catbirdseat

I complained to the FDA. I bought some of the drink thinking it had cocaine in it as the label suggested. I performed a laboratory analysis and found that all it had was caffeine. I felt cheated. I believe in truth in labelling. I think Coca Cola should change its name too. There isn't any cocaine in that product either.

The best routes on Bath Tub Dome are on the third tier. Best thing to do is climb bottom to top, like a multipitch, 5.6, 5.7, 5.8. Then go back and do the other third tier routes.

When in Doubt, Run It Out About the only good thing about that motto is that it rhymes.

Zero for Three is it?

That must be because you were the guy passed out under the table.

You would have been forced to leave the horsecock behind at the border anyway.

Exactly. When ever you feel it necessary to protect the move. There is no math to it. Its just feeling. You can feel all you want, but if you get it wrong and fall, you're going to get hurt. When you are just starting out, stick to routes that are well within your abilities and overprotect.

I think it's a double entendre.

If you place a low piece you should follow up with a second piece soon so you don't take that whipper. Rope drag will depend on a number of factors, such as how far away the belayer is from the base, how long your slings are and whether the rock overhangs above the piece.

How dreadful.

Okay, Dru, I give up.

Dru is talking about a first piece which is not omnidirectional, like a nut. If your first piece is a cam or two nuts in opposition, then you can place it low and it can be used to prevent the pieces above from zippering.

Another trick for you. Suppose you are leading something where the crux is near the ground, say it's the first 20 feet and you are mainly concerned with not decking. Suppose there aren't a lot of good rest spots- it's pumpy but you can make the moves. Climb up 12 feet and place a piece. Climb down to the ground and rest. Now, fire up quickly to 18 feet and get in another piece. Now you can go to 30 feet or so before you have to place another. If you encounter a good rest before then, stop and place. Very important to place gear from rests. Don't pass up a opportunity to place gear from a rest stance just because you just placed a piece only six feet below. You might not always know where you'll get to the next rest.

It's a sawed off shotgun, but why did they use that name? I thought it was reference the sound the flake makes when you thump it.

Here's another one for you Dru. An older guide book had Broomstick Crack with an R, while the current McLane guide has Boomstick. Which is correct? Everyone I know calls it Boomstick.

I think climbers will be more willing to do trips with parties of three, just to split up the fuel costs more favorably. Seems like you can get three into most any car for a weekend trip, but you need a large vehicle to cram in four. Time to buy that set of half ropes and get that ATC Guide you've been wanting.

Not sure, maybe North Cascades would have been better. Mods feel free to move the thread, if you like.

Sounds like they did Wendy a big favor by not giving her keys to her.

http://windsurf.gorge.net/cgwa/poison_oak.htm http://www.dowagro.com/usag/prod/003.htm Crossbow is a broad-leaf weed killer. It won't kill grass, but it will kill any broadleaf plant it touches. Roundup is non-selective. If you use Roundup, make sure you only get it on the leaves of the poison oak and not on other plants.

I forgot to mention that it looks like the road to Exfoliation Dome is snow free, although we didn't go up there. From Three O'clock Rock it appeared that the ledges have quite a bit of snow on them and it looked like the Granite Sidewalk was wet in places.

A trick I've used on occasion when there are cracks of consistent width is to place a cam, climb up a bit, move the cam up a bit, place another cam, move it up a bit. It works on Classic Crack for example. The idea is that it takes less time and effort to move a piece up than it does to place another one. This only works in a few cases but when it does it works great. Only use this when you're getting bomber jams or good stances.

Trip: Darrington, Three O'Clock Rock - Silent Running Date: 5/6/2007 Trip Report: Mark McKillop and I were planning on going to Index today, but it was drizzling outside my door step this morning. Driving up Hwy 522 it looked a bit brighter to the north, so I prevailed on Mark to try Darrington instead. The Clear Creek Road was in pretty good shape, but there were three creeks that I had to cross very slowly and carefully in my Acura. Cars with better clearance would hardly need to slow down. There were two other cars at the trailhead. The trail had a lot of small trees down and many branches littered the path. I threw quite a few of them off the trail, but it's a big project. Most of the trees are less than six inches, so a bow saw would take care of them. There was still a big pile of snow at the base of the North Buttress of Three O'Clock Rock. It made the first pitch somewhat shorter than normal. We had dry conditions up until the fourth pitch where a shower caught Mark right at the crux. Pausing a moment, it dried fast enough that he was able to resume. The rock remained a bit slick whereveer there was the least bit of lichen. The sixth pitch still hasn't had all it's old bolts replaced yet. The red hangers are pretty awful looking. There is a section on this pitch with a rightfacing corner where it seems like it could take gear if it were cleaned up. The bolts are three or four feet out from this corner. Prior to the bonus pitch going in, there wasn't need for much of a rack, but now since most parties are toting a rack, the corner might as well be cleaned up. The seventh pitch was really good, although damp. I had to cheat a bit to get through the crux, but I had fun. Our timing was pretty good, because things got really wet as we rappelled down. Mark lowered me down for the first rap, since there are a lot of trees up there and the other strand we'd been dragging was already in place. It worked pretty well. We cleared a fallen snag on part of the trail and threw more debris off. Hopefully the Mountaineers will hit this section again on National Trails day on the first Saturday in June. Gear Notes: A dozen draws and a small rack. Used: Purple to Yellow Camalot, Blue to Yellow Aliens, #5 nut. Approach Notes: Low clearance vehicle not recommended.

I went to the average joe cat show in Shoreline today. There was a 29 pounder. It was a corpulent, pure white, slug of a feline. Amazing.

Dru, you have the ability to rain on any parade.

Welcome, Pixie. Post Numbah One!