catbirdseat

How did it get in? Did it chew through the plastic base? That sucks. We have birds but we also have cats. They tend to keep the rats away.

I don't know where you got your information on sugars, but it is news to me. I do know that sugar tends to bring on adult onset diabetes.

When two axes are needed, as on steep ice, specialized axes are used. These are referred to as ice tools. They are shorter than the standard ice axe and are different in other ways. The ice axe is used for glacier and snow travel. One can self-arrest using an ice axe, but it would be difficult with an ice tool.

Johanesburg, for a wild guess.

I wish I'd thought of that one

I think so. It's going to rain in Darrington. 50% chance of rain all weekend. I like camping, but not in the rain. Been there, done that.

I'd be up for Vantage on Sunday. It should be dry and reasonably cool.

Pictures from a wet day on Dreamer

I'm going to get me some of those "mirco" cams.

One way trans fat may mess us up is through its affect on prostaglandin synthesis. The essential fatty acids when isomerized to the trans configuration no longer act in that capacity.

There's always booze and cigars.

For one thing it involves deliberately raising dogs to be viscious. A woman was just attacked in her own home by two pitbulls. It has a risk for people not involved in the animal fights.

It wasn't I who gave him the nickname. It was his partner Brian. It became necessary to avoid confusion when calling "off belay".

I don't think it's a funny joke and I don't think the good folks are Arcteryx think it's funny to besmirch their reputation for no reason.

It's a good idea. There are some moderates at Three O'Clock rock, but you can't ask someone who's never been there to just head up there on their own. Anyone interested, just PM any of the people on the Darrington Thread. They could arrange to have you follow them up there or some other arrangment.

They are usually on Tuesday nights and usually in Ballard or Freemont. They are called Pub Clubs and they aren't held every week. Someone will start a thread and people will (hopefully) all agree on a place.

I used #3.5 and #4 Friends. They fit perfectly. The reason the #4 Camalot is fixed is because it is too big for the crack. The #4 Friend is smaller- just right.

There is another approach via Seventy-six Gulch, but I haven't tried that one. It is said there is a trail to a cabin up there now.

We had a 60 meter rope and were glad of it on the second rappel. We skipped the fifth and last rappel and downclimbed instead. I agree that the fourth pitch seemed hard for 5.9. I guess I need to put in more time on offwidths. I'd like to do the S. Face of Prussik and then Backbone Ridge.

Trip: Washington Pass, North Early Winters Spire - Northwest Corner Date: 8/22/2007 Trip Report: MarkMcKillop and I arrived at the Blue Lake Parking Lot at 8 am in company with another pair of climbers intent on the same route. They got onto the trail before we did. The weather was cool and there was no dust on the trail, as it had rained hard the previous day. We made good time to the base of the route where Brian and Motown were racking up. One was from Seattle and the other had recently moved from Bellingham to Detroit, hence the nickname. Mark led up close behind on the somewhat manky first pitch. When I arrived he whispered to me that the other two climbers were off route and appeared to be headed up the West Face route. By the time I have finished leading the second pitch, the others were back on route below us. I opted to also lead the third, since I didn't feel up to the crux fourth pitch. Rather than reflaking the rope we decided to exchange rope ends. I was starting the third pitch when I noticed I was only tied through the leg loops. Doh! I solved the problem temporarily by clipping a locking carabiner through the loop in the rope and the top tie-in. Mark did a fine job of the crux pitch which was wet in a few places. We actually had more big cams than we needed. I took the fifth pitch, the start of which was pretty wet, but it went okay anyway. I thought it was a really fun pitch. We topped out at 2 pm and rummaged through the ammo box that was the summit register as we ate lunch. Some exhibitionist had crowed about doing the West Face in three pitches and how he was off to the Karakorum. He had taped his card to the inside of the lid to make sure all would see it. Also in the box was what looked like a tiny photo of Mike Layton with another fellow we couldn't identify. WTF? The descent started with three single rope raps. The second one seemed to require a 60 m rope, unless we missed something. None of the slings appeared to have been swapped out this year. If you go you might like to bring some new webbing. I thought this was a really fine route and we both enjoyed it a lot. Gear Notes: Single 60 m rope. Doubles from #0.5 to #4 Camalot plus #5. We had a #6, but it wasn't really needed. Approach Notes: Trail is quite easy to follow. No water in stream where climber's trail leaves main trail.

What a prick! Bicycles are a great idea! We should invest more in bike trails. It saves oil, decreases greenhouse gasses, and improves fitness. What's not there to like?

Nice job. I've done the route three times and 12 hours car to car is close to the fastest I've done it. As you say, this route really does test your alpine skills. It throws different conditions at you each time you climb it.

Natural unsaturated fatty acids have their double bonds in the cis configuration. The metal catalysts used in the hydrogenation process convert some of the double bonds from cis to trans. The purpose of hydrogenation is to make the fats more solid. Increasing the percentage of saturated fats is one way of doing this. The other way is converting cis double bonds to trans double bonds. On strategy is to mix fully hydrogenated oils with unsaturated oils. There are no trans fats in such a mixture.

9 out of 10. Identified one legitimate email as phishing. Better that than the other way around.

I think the Leepers were on Offline and only a few of them. The hangers on Online are SMC. I also saw some on the third(?) pitch of Granite Jihad.