Bug

I used twin 45m 9's for many years. I used them as tho they were a single rope. Strength, rapping out of the way of thunder showers in the Bitterroots, alpine versatility, less likely to be cut on edges or rck fall. I took many falls on this setup and didn't ever see any sign of ropes burning each other.

I went. It rained. Got the 20' Slackline at the raffel. Really fun webbing thing you tie between trees and tight rope. NotforClimbing.com makes them. Slept in the tent with two kicking girls. Woke up to more rain. Left the girls in the van with a movie. Jogged up to Hubba Hubba to look for booty. Scored 1 BD screw, 1 Omega locker, webbing, and a rappel ring. Will leave all in appropriate places for others to find. Rain hit again real hard. Since I was in shorts & T-shirt, I got soaked. Got cussed out back at the van because the VCR didn't work. Girls can be so cruel. We started to split but found dry rock and sunshine at the mouth of the canyon. Set up a top rope and belayed Olivia for a couple climbs. Rain hit again. Bailed. Girls want to go back next year. Hooked on raffels.

Not impressive so far.

Good job. Sounds like some good route-finding skills were well used.

Mountains don't kill people. People kill people. Sorry. Couldn't resist.

Take highway 2 over Stevens Pass. Near Leavenworth, you will enter Tumwater canyon and see great rapids, great alpine rides and then Castle rock on your left. Keep your eyes on the road. At the end of the canyon it just pops you out into Leavenworth and there is a right hand turn immediately and a gas station/one stop just across that. Turn right on that road (Icicle road?) and stay on it as it winds south and then west up into Icicle canyon. At the obvious mouth of the canyon, check your odometer and go up about 5 miles. It will be on your left. Or go straight into Leavenworth past the park on the right and get info from the climbing shop on the left. You will see the Kayaks out front. Bridge creek is another 4 or 5 miles up Icicle from Barney's rubble.

Good work David! Thanks.

I gashed a gator last time out. It is a good arguement for snug fitting gators and stiff outers.

I sent the following letter to the PI. The Park would have stats on which routes get the most accidents per climber. "Are you all anti-French? Will you also change the name of Rainier to 'Patriot Peak'? 'Freedom Ridge' sounds like a John Ashcroft gaff. There is no such ridge on Mt Rainier. The climbing community is curious how you arrived at that name. Liberty Ridge is the most famous of all routes on Rainier. It appeared in the book '50 Classic Climbs of America' decades ago and has been pummeled with traveling climbers since. They come to tick a "classic". They often underestimate the scale of the undertaking. They frequently fail. Sometimes, they die. It is a very sad thing that so many are blinded to the dangers by the label "Classic". There are easier routes on the mountain that would be more appropriate for most 'out of towners'. Even those with good experience should not jump on a hard route on a Rainier sized mountain after not having been there for a year or more. Many climb it every year and sometimes more often and still are humbled every time. It is not fair to classify "climbers" all in the same group. Many of us are far less willing to risk injury or death than others. So we 'fail' to summit frequently but live to summit another day. Otherwise, a pretty good article."

I'll bring a gun.

Larvae and I will attend. Somebody else bring kids. Girls 8 and 6.

I have never seen bigger or more numerous crevasses on Rainier than on the Carbon in mid June 93. It will depend on where the bridges are though. You might be able to squeak around the part I had to go through.

I went to a rummage sale in Bellevue afew weeks ago and there was some 60's era climbing gear there. I talked with the daughter about it. Apparently, Bernard Clark did a lot of climbing around here. The name sounds familiar but I can't remember anything specific. Anyone else remember anything?

Chess is fun. But climbing is funner. My gym no longer attracts the G-string type. I quit.

2nd Ascent only took the cooking gear. Everything else is still available.

Ya sure. That's the other side of the hair. But what fun would the challenge be if there were no risk? Why don't you play chess instead and stay in shape by going to the gym?

There is one guy in North Bend ahead of you. If he changes his mind I will let you know.

I do not know. They fit size 11 with room to spare but I donot have them in front of me here at work.

Moonstone 3D snap-on bag top $30. Stainless pot&lid & cup &lid & cup $5. Trango Harpoons dual point $35. Merrel Tele Comps leather with plastic upper size 11 $30. Dynafit Gortex inner boots brand new size 11 $20. Will barter. Need light down bag. Self arrest ski pole. Make me an offer. Otherwise, the stuff is all going to 2nd Ascent TODAY.

Improbable as it may seem, the truth lies in the fact that people do die as a result of climbing. We want that risk and cannot be fully engaged in life without it. It defines our life and friends. I do not want to get so close to dying that I get an adrenaline rush every time. I just want to know that I have to meet a range of challanges just to survive and that I have to be ready to handle the adrenaline causing events should they occur. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that we evolved as hunter/warriors for 3 million years.

I had a pair of size 6 Fire's that worked for a string of girlfriends. The last one took them when she left. I don't know but it could have been Greg that took off with her. She was a sucker for the hurt puppy act. But the moral of the story is, if she doesn't own her own shoes, shoes is all you'll have in the long run. Climbing hurts now and then. It has to be their own passion wether you are there or not.

Realistically, if you do everthing you can to be safe and it works for years until something weird or uncommon happens and you get killed, your wife will blame it on climbing. If you are driving down the highway and a log falls off the truck in front of you and you get killed, she won't say, "It's because he wasn't climbing." She will continue to drive the same stretch of highway oblivious to the fact that she has the same risk denial that you did. Suck it up. Learn from it. Climb on.

Perhaps a printout of this and the Liberty Ridge thread could be part of the package. Money for the kids is a good idea. The guides guild in Chamonix started a widow's fund long before there was an insurance company involved. We aren't a guild but I feel a connection that I would like to acknowledge.

The undeniable comes home to roost. My kids are that age too. And that is my favorite route on Rainier. My thoughts and prayers go to the family.

On my way.