catbirdseat

We didn't watch any slides but the fire was entertaining and To-the-Top's Dan - stories were fun to listen to. The funniest thing that happened was when a bunch of teenagers toting six packs decided to crash the party. Beck chased them out saying something to the effect that if "you won't share your beers with the old men, you can't stay here". They went off in a huff.

Dream on Alex. I've got a good one. Go do Slide Mountain near Rainier. It is an easy scramble with great views. Take Hwy 410 to just before the park entrance and just after Camp Shepard. Hike the Buck Creek Trail to the drainage and scramble up to the tarn where you can camp. You can scramble Slide Mountain the second day and go out.

Jeff Cooper's Commentaries. I'm disappointed. http://www.dvc.org.uk/~johnny/jeff/jeff11_7.html

trask, did you actually write that interesting piece of introspection yourself? I'd be impressed if you did, but I doubt it. If not, you should attribute it.

What Michael had in mind was like in the scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom where Harrison Ford is all banged up after getting dragged by a horse, etc. and the heroine kisses him on the only place that doesn't hurt- one of his elbows. Then they make love. Too bad, dude. You know, the puppy idea ain't bad. The chicks like cute puppies. Great way to break the ice.

"There's no excuse for anyone violating copyright laws," Hatch said.

The class has nothing to do with exposure or the consequence of a fall, but only with the difficulty of the moves. Distel32 is absolutely correct. The decision to rope up or to protect a route is influenced by a combination of the risk of slipping and the consequence of falling. It is completely subjective. Class three = occasional use of hands required Class four = extensive use of hands required.

A red, 8 mm rope was found a stuck on the second pitch of Prusik West Ridge. It was jammed alongside a chock stone apparently when the party tried to pull it after rappelling. It is wrecked, but I was curious about what happened, mainly why anyone would rappel from that particular place. Was it too wet to do the 5.7 "unprotected slab"?

I'd go with you, if I didn't have to WORK. Damn, work sucks. But the weather is probably going to suck.

There is a difference between a nerd and a dork. I am the former and you are the latter. Actually "dolt" fits better.

I would have loved to be there, but my son's High School graduation ceremony. Couldn't miss that.

I remember reading about the test for giardia. It is quite primitive. It consists of putting large quantities of water through a filter and examining the filter under a microscope. It relys upon the tester being able to recognize the cysts among all the various and sundry other organisms and just plain junk in the filtrand. An inexperienced technician can miss organisms and get an undercount, and I suppose count harmless ones and produce an overcount, but I think the latter less likely.

Gamma aminomethyl L-Alanine appears similar in structure to the neurotransmitter gamma amino butyric acid (GABA). Perhaps it destroys specific receptors in the brain. The neurotoxin for some weird reason seems to affect humans but not bats or pigs who eat the cycad seeds.

That looks really heavy. Too many bells and whistles.

I agree WRT the waitresses!

Nice job! How much do you think your packs weighed with your boots in them? What did you use as a haul line?

Rhubarb is a source of vitamin C. I read about an expedition on Ellesmere Island that was suffering from scurvy. There was wild rhubarb growing right next to their camp and they had no idea it could have saved several lives. We've had a patch of rhubarb growing in our back yard ever since bought the house 13 years ago and we make strawberry rhubarb pie at least once every year. The tart taste of the stems comes from the oxalic acid. Apparently there is not enough in the stems to hurt you. For those interested oxalic acid, aside from its corrosive effects causes death by chelating calcium from the blood. A case of suicide by oxalic acid.

Where is Colonel Von Spanker anyway? He's been scarce lately.

There are patches of snow in the woods along upper Snow Lake. I broke through a snow bridge and soaked my leg up to my knee.

Are you referring to Serpentine Arete on Dragontail, perhaps?

You must have seen the four of us then. We got off onto the snow at around noonish. There was a guy and a gal and I think two others ahead of them. Having done the descent by both single and double ropes, I would say I prefer single. The rap route isn't vertical enough to throw doubles very far.

I don't think he wanted THAT much abuse. Mother, country, next thing you know they'll be insulting his manhood.

Look for a bunch of guys who are not fat, except for erik. He's the one in the red hair. They will be clustered around a distinguished looking older climber named Matt who will be holding forth to a rapt audience.