Mtguide

Log onto REI's website, they have an excellent selection of travel books and guides to the PNW. Another great resource is Powell's Books in Portland, which has a huge section on PNW travel and hiking, just about everything that exists.There's more than just one book that would be suitable. Powell's would be the most likely to have books suitable for people who do 5th wheel and RV-type "camping". While REI is mostly oriented towards human- or self-powered locomotion, their travel guides in stock are nonetheless, well worth looking at for anyone who wants to see the PNW.

Problem is, one man's not gonna do it, no matter his resources or connections. Not Gates, not Ralph Nader, not anyone. Anyone who shows up and tries to do anything different from business as usual will simply be torn apart. That's what's happening to Obama.

Uh, yeah, lots of luck with that.... What part of 'Republicans don't care about ordinary working people' don't you understand? Plenty of congressional Democrats don't either, as we've seen demonstrated in this session of congress. But trusting Republicans to fix anything other than sweet deals for themselves and corporate fat cats, while mouthing inane platitudes (Scott Brown's campaign slogan "This is about America') about how they care about the working people, is sheer insanity. Oh, it's about America,all right, as in who gets to own and run it for their own profit. Evidently no one has learned a thing from the past eight years, or from any previous Republican administration going back to Reagan. Reagan presided over the largest transfer of wealth from the lower and middle class to the upper 1 or 2 %, in the history of the country to that time. Subsequent Republican administrations have only ramped up the theft of the public treasury and the spilling of innocent blood for profit. Bush has simply been the most blatant. Republicans willingly and gladly helped to break the economy of this country and the entire planet, dismantled the social safety net of some 60 years' standing, and sent thousands to be killed and maimed for an utterly useless war, gave 700 billion of our money to the very people who caused the financial meltdown, with no oversight on where or how those funds would be used-- and now you want them to fix it. HELLOOO!!! THEY DON'T CARE!!! THEY NEVER HAVE, AND NEVER WILL!! Republican politicians do not care about you or me, we're not even on their radar screen. They don't care about millions of people thrown out of work, out of their homes, living in their cars and on the streets. They don't care about hunger, disease, lack of education or medical care for anyone but themselves and their own privileged class. They don't care about whether Obama's health care plan was too expensive, they just wanted it to fail, period, and to hell with the almost 50 million of us who suffer for lack of adequate health care. The Teabaggers are just another clever corporate-funded phony"grassroots" pile of bullshit, ridiculous(yet very sly) bellyaching about "big government" health care, when health care is ALREADY controlled by an immense conglomerate consortium of people WHO NOBODY ELECTED!!!! that is MANY times bigger than the government itself. Ohhh, poor struggwing wittle tiny tender-hearted insuwance companies, dey just trying so hard to help, but nobody want to bewieve dem... What Republicans have shown beyond all doubt, by standing united in opposition to every last single thing Obama has attempted to do, is not that they have a better idea, or that they are in any way some kind of "loyal opposition" trying to save the country from disaster, but that they desire nothing more than to see to it that Obama fails, even if it means shoveling the country right down the drain to do it. The only "fix" there is the huge one we're all in-- if you think THIS recession was bad, you ain't seen nothin' yet. Go ahead, vote Republican, and see an even worse replay of the past eight years. It'll make "Groundhog Day" the national byword. Expecting Republicans to even be interested in what used to be called "the common good" is like expecting a tiger to let the lamb go without harm. Ain't gonna happen, folks, ain't never gonna happen. Actually, if anyone thinks Republicans give a shit-they're right--that's exactly what you'll get from Republicans--SHIT, and plenty of it.

Maybe some kind of benefit climbing slide show or film fest is the thing to do here. There ought to be at least a few of the more active folks on this website who could put together a bang-up show--I mean just look at some of the great TR's and videos that pop up here all the time--anybody? Ivan?(With commentary like no one else) Klenke? Steph? Layton? Wayne?etc...

Get a copy of "Don't Waste Your Time in the North Cascades" by Kathy and Craig Copeland. Despite the title (sounds like they're saying 'don't go there', doesn't it) it's an excellent guide to dayhikes and backpacking trips, with trail ratings from Premier down to "Don't Do". In other words, if you do go to the North Cascades, they're trying to give you the most bang for your buck, to help you get the most out of your trip. The book is extremely thorough, all the information you need on where to go and how to get there, permits, trail and backcountry hazards, mileages, elevations, difficulty, crowdedness, etc. I'd also have to offer a strong second to Water's recommendation, although I love the Olympics, the North Cascades is hands down the best choice if you've never been out here.

Years ago I was bucked off a horse in Wyoming and landed right on my butt. Didn't notice anything right away, but a few weeks later began to have lower back pain, which continued for about 6 months, then went away. I was 28 at the time. 5 years later I suffered a hip injury. When the orthopedist came into the exam room with the x-rays, he said,"Did you know you broke your back one time?" Looking at the films , he showed me a dark line across the middle of the 4th lumbar vertebra. It was an old compression fracture, and he said it could only be caused by a fall from some height, at least 6 or 8 feet, landing just right on the base of the spine, to do it. I told him about being bucked off,(and I know I was over ten feet off the ground when the horse pitched me) and he said that sounded about right. It knocked about a half inch off my overall height. Those bones are pretty stout, but not unbreakable. Either rope up or use plenty of crash pads if you don't want to be crippled up as you age.

Oregon sometimes has a malevolent/mischievous weather spirit...

One of the most important reasons for starting at midnight, besides the length of the climb, is daylight, and weather. The idea is to give yourself the greatest amount of leeway and time possible, for daylight travel. The ground covered by headlamp before dawn is usually not the most technical, from Camp Muir, depending on which route you're doing. By the time you get to the real climbing, it's beginning to get light. Then you should have ample time to get to the summit in good conditions, and before sun softens the slopes too badly. Snow bridges will, or may, still be intact on the way back. Furthermore, you'll be tired on the descent. It's well known that the majority of climbing accidents occur on the descent. So you need every advantage for light and snow conditions as you go down, extra leeway of time. The other reason is that mountain weather being generally unpredictable, nonetheless can be quite predictable locally, under certain conditions of the overall larger weather pattern at the time. Weather is usually far less active at night than during the day due to the lack of sun warming the local atmosphere. A typical summer pattern is for afternoon thundershowers or thunderstorms, usually developing by around 1:00 to 2:00 PM. You want to try as much as possible to summit by 8 or 9 AM at the latest, and back to Muir by noon or 1:00PM, to avoid getting caught in what can be really wild and dangerous on the upper mountain. Believe me, you do NOT want to get caught on the summit or upper slopes of Rainier in a cloud cap; sometimes it's just a visibility whiteout, but it can also be unbelievably violent. Up and back down early is the best. Even in the best of conditions Rainier demands vigilance, preparedness, clear and knowledgeable judgement, experience, fitness, and ability, if you want to stay safe.

Hi Chad; One of the best orthopedists I know of in the Portland area is Dr. Ira Weintraub, he's the very last listing in the Yellow Pages under Orthopedics. He's also in the white pages, and is located on 1515 NW 18th, phone is 503-224-8399. He's a climber and skier himself, so he'll have an understanding that is very helpful. And in my experience, he'll spend the time it takes with you to make sure he fully understands the symptoms you're experiencing, and where to take it from there. Great guy, really knows his stuff. Another option that may be helpful, and a little less expensive initially, is Portland Adventist Hospital out near Mall 205. They used to have a walk-in Sports Medicine clinic on Tuesday evenings, where you could go and be evaluated for a nominal fee, around $35.00. The clinic has a very respected reputation. They could also prescribe medications and treatment, and they have a state-of-the-art Physical Therapy facility. I haven't been out there for years, but give 'em a call and see if they still do that. The doctors are excellent, and they'll steer you right.

Chad, if you're experiencing moderate to strong or severe pain,during or after gym climbing, and weight or other resistance training, you need STOP, and I do mean SSTTOPPP!!! working out right now. You have an inflammation which will continue to progress, if you don't stop, and can actually cause roughening of the periosteum (tissue covering the bone) under the site of the attachment of the tendon to the elbow, and eventually osteophytes or bone spurs will form beneath the periosteum. When this happens, the only remedy is surgery, usually what's known as a "flexor slide", in which an anesthesiologist administers an "arm block" (deadening the entire arm), and then an orthopedic surgeon opens up the elbow and cuts the attachment of the tendon at the epicondyle. The periosteum is opened and peeled back and any and all bone spurs are scraped, sanded, chiseled, what ever has to be done to return the bone surface to it's formerly smooth condition. The periosteum is closed, and the tendon re-attached by stapling or other fasteners, to the bone, everything is closed up, and then you're looking at anywhere from 8 or 10 months to as much as two or three years for full recovery, depending on your age.It does help that you're just 31, however, you're not a kid anymore, bone and tissue growth have already begun to slow, and you won't heal like a 19-year old. I know, because I went through all this at age 40. It took a long, long time to get back to normal, and I still have to watch it. Please don't, I repeat, DO NOT trifle, dawdle, hope for miracles or cures with Omega 3 supplements. Get an appointment with the best orthopedist you can find who specializes in Sports medicine and tendonitis/epicondylitis. Get it evaluated, NOW. And then DO WHAT HE SAYS. I can understand your reluctance to use NSAIDS, but THEY WORK if used properly, and may very well save you from my fate if you have caught this early enough. ALEVE is one of the best. You need to get the inflammation down and stabilize the condition. You can be as aggressive as you want with ice. I use a 1 lb. bag of frozen peas, icing for 25 min., take it off, let the area warm up on its own, then repeat. you can do this 2 or three times an evening. You can also freeze ice in small paper cups,(make a whole bunch), then take'em out and peel the paper back to rub the tender area with the ice. You'll be surprised at how fast this gets the area REALLY cold. You can do this several times an evening, or during the day. Ask your doctor and physical therapist about if and when to use heat. As far as massage, vigorous cross-tissue massage (going across the length of the tendon) with a thumb or several fingers can be very effective at getting some flow of oxygenated blood into these areas, which are not very well perfused to begin with. Begin gently; if you have any extremely painful areas, again ask your doctor and physical therapist about this technique. But usually a moderate to firm pressure will be helpful without causing any problem. If you're experiencing tightness, cramping, shooting pains or other discomfort in the larger muscles of the forearms, you have a problem, very likely osteophytes, or such a degree of inflammation at the site of the epicondyles that the nerves radiating into the forearm are referring the pain of constriction the inflammation is causing. While heat may feel better, it's ice that you want, at least in the initial stages, to get this to back off, if possible. Your doctor may recommend injection of the site with a cortisone steroid depending on his evaluation and what he finds with x-ray or MRI imaging to determine if there are indeed any more serious conditions beyond mere inflammation. Ultrasound is sometimes used in physical therapy as well. I would absolutely stay out of the climbing gym until this whole situation is resolved. For that matter, I really don't recommend climbing gyms at all. I know it's the winter, hard to get in much time on real rock, but I have never once, in over 40 years of climbing, been injured, or sustained tears or tendonitis from climbing on real rock outdoors. But it was the combination of weight training and the climbing gym that precipitated my bout with epicondylitis, and I have been injured a number of other times at climbing gyms, usually muscle pulls and tears, inflammations, etc. A lot of the routesetters are young guys trying to see how hard they can make it, are not thinking of potential force/load factors on human physiology, know nothing about movement dynamics or stress kinetics, and are trying to impress the girls. Regarding the "recovery"/workout routine you show, I see nothing wrong with it per se, but in your present condition, RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) is what you really need to focus on until you can get to the doctor. Don't worry, at your age, your muscles won't melt. You may very well be overtraining anyway. Remember, MUSCLE GROWS WHEN YOU REST, NOT WHEN YOU TRAIN!!! Have you ever just knocked off the training for 3 or 4 days after a heavy cycle, and then looked in a mirror? Wow, how'd those arms, etc. get so big??!! I haven't been doing anything for 3 days! Right, dum-dum, the poor bastards FINALLY got some REST!! And they took advantage of it to GROW!!! And tendon is no different, BUT: because it is white tissue with generally very low blood saturation, it takes LONGER to recover after heavy training. This is why we don't rain heavy, heavy, heavy, day after day. Instead we train heavy--Low reps(4 to 6), heavy weights, and then light--high reps (15 to 20), low weight, alternating every other workout, to allow the tendons to recuperate, and also to make sure that both muscle and tendon are progressing at a similar rate in strength and endurance. If muscle gets ahead of tendon--tendonitis. If tendon gets ahead of muscle-- serious muscle tears, or even detachment from the bone. Seen it happen with big guys and big weights; frightening and gruesome, extremely painful. AND, we throw plenty of rest days in there for good measure. Research is showing more and more that fully recovered tissues perform and develop to a much higher degree than partially recovered tissue, and that full recovery may take much longer than previously thought. In one Oregon State study, it was found that full recovery from a heavy leg day was not reached until 9 DAYS(!!) after the workout. Anyway, fucking GO SEE THE DOCTOR if you don't want to really get into trouble. This stuff is nasty, extremely persistent and time-consuming to heal, and can recur at the drop of a hat if you haven't allowed it to completely heal. Finally, climbing is great- outdoors. Weight training and other forms of resistance training, is great-- but only when done properly, neither over- nor under-training, and with proper rest and recovery, and the right nutrition. After a training cycle of 8 to 10 weeks, I usually take an entire week or even two, completely off, don't touch a weight, don't go near the gym. I do stay active, but whatever's FUN, and as much as possible outdoors. And once or even twice a year, depending on how hard I've been training, I'll take an entire month off from training. It's sometimes absolutely amazing how much better I feel, having been way more tired and banged up than I'd realized. Your body likes a good vacation now and again. Right now, your body is telling you, SHOUTING at you, "HEY, MAN!! STOP!! I'M INJURED!! If I were you, I'd drop that weight or come down off that climbing wall,and listen, and do whatever the body needs to get well.

When I was in high school in Fort Worth, Texas one of our buddies brought an authentic Australian aboriginal boomerang to the Scout troop meeting one night. This thing was about 18' long on each leg, and the edges were pretty damn sharp, made of a very hard wood. After the meeting, 5 or 6 of us went a few blocks away to the local Army surplus store and snuck over the back fence by the warehouse where there were a bunch of old WWII army helmets in a bin, and got geared up. Then we stopped by home to get some flashlights, and headed over to the high school football field. It was a cloudy night, dark as a stack of black cats, could hardly see your hand in front of your face. We got out in the middle of the field and started throwing that boomerang, trying to spot it with the flashlights as it came zinging back, either running or hitting the dirt as it went slashing by overhead. Several pretty close calls, but fun as hell. Finally someone did get hit, sustaining a pretty cool-looking gash on his cheekbone just below the eye. Even so, we took a few more throws, succeeded in denting one of the Army helmets, and then one throw went wild and broke a window on the fieldhouse. Neighbor lights came on across the street and we hit the ground, but whoever it was went back inside, and we headed for home. By the time we got a couple blocks away on the hill above school, here came a police car pulling up by the football field, shining his spotlight around, and we ducked behind some hedges to watch till he left. We returned the army helmets the next night after dark, so far as I know they never missed 'em. The guy with the gash on his cheek bone had a little explaining to do to his folks, who couldn't afford to have it stitched, so he wears that little Clint Eastwood scar to this day. High school was boring, but we always managed to find some kind of fun.

Dan Evans stood up to the extreme Republican right wing of his day, the John Birch Society. In the spring of 1966, at a meeting of the state Republican committee, in his speech before the conference,he hewed to a moderate line on the environment, upheld responsible fiscal policy in the form of corporations paying their fair share of taxes, and resisted efforts from the far right to weaken protections on wilderness, rivers, and wildlife, and fair wages. He supported additional funding for education at all levels, and kept tuition at state universities and colleges to a very affordable level. And he refused to allow a number of proposals, or "planks" from the John Birch Society to be included in the party platform. Among these was a strident call supporting more aggressive US involvment in Vietnam, which was just beginning to really get rolling at the time. All in all, Evans was very fair and bipartisan,one of the best governors Washington ever had.

From requiring everyone to carry a PLB, it's not that much of a step to requiring everyone to get implanted with a locator chip. The next step after that is a"control" chip; these have already been successfully used in experiments with insects and lab rats to control motion and behavior. _________________________________________________ "Humanoid Units # 11879 through # 32004 deploy to Sector 14 immediately"....

8D

I'm sure the manufacturers are licking their lips over this, and will be doing everything they can to push it through.

I liked how they were supposed to be at 27,000 ft.el. and yet were dressed like they were going for a hike in the Columbia Gorge....at last, the TRUTH about climbing...

As with any big mountain,(and yes, contrary to what some might say, Adams is a big mountain; although lower than Mt. Rainier, it has more mass than Rainier by about 25-30%, so it's actually bigger) the weather on the south side route of Adams would be your primary concern. So you'll want to have good weather, and still be well prepared for any conditions that might arise. Even on a beautiful day in July, things can change very quickly. Fog or more severe weather can brew up in a few short minutes. In a whiteout, even the south side of Adams can be very difficult to navigate. Even with lots of people on the mountain and a superhighway boot track to follow, tracks can spread out and scatter around; a sudden heavy snow squall can fill in tracks in a jiffy; combined with zero visibility, you might as well be on the moon unless you know how to find your way down. In a thick whiteout, you could easily get disoriented coming across the South Summit and wind up on the much steeper SW face or even over on the Klickitat or Klickitat headwall or the Mazama Glacier. If you tried to come off the summit in a whiteout without adequate map and compass skills and/or GPS, it's even possible to wind up on the Adams Glacier icefall or somewhere down on the the NW ridge, or N. Face of the NW ridge. Any of these routefinding mistakes could get you in serious trouble fast. Make sure the weather forecast is favorable for several days on each side of the day of your climb. Get as much knowledge and experience as you can between now and your next attempt on Adams. Buy and study thoroughly books like "Mountaineering:The Freedom of the Hills", by The Mountaineers,and "The Mountaineering Handbook" by Craig Connally. Study especially the sections on navigation, mountain weather and hazards, clothing and food. Study guidebooks and maps (USGS topos in 7.5 min.scale;--if you don't know what this means, find out!) so that you know your route thoroughly beforehand. Familiarize yourself with the terrain of the entire mountain, especially the routes and features on each side of your immediate route as well.The "Cascade Climbing Guide" by Fred Beckey, and "Summit Routes" by Stephenson and Bongiovanni have excellent route descriptions and photos. Take a basic mountaineering course if possible. Know how to use an ice axe and be well practiced in doing a self arrest, both with and without crampons. Depending on the time of year and time of day you do your climb, crampons could be necessary on the upper mountain. Even on the Lunch Counter face, an uncontrolled slide on hard crust or icy conditions could result in serious injury. As easy and "forgiving" as Adams is, please do not take it, or any mountain, or the weather, for granted, ever. Be sure you're in good physical condition. And, all of the above applies equally to your climbing partners as well. Each person needs to take responsibility for their own safety by getting as much knowledge, training and experience as possible; and that will make the entire party safer. Just because "little old granmas" can do it, don't let that lull you into complacency. Lots of those little old granmas have whole lifetimes of climbing under their belts, are tough as a boot, extremely knowledgeable, mountain-saavy, careful, and know just exactly what they're doing. To make sure you get to be one of them in later years, start out right and be well-prepared before you come out from the flatlands to set foot on the broad shoulders of Mt. Adams.

Thanks Ivan, did not know that about lengthy comments in Spray. Especially appreciate the reminder about "fortune cookie wisdom", absolutely the truth.

Allowing the families of victims to determine punishment would certainly have to be done within legal limits of what the law provides in capital cases. But even so, I wonder if this kind of provision wouldn't result in even greater pressure on prosecutors to win a conviction, and to further facilitate the same kind of miscarriage of "justice" against innocent suspects that we're having such problems with already. I've seen a number of documentaries on this issue, and it is absolutely astounding how implacable, callous and hardened prosecutors, judges,detectives and police can be in resisting even the most obvious and blatant evidence that they made a mistake and condemned an innocent person to death. I think there's far too much possibility for collusion and distortion or omission of evidence, bribery, etc., in the case of people who've lost a family member and are all too anxious to see someone punished for the crime, and all too vulnerable to the pressure of prosecutors who are also anxious to put forward a no-tolerance,action-oriented, tough-on-crime front to satisfy what are so often media- and local, politically, racist, or culturally driven clamoring for vengeance and blood. I'm all for victims' rights, but it just seems to me that giving a family a direct say in this whole procedure just does nothing but to amp up the frenzy even more, with what can be completely tragic, unjust results. In any system which is going to maintain the option of capital punishment, it's really mandatory to have irrefutable evidence through DNA, video, etc. as Bug noted above. If the punishment is going to be irrevocable, then the burden of proof, to be fair, should be irrevocable on the state. "Innocent until proven guilty", beyond a shadow of a doubt, and not the other way around, must be the standard if the ordinary person is to have any chance at all, and if a so-called free and open society is to remain. Having said that, I have to admit that I'm in firm opposition to the death penalty. Killing the perpetrator of a blood crime is just perpetuating the cycle of violence, and it has been shown conclusively in a multitude of long term studies to have little to no effect as a deterrent. It further inculcates and sanctions violence as a viable principle in society while doing nothing to prevent it. And there are many cases of murder or manslaughter where an otherwise perfectly normal, decent, useful human being lost control and committed the crime in a fit of passion. Where one human life has already been"wasted", to destroy yet another only compounds the tragedy and suffering on all sides. The Buddhists say that we should never give up on anyone or anything, that to do so is to lose precious opportunity for growth,learning, forgiveness and healing on all sides. One teacher used to tell his students to "try very hard to get through life without killing anyone, and that includes doing it legally as well," as in the case of service in the military, police, or capital punishment.(He recognized that there are cases in which you may have no other choice--everyone has the right to self defense of home and family). And it's not just the Buddhists; it's worth noting that Christianity is based on the New Testament, where it says, "Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father is merciful. Judge not, that ye be not judged, and (lots of us forget this part) "condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned". This is also the part where it goes on to talk about not trying to get the mote out of your brother's eye until you have pulled the beam out of your own eye. And even in the Old Testament, it says "'Vengeance is mine', saith the Lord". While incarceration is unarguably expensive, the death penalty, death row, and the endless cycle of appeals that results, is many times costlier, both in terms of dollars and in the emotional and psychological turmoil and limbo inflicted on the families of both sides. Only the lawyers truly benefit. Everyone else, ALL the rest of us, pay and pay. Someone who is incarcerated for life can still be of some use to society, can still make use of whatever skills they may have as a way of repaying their debt to society and to the victim's family, while being forced to live with and confront their own misdeeds and suffering continually, every day. For those criminally insane who may be utterly umcomprehending of the enormity of their crime, those completely lacking in any conscience or the ablity to feel any degree of remorse, or so seriously disturbed as to remain constantly unpredictable and dangerous, then the only option is life without parole. In most other "civilized" countries, even these are treated with compassion and humanity, not demonization and blind fear. I also feel that life without parole should be exercised more than it is, especially in the case of career criminals who've committed capital crimes. On the more conservative side, there are far too many cases of murderers who are paroled after 15 or 20 years or more, who kill again once they're outside, like the man who killed the 4 policemen in Tacoma. We need to find more dependable ways of evaluating such people and seeing to it that they're not set free to go down the same road again. After the Tacoma shooting, and the revelation that the shooter's own family was helping him elude capture, I heard comments that the whole family deserved the death penalty for what happened, and "good riddance to the whole lot of 'em", etc. But in reading about the family background, and the shooter's upbringing, it became clear that the family was very sick and dysfunctional, going a long time back, and that what the shooter and his family needed most was treatment, not death. Even with treatment, it's clear now that he never should have been released in the first place. But putting him to death would have done nothing to help his family get better, or those of the first person he originally went to prison for killing. I think the Truth Commissions of South Africa and Rwanda, in the aftermath of the apartheid and tribal atrocities, are worthy of serious consideration as an alternative to the death penalty, at least as a part of the legal system. Their prime emphasis and operation is organized around confession, understanding and "real" forgiveness. Of course they have a much different and very complicated situation from ours. And I'm in no way advocating that they replace or substitute for legal punishment and incarceration, but at least act as a supplement, an adjunct, to how we deal with capital crime. Bishop Desmond Tutu, who has served as a primary motivator and facilitator of these commissions, said a very profound thing when asked what was meant by "real" forgiveness. He said that it means not just saying "I forgive you", but also "to drop and forgo any vengeance, any further claim against, or right of reprisal, in any form, against those who have wronged you, once and for all, and to never take it up again." And Bishop Tutu said that, as hard as it is to do this, that so far, it has proven to be the most effective way that the victims, as well as the assailants, have been able to really heal and move on. Because the desire for vengeance, the carrying and nurturing of anger and hatred for those who harmed you, and what they did, has been shown beyond all doubt to be far more harmful and corrosive to those carrying the hate, than it is to those who are hated. It's really the first time in the history of the world, so far as we know, that anything like this has been tried, and it seems to be working. As I say, they have a different situation than we do. On a purely practical level, neither of these two countries has the resources, the prison capacity, or the size of legal system necessary to prosecute and imprison the huge numbers of perpetrators, or even to identify and apprehend them all, for any length of time. And because of this, to simply be able pick up and carry on with ordinary daily life, in a reasonable amount of time, the Truth Commissions were what they came up with. It was the only way that made any sense for hundreds of villages and towns where people are living a few blocks or a few doors from someone who killed their relatives or raped, assaulted, or maimed them with machetes, without the whole situation descending into uncontrolled violence and rampaging madness all over again. We may find such a method utterly ridiculous and ludicrous; but with the largest prison population per capita, and the largest number of prisoners on death row, of any developed, civilized country in the world, we may not be all that far from a time when real forgiveness may become a very necessary element in the reform and healing of a very sick and violent society. The simple fact is that you will never be able to execute and imprison your way out of the problems that are causing these things to happen over and over again. The solutions may not be all that clear, but it is all too abundantly clear that more killing is most definitely NOT the answer.

Scott, wonderful to see your beautiful tribute ( great photos!)and to know that your brother's spirit and accomplished ability as a climber and leader lives on in you. You are both a great inspiration. Blessings and peace to you and your family.

Don't forget to tell them that 76 virgin pigs await them in heaven...

You got that right. Sharma has a couple of things going for him. One, he has a superior ratio of body weight to grip strength. And two, he has an absolutely relentless, indefatigable work ethic. A couple years ago at the Banff Mt. Film Fest, they showed a film of Sharma attempting the first ascent of a huge sea arch, about 100 yds. long, in the Adriatic. The apex of the arch was a good 60 or 70 ft. off the water. That'll give you a pretty good smack, hitting the water from that height. They showed every single one of his 38 or 39 attempts and failures, falling into the sea, until on the last attempt he was finally able to do the entire length of the arch in one shot. All attempts on the same day. Pretty amazing endurance and determination, a hell of a lot of swimming and climbing over one long hard day. Gotta hand it to him.

These kinds of polls are the perfect gauge of how well current indoctrination works. That's exactly what they're polling in the first place. They can indoctrinate and see how well it's working at the same time.

I've actually made these GPS maps before, both basic topo, as well as comprehensive, routable maps. It is essentially unfeasible for the map makers to be able to know the condition of a particular road during a particular season. That said, most GPS units give a weighted preference to state roads when choosing a route, so I am surprised that a forest service road was chosen, but it does happen. It is up to the user to tell the device that they are only interested in state routes, and they should be fine. I could expound on the technical difficulties of it all but think I would probably just bore everyone. Also, the database is I'm sure data harvested from government sites. That makes sense; I wasn't really knowledgeable about where manufacturers get their databases to install in GPS units. And, what you say about the responsibility of the user is true--which is why I was advocating for people carrying map and compass, checking things out before they go, etc. Might as well give yourself every advantage, especially when you're carrying kids. One item I forgot to mention which should be required, just like chains, for winter driving: a little thing called a SHOVEL. That could have made all the difference for those who got stuck. Maybe there should a required section on winter driving safety and emergency procedures as part of Driver's Ed courses, and in the State driver's manual,as well as questions addressing this stuff on the Driver's License exam. Anything to dispel the pervading ignorance that seems to keep these incidents happening.

I don't know about schizophrenia, but anxiety, psychosis(sometimes severe), paranoia, panic attacks and mild to severe hallucinations due to the use of weed are effects that have been well documented in many studies over the last 3 decades. And the concentration of THC is now 300 to 400 times greater in the better grades of pot than what was commonly available some 30 years ago, so it may not take as much to cause significant problems. Also the carcinogenic effects from smoking it are equally well confirmed and documented. I've lost several friends to lung cancer brought on by long term use of weed, and a number of others who survived it with treatment. There's also been a much higher incidence of psychological dependency due to the use of stronger varieties available. So while there are overt differences in the immediate behavior brought on by MJ or alchohol,(unlike alchohol, pot smokers are seldom violent) in many ways, the residual, ongoing effects for the heavy user can amount to the same, which is the loss of the user's normal judgemental and functional abilities, compromising or destruction of family, social and business relationships, and serious mental and physical health problems. It's not necessarily a victimless act to use pot. Whether with pot or alchohol, the families and friends of the heavy user are at risk for losing the presence, or even the lives, of fathers, mothers, siblings, and other meaningful personal relationships.