Bug

Went there in 82. Good climbing all over. The gniess of the Bitterroots prepared me well for the Lemmon gniess. Tricams are very useful. Slopers, stems, and friction jams abound. Nice walking under the moonlight in the white sands.

Nothing is kinder than pointing out mistakes that have a high probabability of causing injury or worse. Jamin has an open invitation to recieve some hands on training in safe practices. He chooses to continue to "test" the people he is with and they have, in at least a few cases, been unsuspecting newbies themselves. I am genuinely sorry if I have hurt anyone's feelings. But I stand by my assessment. If you think I do this lightly, do a search on my posts in the newbies forum. People die in this sport. We have to call each other on it if we see someone heading in that direction. Peace.

No shit. Ditto. Jamin, you are at it again. Find a mentor and humble yourself before him (her). Your life is again on the brink. All the best to you and your karma. Bug

Conditions were warm. The Swan slabs were in fat. Several other local climbs were in thin but with very little snow so it is a good year to get up there. Blodget Falls was not in and not even close. All WI1 and 2. Nice cow moose half way up the trail.

I know there has been a lot of warm weather in the valleys but the Blodgett north side often stays much cooler upstream of the campground. Is this currently the Case? Has anyone been up there? I am going up there this Sunday feb 18 or will ski somewhere.

Or you can skip Persis and go up the drainage to the south. Follow the stream to the headwall and climb the steep slabs or snow to the right. Once you are up this part, go up and left around the cliffs. Definately take skiis.

Skiis are cool.

Good words. My mother is very near the end and my father seems not far behind. It has got me to thinking about work vs play and spending more time with my kids. And I already spend a lot of time with them. But life is short. I've met a lot of old coots who say they wish they would have worked less and spent more time with their kids and family. I've never met an old coot who says he wishes he would have worked more. Push it MH. Post occaisionally and let us know how you are doing.

(This was an 'off the couch' climb for me...) My couch must be softer than yours. Thanks for not calling. You guys were smokin crack to do it that fast. Thanks for the tr and pics!

Totally cool. Good work!

Scary. I had my tool yanked off my wrist once. Now I tie it to a waist belt or to my harness if I am wearing one.

Careful now. Next thing ya know you'll be hauling a 12 pack of Pabst Blue ribbon up with you. Aid climbing will do that.

I have been up there when I could not detect the trail at all due to deep snow, fog, and wind. We used one of those old fashioned things called a compass.

The absolute stupidist thing I ever did was let an idiot talk me into snowshoeing Denali "because the other two were going to snowshoe". Ski. It is far better.

I have a pair made for skinny-skiis. They would be better than nothing if no-one else responds. And the price is right.

I used to spray caribiners being careful not to get it on the gate hinges. It rubs off amazingly fast to the point that only close inspection will allow you to see it. Everything you do with a caribiner involves rubbing and friction

Here's to a speed recovery.

I'm cheap and my time isn't. But I can tell you what to do.

Oh, and bugs will outlast rodents.

The laws must have changed. They used to issue permits for the killing of a very low number of Griz. I think it was under 10. I was a wilderness ranger in the Scapegoat and met a few hunters with permits being "guided" to where the griz were (how did that elk die there anyway).

There was an Asian guy who was seen killing one but they couldn't find him. The following week he was out there again to get another. He must have disagreed with you. But he was arrested so the geese are safe to "ruin" our parks and lakes again.

Grizzlies in Glacier Park walk through campgrounds and trails and eat people. Grizzlies in the wilderness next door are hunted and it is rare to see any part of them except their ass quickly disappearing unless they are starving. They are hunted outside the park but not inside. Charles Jonkel used to track them with radio collars as they walked back an forth across the border and behaved very differently depending on where they are. "Just dumb animals" is an ignorant misconception. Charles once said they are like teenagers. Most of them don't get into much trouble but those that do cause trouble for the rest. And those that do are difficult to impossible to "rehabilitate". Cats that attack humans are also very smart. They will not get any scholarships but most people grossly underestimate them. Once a cat "decides" to do something vicious to a human, that cat is a menace to anyone in the area because the fear of humans is gone. Cat wins. Cat is king. It also strikes me funny that people say the geese in Seattle area parks are a problem but don't kill any. Meanwhile they are willing to let chickens live their entire lives in cages so they can be killed and eaten. Geese taste good. We should eat some. If you are not a vegan, shut up. You cause the death of hundreds of chickens, cattle, etc in your lifetime. Just because you don't have to hear about it the way these cats made the news doesn't make it any more pleasnt for them.

Cool. I moved over here in 89. But I watched the FA of Leisure Suit Larry by Pyat and Durkin as well as a few other great slab routes on that wall. I didn't ever consider climbing it when it was frozen. We used to climb the rock routes in the winter on warm sunny days because it is south facing and was usually 10 or 15 degrees warmer than the surrounding area. Kind of like the Sunshine wall area at Frencman's Coulee. I went up to that wall early on and found an old rusty bolt so I followed the line through thin protection and a few rusty pins. I called it Bitta-Roota 5.9 in honor of the Bitter-rooter who put it up. I didn't ever find out who did it first.

just be glad you're on the winning side I might be on the winning side, but I'm certainly not proud of it. It speaks to the human ego, believing that our survival is more important than any other animals. We're the ones encroaching on their space, they have no where to go, nothing to eat. Don't get me wrong, it was unfortunate for the guy and his wife, but we shouldn't kill the mountain lions for trying to survive, thats just BS. BS on you pork chop. Spread some peanutbutter on yo ass and stroll out into wildcat territory and feed them yourself yourself if you are so concerned. A cat that eats a human has to be stopped. Lead works. Nothing else will. If you don't like it, figure out a way to thin out the human race.