JoshK

Unless there is some agreement, nobody "violated" anything. U.S. citizens don't have to respect a Canadian ban on something.

The old mining stuff is pretty neat, i'll admit, it tends to start looking pretty gross after a while. It seems that kind of stuff can be better preserved through pictures and the like. It's gonna be destroyed by nature pretty quickly anyway. As far as Monte Cristo, what is the deal with the hotels and houses at the townsite. Were they ripped down? I can't imagine anything, even a wood building, could decay that quick.

Good link, thanks. This is pretty wild... "In the more distant future, perhaps a generation or more, lies the potential to develop productive capacity from natural gas hydrates. Located in marine sediments and the Arctic, these ice-like structures store immense quantities of methane. Although the size of these potential resources is not well measured, mean estimates from the U.S. Geological Survey indicate that the United States alone may possess 200 quadrillion cubic feet of natural gas in the form of hydrates. To put this figure in perspective, the world's proved reserves of natural gas are on the order of 6 quadrillion cubic feet. "

I can't say enough how much an ultralight umbrella kicks ass. As people have mentioned, staying dry in rain is really difficult. I find goretex quite good during snow, even moderately wet snow, but I don't find much at all helps rain. For approachs or just backpacking where I might find rain I carry an umbrela. I found some ultralight thing (which really is ultra light) which compacts to a very small size at wallgreens and use that. I remain drier than ever and I can even lay it over my head to use during break stops and the like. Honestly, I can't express how much I have benifited from going the umbrella route. The one thing I have failed to solve is walking through wet brush. I think it's pretty much impossible at that point unless you want to wear nonbreathable fabrics and figure out some really ingenious way to vent them.

HAHAH, that sticker is awesome.

Yeah, I've got 1 pound WM bag and it kicks ass. It's much warmer than the 40 degrees they claim. If you are looking specifically for synthetic due to it's weather "resistence" then I'm not sure what good a paper thin ineffective bag is going to do, even if it does hold up to the wet a bit better than down.

Somehow I doubt that... Dino was about as qualified as my dog. Also, you can thank one lovely individual, Tim Eyman, for somehow convincing people a balanced budget wasn't a good thing.

You can get 24k maps for some areas now. Get the mapping model, you won't regret it. I wouldn't trade mine for anything. This is one item where the extra weight is well worth it.

Just a note...most likely had "Dino" come out on top we'd be talking about no funding rather than non-enough funding. That guy sucked.

Ha! I know, I'm just trying to cause a shitstorm. I'm sure Linux is better for plenty, but I loved watching a bunch of friends try to shed MS for linux "on the desktop" and fuck around with it for weeks only to switch back. I love hearing about the blue screen, but I know sooooo many more people that end up having bitch fits about crap with Linux than actually get the blue screen. MS has gotten way better about releasing patches. I've got nothing against Linux, I just use whatever fits my needs better and in my expierence linux on the desktop is pretty much a fantasy at this point. The fact that you mention "writing" patch just further proves my point...Linux is still in the realm of the elite, it isn't worthwhile for the other 99.9% of the computer using population.

The beauty of quality open-source operating systems. Non-standard hardware? Clearly the right thing for the software to do is simply not boot.

Linux is for Churchill lovers. An alternative for no good reason other than "it's not Microsoft."

Climbing the ICG unroped with alum crampons, a whippet and a standard mountaineering axe may well be the stupidest things I have done since i started climbing. A fall would have seriously sucked and I had no security in my stance one bit.

Just a note that seracs and shit can and will collapse at any time, day or night, hot or cold. I spent a nearly sleepness night at Lyman lake listening to that glacier bust up into the lake all night long. During the warm day it was silent. -josh

I still haven't done rainer thanks to the following three failures: 1.) Weather (very high winds), slow team 2.) Horrid food poisoning 3.) Carried skis in a punishing cold wind all the way up to Muir only to realize it was too cold and windy then get to ski down in the night on a skating rink. After that I figured I'd just try again when somebody wanted to do a fun route. I'm not interested in going up it just to go up it. As for happy to do, considering all the horror stories about big expectations and little results in the pickets I was happy to nail Challenger, Whatcom, Ghost, Crooked Thumb and Luna all on my first trip in to the Northern Pickets.

No. Double jeopordy doesn't allow you to be tried for the same crime twice. I'm not sure what would happen if your lawyer came forward and said that you purgered yourself or presented false evidence.

I could do that but I like the map better, that's all. It's worth the extra money for my uses. -josh

Forest, I dunno if you are referring to my GPS, but, yes, I find it extremely helpful. As he said, it doesn't replace a map, but it can really speed up quick and dirty navigation. I used it for 2 days over the ptarmigan traverse in a virtual whiteout. I sent my friend first to do crevasse navigation while I hung back and gave him general directions. We hit the cols between glaciers within 50 feet every time. Pretty nice. -josh

LOL, sadly it sounds just like a "civilized" European soccer match, or a basketball game involving the pacers. Good to see we follow such quality role models like N. Korea and Iran.

FWIW, a slightly less secure belay (running vs. fixed) may well be viewed as safer due to objective hazard. I am willing to give up a bit in terms of belay safety to get myself out of an exposed position quicker. This is perhaps the decision your partners made, and in many cases it is the correct one.

With all this snow, it will obviously look nothing like that any more. -josh

Commi guy, the chair peak basin is pretty damn scary avalanche wise.

"He placed once ice screw in the gully on some steep snow and then nothing for the rest" LOL...I didn't know ice screws were all that effective in snow, let alone steep snow.

I definitely think this climb is better a little later in the season when it's more ice and less deep stuff.

Undergrad. When grad school time comes I would definitely consider here again just due to the fun factor. What are you going to be studying?