Off_White

Is John Scurlock available for a custom flyby?

Well, it just so happens that Viagra is also supposed to aid performance at altitude, so the comparison is most appropriate (or was it deliberate?). Effective in self-arrest when sliding head first. Well, I guess every situation would be head first. OMG, you guys should chill and just drop it, or Porter's going to scold me for spraying.

Deep Thoughts... brought to you by Kevbone. There you go, just the sort of thing Kevbone was talking about, unless you don't want to be treated with respect either you cheese lipped bacon puppet.

UPDATE: 6/17/09 It's looking like a swell evening, cool temps, no rain, occasional mosquitoes. Most everything is dry by now too, with the notable exception of Dead Low Tide. Indications are for a sizable turnout too, see ya'll out here.

I'd heard about this stuff awhile back, nice to see beta in the mainstream. Climbing on the wet side of the Cascades, these routes need traffic to stay clean. Looks pretty damn fun.

Finding out that all you guys use Diamox is akin to uncovering rampant Viagra usage.

Damn, and to think I already had plans to sell that stuff to a pawn shop in Boise...

Joseph, old school = sandbag, oneupsmanship has always been around, and locals have always delighted in seeing visitors flail at a grade they didn't expect to. The "Joshua Tree 5.9" was a classic example...

Wouldn't Tahquitz, where the YDS was first devised, be the gold standard by which to measure other area's degrees of soft & hard? Though I think that similar to other older areas, there can be some pretty stiff 5.9's that date to a time when people resisted violating the logic of a decimal system that topped out at 5.9 (5.10 being the same as 5.1 mathematically speaking) Of course, my fuzzy 25 year old memories from my last outing there are of no use for making comparisons.

Porter, if you need to make this thread sticky to remind yourself that you want to go climbing, you should just give me your rack and ropes and go join Phoq's pothead website where it won't matter if you remember to get stoned or not.

Thanks for keeping us in the loop on your reports Aric.

"Naw, thet ain't no garden, it's just a lil chum" What's your favorite possum recipe?

children methinks is the reference.

Uhm, because you don't climb?

Nice pics, its good to see that area again. I almost bought property at the mouth of Lundy canyon long ago. I still love that eastern scarp, but it would've been too cold & lonely in the long run. Looks like maybe you forgot the corkscrew?

I just got to spend a week climbing in The Valley with my darling baby boy. Here's a shot on top of Lembert in Tuoloumne on the way home.

Nah, these days (by his own admission) Jim uses tape, and to quote Dick Cilley, "Tape is aid." Men in the prior generation have always been manlier, I believe Plato has a rant about the softness of the younger generation. Nonetheless, I bet Lynn Hill could've waxed Plato's ass. Hell, even I was harder in the last generation: I was just down in the Valley repeating some old moderate classics and happily plugging cams into cracks, glad that I wasn't fiddling with a small rack of nuts like when I'd last led those routes 30 odd years ago. Back then I believe I was glad I didn't have a small rack of pins.

Oh, now that's a damn shame. Understandable though I suppose, last Memorial Day Weekend we wound up farther along that road than ever before and wound up with a shit heap of a site, spent a solid half hour in the morning picking up other people's debris, beer cans, etc.

For those in the Olympia area, the Wednesday climbing gig in Tenino (as found in the Events forum) is a good test drive venue. Granted, you've pretty much got to be able to scrape up easy 5.10 to have fun, but it's a low key group atmosphere and a chance to see others in action with no real commitment. A number of folks have paired up for trips elsewhere after meeting here, but no marriages yet, not even any tawdry affairs unless it's Doug's ever deepening fondness for my dog.

start here, then work your way up.

Is being all polite 'n shit on the Taco chafing your unruly bits?

I mostly bivy with a Vanagon, so bear that in mind. I've camped somewhere near the outlet end, on some penninsula. I can't recall if it was a real campground or not, I don't recall paying, but it was late in the season a good decade ago. There's an okay free forest service land bivy across the street from Goose Egg, next to where a dirt road heads south off the pavement. Decent water from the spring on the far side of the road. Further down canyon, there's a dirt road off the highway to the south, while you're on the stretch of road between bridges and on the south bank of the river. Take that road up hill, stay right at the intersection, and it will drop back down to the river. Numerous free bivy sites here. Higher up, you can drive up the road towards Lava Point, ample free forest service bivy locations there too. Plenty of FS campgrounds in the canyon too, but I hates to pay, and they're nothing special. Lots and lots of great climbing. The Bend is a fine choice for crack stuff in the up to 5.10 range, though there are wonderful routes at pretty much every crag in the canyon. If its hot, consider Wildcat Wall higher up, but I don't think there's much in terms of a low key warm up route. I always see snakes going to that crag. Ride The Lightning on Goose Egg is a good introduction to the rock - not at all a sport route despite the presence of bolts. It's a great adventure route, has it's share of suspect rock and demands a certain delicacy, absolutely don't get on it if someone is above you on the route. Bring tennies for the walk off. Have fun, you'll love it.

I don't believe there was anything random about that you grudge packer.

Pie pretty much always trumps cake.