Bug

Dude. Put VP Cheney in leather boots, give him a mustache and viola! Mussolini lives!

Yea. I guess so. That would allow me to finally use this 50 foot chunk of webbing I have stufffed in my gator too. Sorry but chopping established anchors is only done by assholes. Stap Vinink yur silf.

Looks like there's a bit of salad on the route.

I was up there a couple weeks ago and got hit on the back of my calf by what felt like stinging nettle but there wasn't any around. There were about ten welts too.

For belaying two partners and more importantly, so I can prussick on them without having to do the Clint Eastwood shoelace thing. Another advantage is the overall wear & tear that they will take. I have only retired one 9mm or 8.8 in 20 years due to sheath wear. All the others were retired due to age and/or leader-falls. I do have a 7mm X 60m now for those days when I solo and want to rap off but it does not see much use.

Pave tuolome meadows and park them there.

They will go the way of Iran. Radical fundamentalism followed by moderate groundswelling and a uneasy peace somewhere right of center. It will not change until free travel and communications open up.

I find that my Suunto is very good at predicting a change in the weather. It only works if I am stationary though. Like at camp or hangin for lunch etc. There are minor fluctuations but any trend lasting 30 minutes or more is worth noting.

I climbed on twin 50s for a couple decades. Now I have a 60 that is really nice. When it wears out, I will get another 60 but only because there are so many people using them and the anchors are getting spaced that way. I would rather have twin 8.8's at 50 for efficiency though. I have not ever had a problem getting up or getting down. But that was doing 1st ascents in remote places.

That's called a love glove turd.

If you do not always wear a helmet you are risking massive dangerous bad joo-joo. You are also fair game on this site to be called a turd, a reckless cowboy without spurs, and a Becky wanna-be who has no chance of living that long. Fess up. You know you should ALWAYS wear a helmet. You know it should be a rule enforced by gun totin, level four, FS cop wanna-bes. I am wearing mine now sitting at my desk because I am reading this post on CascadeClimbers.com.

I all but quit climbing when my first was born. I didn't really want to but it freaked my wife out totally. Then I figured out that she was freaked out anyway so I started climbing again. The girls are often on my mind as I climb. It has gotten easier now that they are 6 & 8 and past that magical 5 the doc's talk about. They are obviously part of my legacy now -poor things. But it is not really the kids who changed me. It was when Alex Lowe died and left his three kids behind. I remember when Alex decided to focus his life on climbing. I remember when our friend Marvin died on the Grand. There were a lot of discussions with close friends at those times and we all had to agree that if you are climbing with good equipment and using your well developed skills as best you can, you are more likely to die in a car wreck. Alex did die in the mountains but it was in a freakish sized avalanche. It was like getting taken out in your bed by a drunk driver who didn't see your house. Marvin on the other hand, died on the north face of the Grand rapping off in a storm. He always wore a helmet but didn't that day. He always tied knots in the end of his ropes but didn't that day. He got beaned by a rock, slid off the end of his ropes and bounced a thousand feet. Cover the basics-always. Develop a discerning eye and keep track of when you were wrong and when you were right and why. Never let your guard down. Do that and enjoy the sport and you will probably die on I-5. Unless you wear a seat belt and drive defensively. Then you will probably die of heart failure. Unless you keep in good shape, eat right and control your colesterol. Then you will probably die of ...........

There are too many rats in the cage. It has gotten worse in my 46 years and will continue to get worse as private lands become more inhabited and restrict access to public corridors and more people use the public lands. Eventually you will have to pay to enter lotteries to gain access to places like the Middlefork of the Snoqualmie. And then you will be in designated camp sites and sleeping in huts with strangers.

Maybe he needs to vist his friends with racks.

He can share with Olivia and Meredith. If you want to buy him a harness and shoes that's up to oyu. But he is welcome to use our gear

He does not need a rope. I have a harness he can borrow. and a couple smaller shoes. We can mix and match as the need arises. What size are his feet?

Your reasoning on the one on one time is sound. My daughters are 6 & 8 and I make it a point to give them one on one time. It makes them glow. They tell their teachers about it. So forth. When your 2 year old is 10, your 10 year old will be out with his friends. Make sure he has the tools and training to make good decisions. The sooner the better and never let up. He will not get that by playing two year old games. Just my two cents.

True.

OK. I'll save the group site as it seems momentum is building. We have it reserved for Sept 17-sept 19. Chatter Creek Group site. Up Icicle canyon a long ways. There will be the Chatter Creek ranger station on the right. The turn off to the campground is the first right past the ranger station. My 2 daughters (6 & 8) will be there late Friday night after watching clowns do unnatural acts with elephants.

The group site costs $150. divide by $20 to get what the indivdual sites would cost us and you get 7 with $10 left over.

Final call. We have HillWeasle, Billygoat, Snowbyrd, Fatswaler and Bug committed to going. If no one else commits today, I will cancel the group site and we will have Fatswaller reserve three individual sites tomorrow. This will make it harder to include droppers in.

I am going to the Circus Friday night and driving up aftewards. So we will show up in the darkest hour after watching strange animals do unlikely tricks with humans of questionable repute. I have 3 tickets ordered for Snowbyrd & crew.

What does $33 cover? two sites? How many total cars can we have per site? Two plus $10 per extra? Eight mile is more central. I would like the idea if we could get everyone in but with 5 of us now (plus one who will pay $20 but may or may not show), that makes the group site $26 apiece and we have plenty of room for stragglers (some of whom may also pay). Opinions?

Well done! Thanks for the report.

I went in late May and still could have taken half or less of what I had. Any time in June and you can count on doing people the favor of taking their extra weight. You will get tons of gas, cookables, and 2nd rate munchies. Bring your own chocolate and booze.