Eastsider

U- Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, I've been away from the computer for a couple of days. Yes, you can show the track of where you have been in with the map up. E-

Undermind, I have the Vista and have used it for several years. It can show you where you are on the map, your track and can oriented to either "north up" (where north is the top of the screen) or "direction of travel" (where the top of the screen is the current direction you are heading). You can download maps into the gps for different uses. Some of the maps available are for roads (for car navigation; somewhat useful if you're a passenger but not practical for driving) topos (at 1/100,000 they're nowhere near as good as 1/24,000 quads, but they are useful enough for get oriented). Typically, what I do is put in waypoints into the gps which I also put onto a paper map. I use the gps for navigating (refering to the paper map if needed/wanted; the waypoints on the map make it easy to go back and forth between the two) and for putting in waypoints as I go (kind of like "elecrtronic wands")for the trip back. I've never had my gps go out, but if it did then I would be able to move seamlessly from electonic map to paper map and compass. Personally, I like having the mapping capability and think it's worth the extra $$$ for the ease of use it gives. When I've been climbing all day, am tired and have a case of the stupids, I like not having to wonder where the heck I am. Hope this help some...

I like having the altimeter on the gps as a backup to my watch, especially since there is no weight penalty. I've had my watch go out a couple of times and I used the gps for altitude (barometric readings, not triangulated altitudes; I haven't found triangulated to be consistently accurate compared to barometric) Also, having both mapping and non-mapping gps's, I would never go back to using a non-mapping one (yes, I haven't used my garmin 45xl in years). As for color vs. b/w, exactly how many people do you know who have monochrome monitors on their computers...

If Gregoire does request a headcount and wins the election as a result of it, perhaps we could call her Christine "W" Gregoire...

A gentleman that I work with used to work with Dee Molenaar (in the USGS I think). He invited Mr. Molenaar to his wedding. Mr. Molenaar apparently did not make it to the ceremony, but presented him later with some artwork that he created at the same time that the ceremony was performed, to "save the moment", so to speak. The man sounds like a class act to me.

I ran a 3 mile cool-down run with Bill Rodgers after a 10k in New York last year. Really nice guy. We chatted about all kinds of stuff, including a flight he had where he sat next to Beck Weathers. I saw Scott O'Grady at a table next to me in Spokane a couple years back and went over and spent a few minutes talking with him. Another genuinely good person. I introduced myself to William Bennett after a flight from Las Vegas to SLC. He must either have been a gracious loser at the tables or it was good trip because we had a short, pleasant conversation.

relax, don't worry, have a homebrew...

Garmin Vista. You get a GPS, barometric altimeter (like the Summit) and the ability to download maps and other useful information into the GPS (I take my GPS on all travel, loaded with the maps and business info for wherever I'm visiting). I don't think the antennas on the e-trex units are all that great (they don't acquire for shiite under tree canopy, in my experience) but they work great once you're on the snow.

I have a Canon S40 and can recommend it (I think it has been replaced by the S45 which is essentially the same with a couple extra features.) It has good battery endurance, is reasonably small, is a clamshell-type camera so the lens is pretty well protected, has lots of feature to maintain control of the exposure/white balance, takes compactflash cards (so can store a lot of pictures), is 4 MP and takes good pictures which can be enlarged to 11X14. Typical limitations of a camera this size, but no more than you would expect. My main gripe is the 4-way swithch which is used to scroll through menus or select items, but with practice I've gotten used to it. Overall solid performer.

If you add enough sugar when you bottle, it'll let you know when it's ready...kaboom. For beer, you typically add no more than 3/4 cup sugar for a 5 gallon batch. You might try this site: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/wine/winebooks.asp It's Midwest Homebrewing Supplies; they have a few books on cider. I'd get a reference to see what you need to do; could be the difference between making something drinkable or a WMD (weapon of mass disgust) Hope this helps, e

In college I worked at an atmospheric physics lab in NM. T storms formed and spent their entire existence over the lab (which was at 10k feet). You could almost set your watch by their formation. we also shot rockets up into them to trigger lightning down to where we were. I saw some of the most incredible storms there. Unfortunately, in the Tri-Cities, we mostly only get to watch the storms dancing around other parts of the mid-Columbia. But we do get them once in a while (it's looking good for tonight, maybe....)

I've found a good way to keep the canister stoves going in the cold is to cut out the bottom of a 2 liter soda bottle, put some water in there and put the canister in the water. Primus canisters, both 200 and 450 gram cannisters fit just right (I've found others are a bit big) and this significantly helps heat output. if you need to, prime with some more hot water from time to time. The plastic bottle cutout weighs next to nothing, too. the only downside is it will tip if you are not careful, so care must be taken not to tip the whole rig. I'm going to try gluing or otherwise attaching a square of closed cell foam pad (light and insulates from the snow) on the bottom to see if that helps stability.

Not really bulky as it is only one wrap around (sit pad is about 1 foot square), in fact it fits perfectly into the crampon straps on the back of a Chernobyl pack, and since it's on the back of the pack, it rarely gets in the way. But you're right, it is a real hassle to pad from around the crampons...

I usually wrap the crampons up, points together, the straps around them, and then wrap my sit pad (closed cell foam) around them. This all gets strapped to my pack; I haven't had a problem with this system yet.