catbirdseat

Last thing I heard on the radio was that searchers have found tracks in the snow.

DRUG

I have a pair of Asolo AFS Guides that I bought from the same source. I've replaced the liners with new ones. Size 11.5. I'll sell them for $75.

Bummer. It's tough enough without the NPS giving out misinformation. I hear that it doesn't really get all that much cooler at night, but it would have to feel a lot cooler without the sun beating on you.

Get your story straight. The rescuers were on horseback and the horses scared him.

Everybody always asks that same question. If you are doing the shooting and you miss, he's going to throw the grenade at you. You don't want that to happen.

This probably isn't her as it was taken last year. 2004 Slide Show

Speaking of solo hikers, I was wondering when you'd weigh in, Michael. Last night I read about some boyscouts who picked the hottest day of the year to hike to Phantom Ranch and back in one day carrying only 1 gallon of water each, lead by a 71 year old man on an expert only route that only he had done years before and almost died on that trip. Only one of the boys made it to the river where he was able to carry water back to some of the others and then flag down a group of rafters. In the end one of them died and several others were helicoptered to the hospital. Had they all been successful in reaching the river, it is almost certain that all of them would have died on the return trip.

Dru, that is not very nice.

Yep, don't give away your favorite bootleg camping spots. Larry will read all about it an come get you in the middle of the night with his high power spot light and roust you from a sound sleep.

Another remark made by the author is that the Canyon is the reverse of a mountain. When people climb a mountain and going get's tough, they turn around and go down hill. It is easier to retreat than it is to go on. In the Grand Canyon, it's easy going down, so people don't have a clue how hard it is to hike back out until they reach the bottom and turn around.

Let me get this straight, the missing man told someone before he left that he intended to check out a rock formation that was shaped like a "reverse cantilever"?

In the context of the Grand Canyon, we're talking about falling usually 200 ft off a cliff and sometimes 1000 ft. So it comes down to avoiding a 100% fatal fall, not surviving one with aid of a partner.

It was the funniest book I have ever read.

I'm reading a book about accidental death in Grand Canyon National Park. The author made note of the fact that a greater proportion of those who die in the park are what he terms solo hikers. He asserts that without a partner to act as the "voice of reason", people are more likely to make rash decisions. For example, if you started to go down a really steep downclimb, your partner might say, "dude, that looks really sketch", and you might change your mind and look for a different way down. So assuming that solo climbers or hikers are indeed taking greater risks and making poorer decisions, then the question I have is whether the greater risk is from being solo per se, that is lack of a partner, or are you more more likely to be a risk taker to start with? I think that with experience soloists can develop the same good judgement that is excercised in groups. Look at guys like Colin. It just seems like it would take more mental discipline sometimes to stop and consider things rather than just do it.

The only thing that actually works is zinc, and then only if you start it as soon as you notice symptoms.

When we were up there a week ago we met all these people who were rapping off Givler's Crack on climber's right. One couple said their rope was too short and they had this mini epic. I don't remember the details. "Why'd you rap?" Answer: "There were slings right there". Twice, I had to say, "dude, don't you know there is a trivially easy walkoff on climber's left?". (I show them the book) "Oh! That's what those little arrows in the topo mean." Doh.

One COULD read a variety of things into that statement, but I won't.

Firs' you suck de weed, den you have de SNACK, DEN you take de nap.

Are you saying you've left a number of them as fixed pieces?

Sure I am on topic. We sucked knapweed outta de ground.

We pulled every knapweed we saw near Eightmile Rock on either side of the road for 100 yards in either direction on both sides of the road. Another place that needs attention badly is the parking just up the road from Icicle Buttress.

You are going to love those HB Offsets. They work like magic in flaring cracks. Toast had a set that I was playing with, comparing them to Smileys of the same size in the same place and it was amazing. I'm going out to buy a set first chance I get.

The Goldmyer folks really want that bridge. They are afraid there might not be enough visitors to defray the costs of maintaining the place. I think that with the bridge, the number of visitors will still be less than now.

Bring on the pictures!