Bug

When asked what he would do in Bill Clinton's position, Dick Armey replied; "If I were in Bill's position, I would be lying in a pool of my own blood with my wife standing over me asking, "How do you reload this SOB?"".

dont it already have a name? how about 'gladys'? Near the end of the west ridge of Denali?

Set a date. Name a place. Pay for it. They will come.

Yeah. They learned a lot of new words too. Kindergarten should be real interesting this morning. I think that was little larvea's first kid conversation about sex. It took place under the troll bridge apparently. She had all kinds of questions Hey now, my son was playing with Bionicles about that time, he knows nothing of those things... OK. Does "Bumping bottoms" sound familiar to anyone? Comon. Fess up. Bug...how does a smiff kid's ropeup sound???? Maybe early novembe-ish??? Campin' is good and there is lots of stuff in the ez range... Wish i coulda made it...looked rockin'!!! too cold in november for my guys but I might be able to work something out It sounds good to me but actually driving 8hrs to get down there with my kids is a bit of a stretch. All the planning we did was Hillweasel reserved a place and time. The rest of us talked it up. Then we talked some more once we got there. How many kidded climbers are there down there?

Yeah. They learned a lot of new words too. Kindergarten should be real interesting this morning. I think that was little larvea's first kid conversation about sex. It took place under the troll bridge apparently. She had all kinds of questions Hey now, my son was playing with Bionicles about that time, he knows nothing of those things... OK. Does "Bumping bottoms" sound familiar to anyone? Comon. Fess up.

Went for a walk by Garnet MT (a ghost town). After topping out on a rdge and seeing a little bench below and out of the wind, I went there and sat on the obvious rock. Right between my feet was a small jar of bud with a slightly rusted lid. Since I don't smoke, I threw it into the wind and watched it blow away.

good choice, don't ruin a good thang How many do you have Trask?

Both of my daughters actually thanked me for taking them to the ropeup. Whoa. What was in that koolaid? They want to know when we are going to do it again. Right on guys! Dads rule!

Yeah. They learned a lot of new words too. Kindergarten should be real interesting this morning. I think that was little larvea's first kid conversation about sex. It took place under the troll bridge apparently. She had all kinds of questions

There are more pics under the Washington site. I didn't see the event site before I posted them.

What a disappointment. At 360, 5'9" and 44 years old, I was the youngest and in the best shape of all the dads there. Needless to say, all we did was sit around sloshing beers and chestbeat about how good we used to be. Once in awhile we had to throw a kid a marshmallow but for the most part, the Cosco box of fruitloops kept them happy. I tried to call CPS but I couldn't get cell service up Icicle canyon. Go figure, at least half these guys have called in helicopters to the Enchanments when their GPS failed but I can't raise a Wentchee detective in a real emergency. Oh well. Maybe next year will be better.

We have our own shark patrol. Meredith (5) always asks if this is salt water before she will even get a toe wet. One more thing. Bring pile clothes if you have them for the kids. They make good pajamas.

I sense an inner child that needs a big hug.

If your kids are like mine- little- they will like lots of sugar and very few rules. Cereal variety packs and hot chocolate are key for breakfast and many other times. Bacon is usually a hit as we never eat it otherwise and it sneaks some long lasting protien into their arteries. A tent to separate them from reality is nice. I bring a minimum of two sleeping bags per kid. The tent will resist being filled to the top but that is what my kids enjoy. Light sticks are goog for kids who are afraid of the dark. I will have a few extra just in case ($1). Bring one lunch of nutritional value that they are used to. Ham sandwhiches are good for my kids. It keeps the sugar a little balanced. Expect mud, dirt, dust and pitch. Extra clothes are nice. Something they don't usually get at home helps get them out the door next time. My girls like the general absence of rules and cleanliness that my norwegian wife likes to impose. Anything goes, as long as it's safe/legal. .

Jack and I were climbing Canyon peak in the Bitterroots about 15 years ago. It is an easy alpine ascent with a little 5.6 here and there and a lot of beautiful exposure and scenery. When we got to the base, Jack promptly rolled his ankle hard. We packed it in snow and he walked on it to test it. It seemed good enough so we climbed the peak and descended to the base. At this point he told me he was not going to be able to walk on it all the way out six miles and down 4000 ft. We devised a plan. I would take the rack, rope and other gear and high-tail it out to the truck and he would make it down as far as he could. I would jog back up and assist the rest of the way. Jack gave me his key and gear and I headed out. When I got to the truck that he had traded for some legal work, I found out that the key was for the ignition but not for the locked doors. Oh well. I stashed my pack and headed back up. I passed the first hunter about two miles up. He had passed Jack way up by the top and he was moving very slowly. I met a second hunter about three miles up and he had just seen Jack about an hour before up steep switchbacks. About half way up, I found Jack tying his shirt around his crude crutch as padding. I tried to help him but the trail was narrow, steep and precipitous and it was pitch dark. We had not brought headlamps. He had too much pride to let me carry him. He hobbled all the way out to the truck. That was when I informed him of the key not working. We found one fist sized rock in the parking lot. Think about that. A parking lot in the mountains, surrounded by vertical rock and talus and we could only find one fist sized rock. Of course it was dark but still.... So I grabbed the rock and struck his wing window. It made a thwack sound but barely even ticked the window. Harder still, I whacked again. Still in tact. Finally, I thwacked that sucker hard and my fist and the rock went right through the wing window slashing my thumb wide open from the joint to the base. It was bleeding profusely. I taped it up and we started the truck and went down to Hamilton to get some ice for Jack's ankle. We pulled into a 7/11 and I jumed out. The front right tire was hissing and deflating rapidly. Jack had no spare. It was Sunday night about 10PM. Jack's wife was seven months pregnant and had a broken ankle from a Rainier trip (different story) so we could not call her. I called my GF and she diligently searched high and low for a car to borrow. My parents were out of town, all our friends were unreachable. We were screwed. Jack called his wife who did not want my girlfriend to drive their new car (OK she was only 18). Lil showed up about midnight. She looked at me and asked if there was anything I wanted, a drink, snack, whatever. I said no, no, and no. She turned to Jack and politely said,"Don't ever do this to me again." and peeled out. Did I mention this was Jack's and my first trip together? We since have had a 90% success ratio.

I use bread bags alot. I have never lost a toenail. My boots are a little big for me. My feet are about a 10 3/4 and I get size 11 boots. When I used 10 1/2 tele boots, I jammed my toes a few times so I tightened the ankle eyelets. That seemed to work. I still had to keep my toenails short. But, to keep your feet warm in really cold weather, keeping the insulation dry is good. I wear a thin silk or capilene sock , a bread bag, and then a heavier wool sock. My socks fit snug without constricting and my feet aren't swimming in the boots either. I also use footbeds. I have made them out of lots of different materials since the early sixties. Felt, styrofoam, wool, insulite, and Aerogel. Aerogel was by far the warmest but disintegrates too quickly. I used an insole from each boot as a pattern. Now I have orthotic inserts that I glue various forms of insulite to.

If marriage were an easy project it wouldn't take a lifetime to complete it. If it weren't for my kids, I would have left my wife years ago. We've gone through a lot of changes and now I am glad we are still together. It doesn't matter what you have going now, it will all change. We will go through more hard times but now we have better tools for working through them. It is not too early to start working on that tool chest. Best of luck!

Good luck getting a date in Seattle now. The girl network knows no boundaries.

you haven't been married have you? uh, no, but by the time I ever do I think we'd have a pretty good idea about out "goals, expectations, loves, likes, dislikes, etc". Good luck with Cinderella big guy. Women get married thinking they can change the man. Men get married thinking their women won't change. The rest is in Trask's little chart.

Nice.

Here is one legitimate piece of good advice. Go to a pre-marriage counselor and have a compatability test carefully done. You can get this done by most competent counselors or through most churches. The Catholic services will do it wether you are Catholic or not. It is not some heavy phsyco drama thing that you have to lie on a couch for. You just fill out several pages of questions about your goals, expectations, loves, likes, dislikes, etc. Then a trained counselor reviews the results with you. Even if it points to some potential problems, at least you two will not get blindsided by quite as much. It is the surprises that will get you.

Right on dudes!!!! Give us a good TR. I want to hear your story.

I like the part about the 16 year-old "wearing denim cutoffs under rain pants". Good alpine apparel.

Get a room you guys.

What did you do in Blodgett? I was at UM for undergrad and climbed lots of stuff down there. In Blodgett it was the parking lot wall, Shoshone at least a couple times a month and Nez Perce & Flathead spire. Ice in the winter was fun too. Cool. Did you do Modern Home Environment on Nez Peirce? I was in on the first ascent. Got to be first through the 5.9 roof near the top. I was just over there to go up Blodgett but it is closed for construction like the Enchantments. I smell a conspiracy.