Thinker

If memory serves me correctly, the Hetch Hetcy reservoir in Yosemite provides much of San Francisco's drinking water and is not treated in any way between the res and the tap. That's why the city of SF tries to limit the amount of human activitiy around the res. However, it doesn't surprise me to hear that a little cryto and G slip into the drinking water anyway.

Can one purchase Tinuba in Canada?

Re Passing: It really steams me when I courteously pass a bike, only to have it pass me again on the right when I'm stopped at a light or stopsign. (assuming no bike lanes on the road here.) Invevitably I have to pass the little f**ker again in a few minutes, maybe not so courteously, and maybe not in so safe a spot. Why don't bikers just tuck in behind traffic like the big rigs they aspire to be and wait their turn at the intersection? Seems to me it would be safer and much more considerate than the alternative I've described....and legal, too.

Baxter's Pinnacle was a fun little climb with great views of Jenny Lake. Irene's Arete is a fun side trip on your way up to the Grand, esp if you stay at the Meadows camp or the Caves. Routefinding in the Tetons is a skill all of it's own...and the Petzoldt Ridge certainly held up to that reputation when we climbed it last year. Finding the start of the route is an experience. Determining where to go (either up or down) after the PR joins the standard route was not completely straight forward, as evidenced by the lonely little bivy sites in that vicinity. The climb was spectacular, though! See the photo. http://t.thinker.tripod.com/index.html (photo credit to Mike S., thanks bud.) Do yourself a favor and find a guidebook with some photos of the overall routes so you can scope them out from a distance.

http://www.democrats.org/scotus/bushenstein.html

ditto! Dan's a wealth of info about pack fitting and materials if you take the time to talk with him about it.

Good idea Matt, forgot that one....2nd Bounce is now 2nd Ascent. dittos on the beer.

No climbing for me this weekend...went to the Bickleton rodeo and camped on the Columbia Gorge.

Rent axes and anything else you might need at REI, find their 1-800 number for their Seattle store online. RMI at Ashford rents anything you'd need, too, if you're doing Rainier. In the past they've also run rentals out of their facilty at Paradise. Feathered Friends rents crampons, maybe more. Best bet may be to make a few friends here at cc.com and borrow some crummy old axes while you're here....I know I've got an old clunker sitting around, others may, too. For the price of a few pitchers of beer and some climbing stories it may be the perfect solution. What routes are you planning on? I didn't realize New Jersey was in the SW..........

I have several friends who devote a lot of time to this group and derrive loads of satisfaction from it. http://ico.sierraclub.org/ico/seattle/public/volunteer.asp The last I heard, they don't do anything that requires a rope or harness...due to liability....but the hiking and scrambling outings I've heard described sound pretty cool.

I just read it this weekend. I'd venture to say that more sprot climbers likely practice this technique than do trad climbers. What a load of crap! If you're going to hang on the rope to rest, at least be man (or woman) enough to yell 'take' and do it in style. I suspect Climbing mag had plenty of sprot-related tech tips and had to slide one of them over to the trad column because they lack the imagination or trad experience to come up with any more tech tips truly related to trad climbing. I wonder what new color they'll come up with to differentiate between that kind of ascent and a true free ascent of a route? How about a "yellow point"....too afraid or ashamed to let your buds know you're taking a little rest....or a 'royal blue point"...an ego the size of a king that won't let you admit you need to cheat in order to maintain the appearance of honor. My first reaction was to think that this was another fine piece of 'journalism' from J. Thesenga, but a look at the byline disproved that idea, not to mention the fact he'd probably been canned by the time that issue went to press.

web page check out the 'technical notice'

I also have a 2-dr Eldorado. I like the vestibule for 2 reasons: I can easily toss my pack in it when it's raining or snowing, but a large trash bag would accomplish the same purpose. Also, I feel I get better ventilation with the vestibule because I can leave one door of the tent unzipped much more when it's raining or snowing. So, when it's all said and done, I think it's a toss up when considering the weight to benefit ration. But, mine came with a vestibule for a sweet low price and I couldn't really pass it up.

Yes they can ride across and yes you must yield to them. Did you know that in Bellevue that you are supposed to wait for a pedestrian to be completely off the cross walk before you can turn. Who obeys that one. Riders who ride up along cars at an intersection without a lane are idiots. They need to get behind a car, clear the intersection, and then get over to the right. I call people out on this all the time. I have had people yell at me when I'm at a stop light and in the middle of the lane. Reason why I and others do this is so we don't get cut off into the curb at the end of the intersection. Complain and question laws all you want, I've seen stupid stuff on bikes but nothing compares to what I've seen drivers. Remember that you car is essentially a weapon and that cyclists, no matter how much you hate and despise them, are not targets or obstacles on the road, they are just normal people gettting some exercise. Wow, Jon, you're getting pretty worked up here, even imputing some motives to me that don't exist. Fact is, I try to be respectful of cyclists....I consider many of them friends, even Alasdair. Thanks for the info on local laws on the question I posed; it's quite informative, and something I've been wondering for quite some time. And with the several experienced riders contributing to this thread right now I thought it would be a good time to ask it. I'll not further address your snipe about my hating and despising....it's simply not true and you don't have a basis for implying it is. Peace Bro

So learn me up on this.... What's supposed to happen in those ambiguous areas in an intersection where the white line that delineates the bike lane suddenly disappears? Are bicycles traveling in the bike lane supposed to yield to turning motor vehicles? Are cyclists supposed to get off and walk their bikes across the pedestrian crosswalk? Are motor vehicles supposed to watch for bikes moving at 30mph+ coming up from behind as they turn? What does the law say? And what happens in practice?

Yikes! touched a raw nerve there! Idiotic? I think not.... First, please observe that I limit my 'thanks' to the urban commuters. I whole heartedly agree that cycling is great exercise, and actually participate occasionally myself...but not often on city streets. It's not the guys in your neighborhood emergency care clinic I'm concerned about, it's the vegetables lying around on life support behind the curtains that you never see that suck up the health care resources. 2.3 billion dollars per year is a significant chunck of change.....there's no way in hell you can tell me it's not a drain on the system.

from here: (this site has more statistics than one can digest in a day....) More Statistics from the Consumer Product Safety Commission's Consumer Product Safety Review - Spring, 2000 Baby Boomer Sports Injuries Sports-related injuries among those ages 35 to 54 (Baby boomers) increased 33 per cent from 1991 to 1998. In 1998, bicycling accounted for the largest number treated in hospital emergency rooms. Bike injuries were over 65,000, while basketball injuries in second place were under 50,000. In 1998, a total of 290 boomers died in bicycle crashes, with 255 involving a car (88 per cent). In 1998, no other sport killed as many boomers. Swimming was a distant second with 67 deaths, skiing third with 7 deaths. In 1998, baby boomers on bicycles died from head injuries at nearly twice the rate of children on bikes. CPSC believes that the difference in death rates is due to more helmet use by children. ************************** There are 85 million bicycle riders in the US About 800 bicyclists die in the US every year About 550,000 bicyclists visit emergency rooms with injuries every year. One in eight of the cyclists with reported injuries has a brain injury. Two-thirds of the deaths here are from traumatic brain injury. Eighty eight percent of cyclists' brain injuries can be prevented by a helmet. Direct costs of cyclists' injuries are estimated at $81 million each year. Indirect costs of cyclists' injuries are estimated at $2.3 billion each year. ************************************ I applaud all the bike riders for being so willing to risk their necks in daily urban commutes to save a few dollars in gas and parking, and to enjoy the added benefits of good health from daily exercise! Thanks for all you do to burden our health care system with long term injuries from your valliant endeavors! At least I have the consolation of knowing it's difficult for you to reproduce.--Cheers, Thinker

... and you climb? I do. It's all about risk management. I have absolutely no control over motor vehicles or other brain dead cyclers when I'm in the city and prefer the metal cage around me over broken bones and grating flesh on pavement. When climbing, on the other hand, the vast majority of the consequences are directly related to my actions alone. I can choose whether or not to cross a slidy looking slope, to run out a rock route, or to back off and go drink beer. But the point is that the risk in climbing, at least for me, is much more directly related to my decisions alone....compared to cycling in the city where one relies on traffic to obey traffic laws and upon drivers to actually see you. Again, it's only my personal opinion. I aplaud those of you with road rash, scars, cracked noggins, screwy eyes, wheel chairs, and headstones from your encounters in traffic.

Obviously you can justify the risk. My experience has been quite different.

Hey CG33, glad to hear things are working out for you in Seattle, and am glad to see you still pop by here once in a while. Peace.....

I was quite impressed with the halogen bulb in the Myo3 when I fired it up on the glacier. It focuses much like the older Petzls and throws the beam well. It was cool to have the LEDs right there with a twist of the bezel when I didn't need the big gun.

I'll second Chirp's nomination of Paul Piana's 'Touch the Sky' guidebook for the Black Hill Needles as one of the best. Awesome history and excellent maps for finding the climbs in the maze of granite spires there. Trivia: anybody else ever seen the ancient guide to Pallisades Park, SD?

Anybody see the bike (vs assumedly car) accident on Dexter a block north of Denny last evening (Monday) around 5:30 or 6 pm? Several emergency vehicles and more sirens in the distance. Looked pretty gruesome..... I simply can't justify the risk of commuting to work on a bike in Seattle.

The inner boot of my double plastics is getting that funky mildewy smell and I'm thinking about tossing them in the washing machine to start the decontamination process. Any experience with that or other ideas?? I plan to follow up with a good soak in Mirazyme afterwards.

Some of it depends on how much stuff you like to strap on the outside. This last weekend on Baker I saw a guy with what must have been about a 2,000 cubic inch external frame pack with a car trunk full of gear strapped all over it. Wish I'd have gotten a photo of it! For the climb you describe I use a 5,000 cu in pack, put almost everything inside, and usually have about 1k cu in to spare. I like that flexibility, though, because the extra is in the lightweight expandable collar or neck of the pack. That flexibility makes it a passable bivy bag for the lower half of my body. I can easily use it as a summit pack (or even on multi pitch rock routes) by taking out the stays and cinching up the compression straps. But that's just me. Jim Nelson would have a COMPLETELY different take. I saw him give a presentation on 'fast and light' that included what he packed for the Ptarmigan Traverse. If I recall it right, his pack was under 25 lbs total.