Bill_Simpkins

Yes, that is Old Settler and Urq, I think taken from Highway 1 between Abbotsford and the Vedder River. I'm losing my mind! I will never doubt the Dru again.

oooooooookkkkkkkk, I give up. Couldn't convince you. A pitcher each, beer is cheap.

This is pretty funny. However, said peak is no more than 1600 m tall, Needle is about 2000 m tall. Even if the stretch of freeway between Abottsford and Chillawack was at sea level, you could see Needle. Next time I drive up on a clear day I'll take a picture, if I remember.

Oh yeah, almost forgot. I saw some falcons nesting on the cliff.

I like the Patagonia stuff and the Mountain Hardware stuff. They are having a sale on the MH stuff at Bellingham Footworks.

Same reason I don't shower.

Urguhart is too much north, wrong side of the river, not the direction I was looking. Look at the topos. There is a straight line of site to Needle Peak kind of through the Coqulhalla. Look at the topo, draw a line from Needle down through to Chillawack area, And look at the elevations of the peaks close to the line of sight. Nothing is in the way of seeing the top of Needle. The highest thing between Needle and the Valley is like 1700 or so meters. Needle is around 2000 meters. I still claim you can see the top of Needle from the freeway. Look at the BC map veiwer and do some trigonometry. Even if the 1700 meter peak was directly in front, you could still see the summit of Needle. It is small, you may have never noticed or thought anything of the little bump on the horizon, WAY in the distance in the hazy air.

Drove it last weekend!

HAHA! We will see about that!

I know Drew is the almighty master mountain and route databse on legs, But I know what I saw. If your not looking for it and don't look really hard, you won't see it. I bet Drew a pitcher of beer (hehe): That somewhere around Chillawack, on the freeway, you can see Needle Peak. In fact, I'm going to dig through my pictures at home. I may have a picture facing towords Chillawack Valley from the top of Needle. I'll check my Steinbok pictures as well.

Actually Drew, I think you could be wrong. It's very fient and the color could blend in with the sky. But the maps suggest differenetly, that you may be able to see Needle or Anderson Range peaks from the freeway between Chillowack and Hope. I've seen something. They are in direct line of sight from the freeway facing NE. click here

I edited my post. I looked at a map, if it was straight ahead from the freeway it would be NE. It's definatly not Viennese. I was just up by there last weekend. What I see from the freeway is up the Frasier Canyon Direct From Chillawack looking towrds Hope. It's small. It looks like a dome. I'm not on crack.

I swear to god Drew, that on a clear day you can see a granite dome to the north from the freeway. Like , way way way to the northeast. What is it? Needle?

I have a couple of old friends in Oregon that have worked for the Forest Service for over 25 years. They told me the worst thing that has happened was to cut back on the logging. They told me the fees supplied revenue to protect and plan forest harvesting better. Now the forest service doesn't have the money they used to have. That's why we have the parking fees, thats why we have less money to lobby against anti forest laws. That is what they told me, I'm not informed enough to form an opinion. We whine about parking fees, but we brought them on ourselves. One thing some of us forget, is that the logging companies want to be able to log 50,100,150 years from now. I don't think it is in their best interest to log everything away. However, people that want fast payoffs may have a different attitude and be more greedy about things. I don't know, just ranting.

That book totally blows, IMO. If you are a boulderer, it may be alright.

Actually, not on my footwear. The round ones get stuck when pulling them out. The sheath bunches up when putting them through or pulling them out. I re-laced all my shoes with flat laces last night and it was a total breeze.

It would drive me nuts to live in Chillawack. Having a view of Slesse, Candian Border Peak and the Cheam Range would make it hard to sit still. You can see one of the Domes of Anderson Group if you look really hard North. Seal Cove is a great place. I like the position of the climbs over the water.

Glad they made it too. You can easily get to trail territory from the summit in less than two hours via Lone Tree Pass. Even though there was snow, there are usually tracks.

It may be fortunate that the Squamish Select book is ruined. View this as good luck.

May the Force be with you, and your shoe laces, always.

I would suggest tagging on a little distance to workouts. Take it beyond the normal jog, bike or hike to something that pushes you more into athlete territory. When you get back and you're starving, eat healthy, even if you feel like you deserve a Big Mac. If you can get outside Vs. the gym, thats better, like stated above. You end up hiking more and being more active in general. Plus, it is fun. Technique will come with the miles you put in on the rock. We've all seen week obese men climb 5.11. What you see as strength on the wall is usually just very tuned technique (wish I had that). Being strong helps, but I know some Biffs that couldn't climb 5.6. I would say in general: being strong helps but the same amount of effort put into technique will get you farther.

Why is it that most boots and shoes come with round laces? They suck ass and cost more. It must be trendy.

You know what I'm talking baout. The kind that comes on almost every mountaineering boot and outdoor shoe sold. They suck. Why? A) They create pressure points on the foot. B) They create space between the lace holes and your foot. C)The sheathe slips off the core. This is very annoying. And because of thise they don't last any longer than flat laces. D)They come untied easier. Take your favorite pair of mainaineering boots or outdoor tennies and put a pair of flat laces on them. You will feel the difference immediatly. You can get a tighter feeling fit but it will be more comforatble. They will fit and feel better! I just replaced some laces and couldn't believe the torture I've been putting myself through. Round laces are crap and a totaly market ploy because they cost 4x as much. Just ranting. Discuss.

Let us know what it is like up there at the top. I'm curious how the moat filled in with this crazy snow season.

Early season it's easy, late season there is a huge moat with a close by slot on 50 degree(ish) ice. I didn't bring a rope, but probably should have.