst their banks. If I lived in one of those river valleys I'd be feeling a bit tense right now. This front feels awfully warm for late October-- freezing level 11,500 according to the paper today. Global warming seems to be accelerating.

Me too. My digital camera produces images too data dense to download. I've been able to shrink a few, but it's a real pain. Tips from the cc.com regulars have not been very helpful, I think because they have different photo software than I do (I have MGI photosuite and Lexmark Viewing Booth). If anyone with those programs can tell me the most reliable way to de-sharpen images, thereby reducing the file volume to downloadable proportions, I'd like to hear it.

The Tori doll, that's silly. The Veikka doll, on the other hand... THAT'S cool. veikka doll

I did curse myself for not carrying a few more clothes. My pack was so light already that another top and bottom layer would have made little difference. My jacket sleeves were too small to fit over my gloves, and as a result the rain trickled down my arms into them, turning them into not much more than cold water receptacles. Gloves over the sleeves may work for snow, but not for rain.

I need to go ahead and invest in the all-weather stretch top. I've been leaving the Goretex shell behind on these fast one day trips, carrying a down jacket for emergencies. But a down jacket doesn't help if it's soaked with rain. Just to get to this spot for a few minutes was worth all the trouble.

I made it to Lake Viviane before being turned back by weather. I had decided against the loop idea, mainly because I didn't want to spend 8 of 24 miles on roads, and was uncertain how far up I'd be able to drive to cache a bike. Weather was more or less clear at the trailhead at 7:30, clouded up within an hour, rain began at Nada Lake, intensified at Snow Lakes, and by Lake Viviane was nearly blizzard conditions with painful ice needles, 50 mph gusts, etc. I was dressed lightly for the weather, so this was enough adventure for one day. Got a few photos but haven't shrunk them to downloadable proportions yet.

So far as I know, the fluoroquinolones are the only class of antibiotics to have this side effect. I have no idea what the mechanism is. This effect on connective tissue is also why they are contraindicated for children. I spent a summer researching the activity of Cipro against certain bacteria, before it was licensed, and I remember learning that in animal studies the drug was found to cause cartilage dysplasia in beagle puppies. (Thank God for animal research! ) They're slowly edging into using it on children in cases where other drugs aren't working, such as advanced cystic fibrosis. So far as I know, it hasn't caused this in human beings. Still, though it's otherwise a very effective and well tolerated drug, there is almost always a cheaper alternative. The main drugs in this group are: Cipro, Levaquin, Tequin, and Avelox. There are a few others as well, whose names I forget just now.

I have put it off until tomorrow. Stayed up late last night and was not quite motivated for the 4 AM rising. I may drive out there tonight to avoid a repeat of the same.

I haven't kept up on the bridge debacle. I thought it was put off until next year. We'll have to sneak across in the predawn darkness. Thanks to all of you for the advice.

I'll be making a loop around the Enchantments from Aasgard down to Snow Lakes on Tuesday, with diversionary tours to various 3rd class objectives as time and weather permit. I anticipate leaving Seattle early, probably leaving a bike at one end of the trail or the other. Anyone in the mood for a fast tour is invited.

The Western States Endurance Run is a point to point, with 4000 feet of net descent (18,000 up, 22,000 down), which I guess makes it easier than the Wonderland, except that it goes to a higher altitude. I thought that the regional 100 miler was about the same. It's true that the 24 hour goal for a 100 mile trail run is very middle-of-the-pack, so far as organized events are concerned. But I'd still be very pleased with myself if I could do it.

Speaking of devegetation of alpine meadows: there are former meadows in the high Sierra where sheep were allowed to denude the grasses for only a few seasons in the late 1800's, that are still dust bowls over 100 years later. I haven't seen too many egregious off-trail violations at Paradise, though it's usually snowy when I'm there. A couple of years ago at Hurricane Ridge I witnessed several tourist groups trampling the heather, walking past a nearly billboard sized warning sign before grouping together to pose for a picture. But to be fair, I don't think they could read English. The signs should probably be in every language, like the red tide warnings at the shore. Speaking of the old glissading photos:

I personally think that an objective like this one lends itself more to caching food than to carrying it all. We all know the Wonderland trail can be completed alone, supported or unsupported-- no one needs to prove anything in this regard. For me the satisfaction would come from having gotten all the way around the big mountain in one day, under my own foot power. Whether I cache food, or have friends or family support me, it would be more fun not to carry it all, because then I could go faster. The trail run experience is very different from the backcountry hiking experience, though not so different from the short 3rd class scramble experience-- just longer. I know some people say it's no way to experience the Wonderland Trail, that you're bound to miss a lot of it. Indeed, the trail runner will miss some things that the hiker will see, but the reverse is true as well.

There is also a route up the northwestern edge of the pyramid. Take the gully at climber's left when approaching the pyramid from the west. This was non-exposed 3rd class with a couple of 10 to 15 foot 4th class scrambles. We felt no need for a rope going up or down. There was a small schrund to cross before the gully in July, which might be an issue at this time of year.

There is a trail visible at this time of year which gradually climbs the north side of the valley above Glacier Basin. This is the terminal portion of the wagon road which started at Enumclaw. It ends at a rock buttress which is currently about 200 yards east of the glacier terminus, although at the time that mining was going on, the glacier probably touched this rock (based on the old photo on the sign at the trailhead). This rock buttress contains a mine shaft which, unlike all the others in the valley, has not been blocked with rocks but is completely intact. There are rails for mining cars still in place, and a rusty cable hoist still bolted into the rock. My guess is that almost no one ever sees this mine, because it's so high up the valley and off the climber's trail. We stumbled across it on our way down from the pass, heading for the wagon trail-- anything to get off the miserable dirt-and-choss slope we were on. I shrunk my photo down, so maybe it'll download. The shaft continues into the mountain out of sight. I went in about 50 yards, but no further because I didn't have a headlamp.

Sounds like fun.

I was up at Glacier Basin/Inter Glacier/St. Elmo Pass for the first time this weekend, and was fascinated to see the ruins of the old mining operation. Found a link which any visitor to this part of the park might find interesting. Did you know that the cellar and foundation next to the campground was not a ranger's cabin, but a hotel? Or that the original " end of the road" of what is now highway 410 was once the base of the Inter Glacier? Anyway, here's the link: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/NORWAY/1999-06/0928362749 I'd post a photo of the abandoned mine below St. Elmo Pass, but I can never compress my photos to fit the cc.com format.

John Muir wrote an account of an ascent of Boundary Peak wherein he and his party ran out of water. He said of this climb "I suffered as never before."

When I went up Chair Peak last April and descended the 3rd class route on the SW side, it appeared that there were open slopes all the way to the valley. I didn't go all the way down that way, but instead came back to Chair Peak basin via the southernmost saddle. In your case you would go in the other direction. However, Pineapple Pass is probably a safer bet.

Oly NP: Buckhorn? NCNP: Sahale?

READ WENDELL BERRY for extremely sensible ideas about farming, food and self-sufficiency. It is appalling for human beings to treat food like any other consumer commodity. Communities ought to invest in local/regional food production. (Wendell Berry is not a supporter of unrestricted global food markets, by the way.)

I frequently find myself going back to the anatomy book when I see someone with lateral or medial ankle pain, to make sure I have the tendons right. On the medial aspect (i.e. the inside) there are three tendons wrapping around the posterior (heel) side of the medial malleolus (the knob on the inside of your ankle): the tibialis posterior, which helps to flex your ankle, the flexor digitorum longus, which flexes your smaller toes, and the flexor hallucis longus, which flexes your big toe. I would estimate that you strained the toe flexors, which are IMO more likely to be stressed beyond safe capacity in a rock climbing situation. This would not be a whole lot different from a tendonitis of the hands, unfortunately. Of course I'm speculating an awful lot. But if you've had it for a while and it's not improving, best to get some professional advice which includes an exam.