wolffie

White comedian born in Africa (thus technically African-American?) joked about that ("You stopped me 'cause I'm African-American, right?" "No, because you were driving on the sidewalk...""Touche`")

Jimmy Hoffa?

Are you anywhere near north Seattle? 11.5 is prolly too big for me, but maybe worth a look...

I have only an occasional need for a real climbing boot (as opposed to a backpacking boot), so I'm not terribly fussy. Do not require a full-shank boot. North Seattle/UW. mens 10.5-11. A 10 might work.

I know I'm sanctimoniously quoting Scripture, but Becky does say, "do not blaze, tag, or flag cross-country routes; remove any such existing markers. Develop your own routefinding skills and do not spoil the unmarked wilderness." -- green book, 1st ed., p.16 Elsewhere, more pointedly, I believe he writes "...people who find it necessary to festoon the wilderness with plastic flags should be condemned to an eternity of removing such... If you find it necessary to mark your route, use brightly colored crepe paper, which soon fades and dissolves..." There you have it, chapter and verse, straight from the Good Book.

TarpTent Squall2 SOLD 34 oz. I also have poles for it if you do not use trekking poles. Almost new; I've used it 2 nights. I really like this tent, low wind profile, but I need something larger. This is a light, 2-person tent. $150 firm, north Seattle.

75cm BD Raven Pro is what I have in mind. I have a Grivel Pamir 78.5 cm, trying to get something lighter, just for alpine snow travel. Might go as short as 70 cm.

WTB Bearikade bear can, Solo, Weekender, or Expedition. north Seattle.

WTB: MSR Lightning Ascent 25 snowshoes. N Seattle

Trip: Glacier Peak - South ridge, Disappointment Peak direct Date: 8/5/2012 Trip Report: Big Al claims the first failed ascent of Glacier Peak by a Pembroke Welsh corgi without supplemental oxygen: Nobody gets nowhere without the Darrington road & trail crews, who opened up the North Fork Sauk just 2 weeks prior, a huge job: Indian Head Pk. Kodak Peak at far right. This trip is worth it if you go no farther than White Pass (off-screen to the right): White Pass from the NE along the Foam Basin sheep trail. Johnson at left, White Mt. at right. Read Chester Marler, East of the Divide, for an interesting chapter about the sheep grazing history: Here's the 6600' pass from above the end of the sheep trail over to the White Chuck Glacier: What's left of the White Chuck Glacier: Al on the White Chuck Glacier; our high point is shown: Glacier Gap is just off-screen at far right. Our 7739' bivvy peak is about dead-center: Sunset between Pugh and White Chuck mountains: The latest in high-tech canine comfort: Suiattle Glacier and Kololo peaks from near our 7739' bivvy peak. Glacier Gap is in the center there somewhere. Find the corgi in this picture: Where it gets ugly. The S ridge is Disappointment Peak is a lot rockier and looser than I remembered, no place for a dog, so I quit at 9200' (level with top of the snowfield at right). Al was disappointed. He'll follow me into the Jaws of Death. I don't want him to go that far. This is a very reasonable route for a small party ultra-careful about loose rock, and maybe faster than carrying rope gear and roping-up. Class 2, I've done it solo before. We saw several people doing the glacier unroped -- arguably reasonable, but not in Al's playbook. Did I mention loose rock? No place for a dog at all?: View east. Maude at left, Buck at right (Al's climbed both). Napeequa peak is dead-center foreground (must have a worthwhile view!). The small peak to Napeequa's left is Mt. Cleator, a 15 min. walkup fro High Pass. A wider pan of the upper Suiattle valley and Entiats to the west. The green slope in front of Fortress is Helmet Butte, with Buck Ck Pass just to its right. Read C.E. Rusk, Tales of a Western Mountaineer, a great read, which includes (with much else) an account of the 2nd ascent of Glacier from Buck Pass with a rifle, a couple blankets, and little else. The Cool Glacier is named for A.L. Cool(?) his companion on that trip): Dakobed Range to the east. Clark behind, Tenpeak in the middle. Upper Suiattle valley in foreground. The Suiattle Glacier nunatak: Black Mt., looking west. Portal Peak would be way off to its left somewhere: Dude (Buck Mt. behind): Our rocky ridge is directly above Al's head. We chickened-out at 9:00 AM, so we had all day to amble slowly back across the corpse of the White Chuck Glacier, getting fried by the sun. We re-crossed the 6600' pass and found this bare-sand campsite right above the end of the Foam Creek sheep trail. Could this spot be old sheep-grazing soil damage? Perhaps Al senses the spirits of other herding dogs long passed: May I rant? Where not to camp -- right in the middle of blooming flowers at the 6600' pass -- please don't do this: It never hurts to be good-lookin' (so I've heard): I couldn't tear myself away until a few hours later than the last minute, so we bumbled over to Red Pass and scrambled up Portal Peak as an afterthought. Not to be missed. If you've come this far, come this far! We got this great view of where we'd been. White Mt. is at far right. The sharp nubbin on the far horizon is Clark Mt. Remember that Sloan and Monte Cristo are right behind you, dominating that section of the PCT: At play in the fields of the Lord. As usual, Al made not a sound the entire trip: This was a repeat of a solo ascent maybe 15 years ago, late '90s. That time, before my hike out, I was awakened by Jupiter-rise and brewed coffee and broke camp before dawn. I hoisted and buckled the pack, then ingested some remarkable Vitamin A. The hike out via Glacier Peak Meadows took a long, long time. I recall sitting, surrounded by perhaps 10 ptarmigans at one point. The PCT looked too civilized and developed to approach -- not ready to go back yet -- so I scrambled up the north side of White Mt. and found this balloon in the moat: I was in no mood to question this clear sign from the heavens. Although its message speaks to all who behold it, on this repeat trip, it occurred to me that it belongs most appropriately to the MBSNF Darrington road & trail crews and contractors who've made all our trips up here possible. You think? Gear Notes: Chillybuddy dog cooling vest (Al is a black-backed dog). This actually does work and looks great with his tinfoil home-made helmet (for ET brainwave implant protection). Outward Hound collapsible dog bowl. Vital Essentials freeze-dried raw meat dog food (hard, not crumbly, low-odor). Dog chest harness and quick-draw belay leash. Doggles and Mesheye dog sunglasses. ElCheapo Camp K9 sleeping bag. Pawz dog booties (balloon-like paw condoms for emergency pad injuries). Vet-wrap adhesive gauze for paw injuries. Ice ax. Crampons (not used). Approach Notes: North Fork Sauk River > White Pass > Foam Creek Basin sheep trail > pass 6600' > White Chuck Glacier to Glacier Gap. Red Pass and Glacier Peak Meadows is a charming alternative approach.

I have seen objectionable corgis, all rescues. Ours are almost entirely silent. Al didn't bark at the Blue Grouse chicks, or the marmots, or the deer outside the tent. S'pozed to be a herding dog, but he seems to have low prey drive. Passed his Porcupine Test (good dog!). Hiked 9 days around Glacier Peak, and his one single sharp bark -- into the silent darkness outside of camp -- really got my attention. Al will occasionally freak and attack another larger dog with no warning or provocation, so I always have a quick-draw leash, and we practice. You have to know your animal and be responsible, esp. around horses. I know many people don't like dogs -- I used to be one of them -- and they have their reasons, presumably good ones.

Trip: Chikamin Peak - south, from PCT Date: 8/11/2012 Trip Report: A lifetime ambition to watch the Perseid meteor showers from a mountaintop realized purely by accident. Bivouacked on Chikamin's NW 6925' summit with Al the corgi, perfectly positioned but oblivious to the opportunity, when 2 improbable passersby mentioned the meteor shower. Awakened by spectacular orange crescent moonrise with Jupiter at 1:30 AM, I kept watch until 3 AM. They really do radiate from a quite small spot in the sky, between Perseus and Cassiopeia. Ordinary meteors catch your attention ("Hey, guys, you're goin' the wrong way!"). Many left plasma trails. The late crescent moon (unfortunately close to Perseus) did not brighten the sky catastrophically. A meteor every minute or three, and we saw only the bright ones. Dark enough to see the Andromeda galaxy with the naked eye. You need mountaintop, no moon, clear weather, right date. I recommend: if you don't know your way around the night sky, figure it out. Not difficult, way cool. The route up the SW slope of Chikamin is not obvious from the PCT. It diagonals up the slope, but disappears around a corner into a gully. I could not spot the route visually, and went by memory. When there's snow, you'll definitely want ax and maybe crampons. Al claims the 1st failure on Chikamin by a Pembroke Welsh corgi. We tried the rock on the S, bad idea. We went up the steep snow finger on the N to the notch, ice ax and crampons, but Al kept getting his feet tangled in his belay leash. Bad idea. No place for a dog, not recommended. It was just my ego. Retreated in good order, but remember that descent is much more difficult for a dog. The runout was only sort-of-OK. Even on the S approach scramble, you have to be extremely careful with a dog. They are stupid about rockfall. You want nobody below you. Al, in this case, dislodged almost none. A bigger dog would be more dangerous IMO. Gear Notes: ice ax, crampons dog chest harness with quick-draw belay leash Outward Hound collapsible dog bowl Chillybuddy dog cooling vest (it works) El Cheapo Camp K9 sleeping bag Pawz emergency dog booties Freeze-dried raw meat dog food Approach Notes: PCT from I-90. Enough water. Juvenile martens. It's a Katwalk, you dummy: Right foreground is Alaska Mt. Center is Huckleberry. Shark fin is Chikamin. Broad center skyline is our 6926 bivvy: Huckleberry & Chikamin from Alaska Mt on PCT: Al claims 1st failed ascent by a corgi on Chikamin Peak; don't try this at home, it was a bad idea: You can see our footsteps up the steep snow finger. It was a mistake: A corgi will slip neatly out of this chest harness in a vertical hang; not OK for high log crossings. On steep snow, the dog gets its feet tangled in the belay rope. Poor technique. Snoqualmie sunset: Sunset: Sunrise: Sunset: Sunrise: Solitude and Company: Chikamin Gap on PCT:

WTB MSR Ascent 25 snowshoes North Seattle.

TR, Little Giant -Spider Gap If you can fit this in, there's a great bivvy site high up on Middle Ridge above the sheep camp. Glorious view, and I think one could climb the NW buttress of Fortress from there. Bivvy at the lip of the moraine, 7300', look for a conspicuous cubical rock. You could go on to to Plummer, Cloudy, North Star, even hop over Red, maybe do Chiwawa, and go out Chiwawa R if you're parked at Trinity. It definitely looks like more fun with good snow cover (9/5/11 was more like late July/early August).

I carried this 9 days around Glsacier Peak 9/2010. I could live with this pack except the hip belt is too wide to ride high enough on my 31" waist(!). I am amazed that Kelty, who invented the hip belt, could make such a mistake. The suspension is very sophisticated, on a par with other packs these days. No squeaks. Easily adjustable, in mid-stride. My scale says it's 5.7 lbs, and I think my scale reads 5% high, which makes it about 5 lbs. 7 oz. Construction is nothing like Kelty packs of old; it is not built to last a lifetime. A reasonable compromise between weight and longevity. It's not an ultralight pack, but you have to treat it carefully. One non-essential compressor strap ripped out on the 2nd day. The hoisting loop is a joke, strong enough to hang the empty pack on a hook in your gear closet. The orange color is a plus for hunter safety, one reason I chose it. Has a lot of outer pockets, which I find useful. I'd have kept it but for the waist belt being too big to cinch tightly enough. wolffie at uw.edu