Bug

Jeffy was bright kid with a little too much energy. In Highschool Biology, Mr Perrin was a droning sort of lecturer. Jeffy was glazed over staring out the window when he suddenly straightened up, smiled brightly and said, "I'll bet I could climb out that window, traverse that ledge (2" wide) and come in that window". We were on the third floor. Mr. Perrin was a really nice guy and just laughed and said " that probably wouldn't be a good idea Jeff". Then he walked out of the room. Was this a challenge? Jeffy took it as such and was out the window in a flash. When Mr Perrin came back in the room jeffy was just reaching to the edge of the entry window and climbed in. He saw Mr Perrin and got a little nervous so he accidentally knocked a couple microscopes off the table. He then jumped down, spread his arms and said, "TA DAAA". Mr Perrin was not amused. Later that same quarter, Jeffy's friend Greg was still angry at Jeff's suspension and decided to stage a protest. In the middle of Mr. Perrin's lecture, Greg SCREAMED, "I CAN"T TAKE IT ANYMORE". He lept up from his desk. People were backing away. He ran to the window (third floor rember), and dove out. There was a large tree about eight feet out that Greg dove into but Mr. Perrin barely made it the window without fainting. After that, Greg and Jeffy did some wild things.

Well this is alot of heuy over something we all wish we could do. Now don't get me wrong. I went to highschool with Alex Lowe and she ain't him. But, I also put myself thru college and now I have to put my step son and my two kids thru college. It isn't easy. This girl is smiling folks. She has found her marketing niche and is making bucks. A friend of mine has a son who was a very hot bike rider. He had all the moves down long before it was blasting on TV. He refused to "sell out" to the big companies. "Riding is about the sport". OK. So now he is all washed up and broke. He does not inspire anyone unless there is a bong sucking "World Championship" I haven't heard of. This girl is marketing something the public is willing to buy. Go girl. After Enron, invading Iraq for oil, blah, blah blah, This girl is refreshing. I give her You nay sayers need to look outside your sport. Nobody cares about us. For the most part, climbing is a selfish endeavor. How many of us have not scrificed jobs, relationships, etc for our climbing. Who is served by it other than ol #1? OK other climbers gain from new routes but that isn't why I put up new routes. I did it because it was damn fun. Most of them were never reported anywhere. The public will never understand why she isn't the "world champion". Only we will ever know the difference and we already do. If one of my daughters has the opportunity to cash in on something, i will encourage her to do so. I think I'll even buy them each a Torry Doll.

Right on. Thanks for the input. You will see my tracks.

Is there any reason I should not buy a uased Ortovox M-1 for $150?

I am looking at a Ortovox m-1. How does it differ from the M-2? Is it worth $150? Thanks for your info. Bug

I was with a friend and his young black lab one fine fall day. The dog took off after a scent and could not be deterred. He came back with blackie in hot persuit. We climbed trees but the bear split as soon as he saw us. Could have just yanked us out of the trees if had wanted to. Nice dog. I suggested having him stuffed.

Olivia, my 7 year old daughter for always wanting to go with. Greg_W for not hitting me with batteries on the NR of Stuart. Harvey, the giant pink rabbit. He kept up with me all the way.

Yeah, I think that was right before I used ALL my blue bags for the trip! Mine, this year: On J-berg, hearing Caveman yell up, "Nathan just took a 30-footer!!" I couldn't see what happened and I immediately imagined the worst. It all worked out and we learned to rappel off of shrubbery!!! Is there a trip report for that one? I slept through one of those in the same place. It happened at night and everyone but me was woke up and sure we were all going to die. The entire face was affected.

Did someone say that? That's 4 and 1/2 cents. I agree that I just shouldn't go there (Glacier Park). I've been there enough. I'm OK with thatand haven't been there for years. One thing that seems to be missed tho by most of the anti gun posters here is that carrying a gun is not synonymous with shooting randomly at anything that moves. Carrying a gun and using it at maulee's disgression is a personal decision. Pepper spray works most of the time. Being careful works most of the time. Carrying a gun and using the bullets parsimoniously gives you an edge. It's not a cure-all or guarunteed to save your life. But my life is worth saving. Gun, rock, hand-grenade - I don't care about ethics. I want to live longer than the bear that might kill me. If you would rather die than give yourself an extra edge over Darwinian destiny, I will say nice things about you at your funeral - and still carry my creep stopper.

Expect the days when handicapped access will be required for all major climbing walls.

Sometimes a few minutes is all you get. I went up there for a three day trip to climb and we got caught in a blasting storm. We knew it was probable so we were prepared. It was really cool to be at the top of Asgard getting pounded. We got out and walked around a lot. We summitted Dragon Tail, Annapurna and who knows what else. To be honest, we could never see more than a few feet around us except for one five minute period. We were on top of Dragontail in extreme conditions. Full down, gortex, etc for the hike. When we got to the top, we had a drink and were about to hightail the hell off of there when a clear pocket appeared almost instantly. We couldn't see down but we could see out to the west over the clouds. Then we saw the wall approach and cover us again. Other than the day coming in, that was the only time we saw the sky.

Alpine climbing with a friend. Touched a rock and loosed an avalanche of 10 to 20 pounders right at him. He had a second or two to respond. I was screaming "ROCK" immediately and he dove into a step. It went over the top of him without hitting him or doing any damage to gear.

Oh yeah. One more story. Debbie and I were a few miles up the upper Yos canyon laying on top of a rock that was about four feet high. I was on my side facing her and she was on hers facing me. All of a sudden her eyes grew huge and she pointed behind me. I turned around and was face to face with a nice big black bear. I yelled at him and he backed off a little then started walking around the rock and toward my pack. I jumped down between him and the pack and immediately felt real stupid. But he backed off. Then he went up to my tent and stuck his head in to see what he could find. There was nothing in it so he wandered off into the woods. We moved to a campsite that had a cable to hang food on but the cable was pulled down from one side. I had to climb up on rotten stobs to get to the pulley and string the cable through. We hung our food and watched yogi and BooBoo try to get it all night long.

Bug, if a bear really wants to get you, it will. Pepper spary has been shown to bea deterent and in other cases, just does not work. In my situation, we were in Yellowstone in a BC camp along Shoshone Lake. We had sea kayaked up from Lewis Lake, through the Lweis-Shoshone channel and paddled to our campsite. I had been fishing for Mackinaw all day and we cooked some up. All our gear was hung in a bear bag and we were getting ready to hang another with our clothes that we had cooked the fish in in another bear bag. That is one the young male bear came into the camp. It was me and my girlfriend. He walked around the perimeter of our camp for about 10 minutes. We were down by the lake's edge. He came to wear we had cooked, about 50 yds. from our tent. We were going to get in our sea kayaks and paddle out. As he got closer, maybe 15 yds., I sprayed him with pepper spray. He didn't do anything at first, but the wind, which was at our backs took it right into his face. He snorted and pawed at his face, then took off rather quickly. If you really want to know how to deal with bears in the backcountry, go to this link and click on the TV to download make sure your volume is on so you can hear the commentary. I am sure some of you have seen this one before! Funny Aussies! Good story! I like the video too. My teenager was rolling on the floor. I think he's going to try it. I told him to take pepper spray.

I don't mean to put you down but I do pity you your attitude. There are guys who spend their lives studying griz in the park and wouldn't go near em without a 45. I lived in MT for 30 years. Between FS, guiding, recreation, miscelaneous forest work, and, oh yeah bear studies under Charles Jonkel and co I will still carry my gun in the face of being called a pansie. Your three summer stays must have been good summer camp experiences. How did pepper spray work for you if you have never been charged? I have been charged. You realize just how good that jail sentence sounds compared to what is barreling toward you. Killing a bear with a 45 is not all that hard. Here's the drill; you play dead like you don't have a gun. If he leaves, you wash your pants. If he acts like he is going to bury you or snack immediately, you blast into the chest as many times as you can. It has worked for two guys I have met. They have scars yes but I didn't have to dig em up to see them. Tell all the ranger rick stories you want. Outside the park, unless you leave food out in the woods, a bear is going to run from you every time. I have seen mommas run with their cubs bawling WAY behind them. Inside the park, they like to linger. "Saaayyyyy, what is that smell? Did he have scrambled eggs for breakfast? Sex last night? Boy it seems like I run into one of these two-leggeds every time I turn around. Where do they all come from?" You will make one spicy meatball. I had the good fortune of meeting a momma bear with a two or three year old and a yearling. She was pretty mean to the older one cause there just wasn't much food around late in that drought year (88?). He probably weighed about 300lbs and she batted him around like a football. She had found the mess tent for the camp of a FS idiot working as foreman of a bridge crew. Nine of us got her to leave for awhile after a few false charges. The cubs split pretty fast. Two of us hung the food we had just brought up and turned around to see the momma's head emerging from the front of the wall tent 50 yrds away. We held still for a minute as she checked out the scents. When she started toward us we yelled. She broke into a full 800 lb run right at us. We dropped into a gully and sprinted down to the other seven guys and we all yelled like banshies as we backed away. At that point in the year, the berries had been gone for two months. The creeks were trickles. Rotten logs turned to dust. There was nothing for them to eat. They were desperate or we never would have seen them. Many bears ventured into the ranches to find food. Some returned to the woods. The park bears ate garbage.

The south border to Glacier Park is a highway. The griz cross it at will. A grizz encounter/attack in Glacier is not all that uncommon. They are practically unheard of south of the highway (this area includes the Great Bear, Bob Marshall, scapegoat and Misson Mountain wilderness areas). Collared bears have gone back and forth across the highway as seasonal foods require. So it is well documented that the same bears that attack people, or allow people to get close in the park, have no such carelessness outside the park. The only difference to the bears is which side of the border people carry guns. They are not so dumb. If we, or someone, hunted them the way they are hunted outside the park, I think we would have a lot fewer encounters. I stopped playing in the park after I met a couple going into Harris lake as I was leaving. He was killed. She was ripped up pretty good. I missed that bear by pure luck. If I went back into the park, I would carry a big friggin gun and I would not hesitate to use it. Backpacking in Glacier is like walking thru the central district with a kilo of coke over your shoulder.

After spending a lovely night on top of HD with my girlfriend, we moved camp down into the upper valley where all the campsites were full. We mosied on downstream, across the creek and up the hill a ways where we tied our food up in a tree ( I know all the tricks. unfortunately, I did not bring any cable). As night neared the bear gathered. We would see one here then one there and pretty soon, after dark, a random sweep with the flashlight revealed six bears within rock throwing distance. When I heard them climbing my tree, I flashed a lite over at them and there were three bears in the tree with one just getting out to the end of the branch that really should have broken. As he fell, he caught the bag and carried it to the ground. Everybody gathered round as he flung it back and forth distributing the wealth. Debbie was freaked having never camped out before. She didn't sleep much. Yogi didn't get any.

Ja. I gwoped hur. But she was not very gud looking so who caes?

OK. I went out to that site and it was pretty cool. But my wife caught me checking this one out. I don't think she's going to let me back on the internet for awhile.

I went looking for new places to climb this weekend. Started at the Trout Lake TH and went up past Copper lake, Heart, traversed the ridge along Big Heart and came down on Chetwood where I bivied. There wasn't anything that really grabbed me. But, the next day I went up and over Iron Cup and down into the top of the Necklace Valley. There is some nice granite up there boys and girls. It is a long way up there but it is high Quality. I thought I uploaded a pic but it isn't showing up. Anyway, the easiest way up would be to go up the Necklace Valley. That is an 8 mile slog with a lot of elevation gain in the last four miles. The granite is way up in the top too. Great meadows to camp in right below the base. Lots of three and four pitch stuff with a few five pitch routes. Lots of cracks. Bring a brush.

OO. OO. I just did a loop that compares to that. I went in past Trout lake and Copper lake, past Heart and Big Heart, and up to Chetwood where I bivied. Today, I went up and over Iron Cup and over to the head of teh Necklace Valley and down the necklace valley. It was a great cruise. The scenery is almost as good as the Enchantments. Took ice ax, crampons and climbing shoes just to weigh me down but did not use any of it..

Ten years ago, a partner and I were on the Full N rdge of Stuart down low by the snow when a VW Van sized block came down the ice cliff glacier. The ground was shaking, we were screamin and so was the party above us. It left some huge divets.

When I was fighting fires in the late eighties, I was given a helicopter and pilot to survey the area. The pilot asked me if I was all business or wanted to have a little fun. Fun sounded good. We cruised the valleys right up to the headwalls close enough to catch the updrafts which were like elivators. Going close to peaks or ridges was to catch the air currents to get specific results I do not claim to understand. But the pilot did understand what he was doing and used those currents with precision. I'm not saying it's OK to buzz peaks. Just explaining what I experienced.

Griz don't usually eat humans. Black bears are garbage skows and will eat anything. It's always interesting to hear other peoples bear stories. The Blackfeet told me "Bears are our brothers". They have personalities not unlike humans. Some are like me, some are like Trask, very few are like Fairweather. Charles Jonkel was a Bear specialist from the U of Mont. I went to HS with his son and we talked about bears alot. People are so afraid of them but they are around people all the time without being noticed. Huge Griz roam hundreds of miles out into the prairies in creek and river bottoms when the food gets scarce in the woods. Their tracks can be found by schools, picnic areas and you name it. Yet they never bother humans. Unless we bother them. There are a few who go looking for fights but they don't last long. The ranchers take em out quick and quiet. Can't have a bad griz roamin around on yur ranch. Most of them are just like homeless teenagers. They're scrongin for whatever and trying not to get confronted by the man.

A woman needs a reason. A man just needs a place. Those were the good old days because all you had to do was tell her what she pretended she wanted to hear and you got what you wanted. In those days, every girl could still hear the echos of Mom and Dad talking about what a slut was. We were all sluts by that definition.