North_by_Northwest

Sippin' on Deschutes Jubelale right now. Good strong stuff with a spicy after taste.

Matt, you don't enjoy a tall frosty glass of Schmidt Ice now and then? My point is that all beer is good, no matter if it is quality or not.

This is a little below the level of quality most of you are talking about, but I just bought a down bag for this temp range at a great price. It's a SlumberJack Denali Summit II, it's rated to 5 degrees (soft rating probably), weighs 3lbs, and is very compressible. I was a little hesitant of the brandname at first, but I am very happy with it and it was only $127 US, including S&H, from Campmor.com. If you are looking to save cash and still have a decent bag it's not a bad option.

They're all good, even Schmidt Ice. I will have to go with Sheaf Stout though. Big fat bottle, strong dark taste, big fat buzz.

Yeah I'm not even a rugby player and I know that picture. It wasn't even called as a foul was it?

Let the holiday scrapping begin

Yes, rainy, muddy and cold is the only way to play on Thanksgiving. UW sounds good. There were some pickup soccer games going on at the wall for a while that were pretty fun. I'll donate a case of Lucky 40s to the event, if we can get away with drinking there. That's what you meant when you said "smashed" isn't it Erik?

I'm up for some ruggin'. Since my entire indoor soccer team was kicked out of the league for fighting (every game) and abusing the ref (most games) I've had an empty place in my sporting life. We should set up a Thanksgiving day rugby tear-it-up for CC.comers. Beer of course too. As long as I don't have to be the guy who gets picked up by the shorts, my brother played that position and it looked uncomfortable.

Looking to head out Wednesday night and climb Thursday. I'm open to ideas but was thinking of Ingalls' Peak (weather permitting), or cragging in Leavenworth or Vantage. I will drive from Seattle area and pick you up if you live fairly close. Split gas money. Novices welcome but must have harness and shoes and know basics of belaying and following. PM with phone # and I'll call.

Yeah, the 2.8L V6 is definitely the problem in many Chevy vehicles from the 80s.

Thanks for the information. I'll have to start scoping in the next couple months; study some topos and hike up to Muir and check it out.

S-10s and S-10 Blazers suck. So do older Rangers and Bronco IIs (aka Canadian Land Rovers) though too. Bigger simpler and more accessible is the way to go. More power is good too.

351W's are the best sounding engines when they are tuned right. They should run so rich they almost choke on the fuel at idle (blub, blub, blub), but roar once you hit the gas. I'll stick with my 300 straight six though.

Are there any winter ski descent routes that are relatively safe? I am thinking of doing Gib's Ledges in winter and I would like to ski off too if possible. I've heard that there are some good lines in the spring but haven't heard much about February and March. Anyone done it?

I once had a WisperLite explode on me when I was twelve. The clip that holds the line to the bottle head detached when I was pumping it. The gas blew on my bare arms before it was lit by the fire on the stove's burner. Lost all armhair and had to hike 25 miles out with red sunburned looking arms. In retrospect, I would like to have a picture of myself at the panic point just before the fire was put out. I continued using the WhisperLite for several years but have now switched to an MSR canister stove which does not require maintenance, burns well everywhere, and is lighter in weight. Beck's assessment of the WhisperLite is right on, but I would probably use an International if I were going overseas.