Off_White

Is that the hammering sound your heart makes when you view Necro's topless form?

The fact that this sort of racism is almost universally considered unacceptable is only one of the many expansions of society's definitions of equality that you can thank the Democratic party for.

Glad you're living the good life. Have you tied your pocket knife to a stick and gone boar hunting yet? Aren't Ohia one of those trees that colonize recent lava flows?. They've got nice flowers, but whack one for me.

Well, and I saw the thread title and thought "Ahh, that Carolyn, she's such a sunny individual" before I clicked on it. But bummer about the highway jive, glad you and the vehicle are okay.

It's been years since I've been down, but I've kept up a little bit. There are hundreds of routes down there, somewhat similar to Joshua Tree but with Pinon Pine instead of Joshua Trees. Lots of both face and crack climbs, the development has mostly been trad in orientation, though that may have changed a little in the last decade. The area is the rim of an escarpment, and while Trono Blanco drops over the edge, there are a lot of domes and formations on the rim yielding a stack of one and two pitch climbs. I'd guess there may be as many as a dozen routes on Trono Blanco itself these days, with a number of long free routes. One of the cool things about the place is that despite having been visited by climbers for over 30 years, there is no guidebook. It's all word of mouth, including directions on how to find your way there over a maze of woodcutter roads. There's been a recent battle fought over the guidebook issue, a guy named Kennedy (author of the current San Diego County guide) declared his intentions to write a Tajo guide, even though he had almost no experience climbing down there. His self stated reasons were financial in nature. You can find a long tortured debate over on RC.com on the subject. John Smallwood, longtime stalwart of the area, pulled some legal shennanigans to copyright the information in order to prevent publication. I think there's something special about a great area within 3 hours of a major metropolitan area where your best source of information is still exploration and a conversation around a campfire. I don't know what the current banditry scene is though. If anyone is thinking to head down there, I'd recommend getting ahold of Smallwood (he's not too hard to find on RC.com, or I've got an address floating around somewhere), he's willing to share info and you might even score a tour. Don't think of it as a reliable winter destination though, the old nickname was "poor man's patagonia" and a combination of mud, wind, and snow can make it downright inhospitable.

I was always fond of this place, but Canon Tajo is probably too close to the border for your purposes. Guadalajara is pretty cool for a big city.

YOu should also consider checking out the Stonehouse Buttress in Tuttle Creek, a couple canyons south, on the south side of Lone Pine Peak.

It only took me 10 minutes to call all the folks on the House list, as well as the two local folks. Don't hesitate, do it now.

Thanks for the report, I've long had that one in the back of my mind, sounds like a splendid opportunity for some pristine N Cascades alpine rambles.

I could have gone my whole life not knowing that.

I missed this thread before today. I knew Gary from days back in Tucson in the mid 80's, and met his mother up here in the days following the accident. Gary was a wonderful guy, and a great photographer, I miss him. to all the connections made to bring this part to completion. With regards to the accident, as I recall, they were at the top of the arete, resting and getting ready to shift onto the glacier. The serac collapse and following slide buried Gary in the moat, where he'd been sitting, while Curt was able to scramble up the rock and escape the brunt of it. I know I've been leery of that situation ever since.

Having gotten a good dose of Leuko, Bees Knees, and Visqueen last night, I'll argue that my metal health is just fine, thank you very much. Heh, I even got a souvenir set of earplugs.

With all due respect Chuck, I'd like to add "cheat and thief" to that lovely portrait's caption

Conrad, you're an ignorant dipshit dittohead troll. Please note, I am not lying. I'm sure you're well aware that the spew about Kerry's senate voting record with regards to military and intelligence services dates from the end of the cold war, and his votes on those matters echo the recommendations of Dick Cheney from that time. The bit about Kerry's war record is partisan drivel that has no basis in fact, but lots of people who weren't there will swear it is true. One's opinion of Michael Moore is strictly a matter of political preference. For instance, I'd gladly feed the man dinner, no matter how much he eats, but if I catch you eating the dogshit in my driveway ditch I'll have you arrested for trespassing. What are you cheastbeating about anyway, your chimp won the race. The working poor will get the shaft in the years to come, but I'll wager you'll eat crow before this is all over.

I've been holding out for line-of-sight teleportation.

thanks for the translation Alex.

Lie, cheat, and steal. Near as I can tell, that's the modern definition of moral values. Oh, and "don't get caught", that's #1.

Happy birthday Carolyn, nice to meet you (albeit briefly) at Tuffyfest, and while we're at it, lets say Happy Birthday to Sobo, who had the little birthday cake by his name yesterday.

Oh just own up to it Robbob, it's all your father's fault. You can come clean, we won't hold you responsible for the errors of your elder.

I think Arnold is actually a stealth social liberal (though economically clueless), but that's not enough reason to amend the constitution. Bob doesn't stand a chance beyond the county level, but wouldn't he make an amazing county council member? "A vote for Bob is a vote for Passion"

Does using all eight count as group sex?

Fuck that, I was thinking we needed a wading pool and 50 gallons of mud, make it the main event for the Sausagefest. Bob would need someone else on his side to make it a tag team event with the K guy and TG1 as oppponents, what are you doing that night CBS?

It's barely been kept up the last 5 years, messages only changed every three or four months. Essentially, it went downhill once he sold the property that was the original location and put it on the other side of the freeway further south.