dryad

BTW, I forgot to mention that leading trad I love it!

After doing a number of different things this summer, I reached the conclusion that I get the most bang for the buck fun-to-effort ratio with "alpine cragging" at places like WA pass and Darrington. What are the rest of you most into?

I got an invitation to go climb this sucker this weekend and was wondering if it's any good. Comment on anything and supply any beta you desire - approach annoyance level, rock quality, scenery, whatever. Also, isn't it kinda smoky out that way?

I was just at Mt. Erie and the ratings are WEIRD. We didn't have a guide book, but there were some other people there who had the Smoot book and we took a brief look at it. It had Leaning Crack (the one with all the salal in it) and Psycho Crack (just left of Leaning crack) both as 5.6. Leaning Crack is MUCH easier. I'd be willing to believe that one's 5.6, but Psycho is more like 5.8. I'm not just saying that because I suck. The 2 guys I was with thought so too, and they're both better climbers than me.

Mt. Ruth is a fun, pretty hike all by itself, with great views of the Emmons on one side, the Interglacier on the other, and the big mass of Rainier right in front of you. Earlier in the season there's some great glissading to be had from a little below the summit all the way down to glacier basin, but it's probably all scree now.

Oh yeah, I also saw Leftover Salmon, some of the parade and drum circle, and a contortionist guy with blue tights. Is it just me or was the place even more of a mob scene than usual?

Went yesterday and saw Carissa's Weird, Nickel Creek, Ms. Led, Wilco, and REM while spending much of the day trying largely in vain to meet up with some other friends who were elsewhere at the festival.

well, so much for moping about jobs... the topic of conversation quickly changed to mountains Yeah, we sorta had our own little Pub Club going. Nothing cheers one up like and looking at mountain porn. Good time.

A little note on Mt. Erie... The little convenience store on the corner there didn't have the guide book. Apparently the skinny one is all sold out, and it's being replaced by a fat one that's still at the printers. So since the only guide we had was this one pretty worthless printout from the web, we wandered around a lot and eventually just did a few routes at a place I'd been before. But the objective of testing out my new rack was achieved. I took my very first ever leader fall on a 2" cam! I had never even taken a leader fall on bolts before. It was pretty exciting. After the climb, we stopped at this farm stand outside La Conner for barbeque ribs and great homemade waffle cones the size of your head. Yummy!

I just checked the weather forecast. Mt. Erie sounds more appealing. It will be hot as hell in 11-worth.

I'll be doing a lot of nothin' on Sat, probably dirtying up my rack on Sun, then at Bumbershoot on Mon. BTW Dustin, I was up at Ingalls last weekend and didn't notice any bugs at all, but then again we were back to the car not too late. Lots and lots of people, though. Have fun!

I was wondering the same thing a while back and the consensus among the people I asked seems to be that it works, but is just more futzy and takes more time than using biners.

I feel your pain, dude. Bummer! I think I'm going to go get some and drown my sorrows tonight. Wanna come?

A couple years ago I did an Outward Bound trip and we were given iodine solution in a little dropper bottle. It was super-convenient. No need to wait for pills to dissolve, just drop in 5 drops, shake up the bottle, and wait a while for the iodine to work. Does anybody know where to get iodine solution? I haven't seen it sold anywhere.

Dammit, all the fun stuff happens after I go home!

Sex is like everything else. It's more fun when done outside.

I was with a dude for a long time and we eventually split because we relied too much of each other for our entertainment and pissed each other off. After we split, I got into climbing, and he got into long-distance cycling. Now we're best friends because we have things to talk about and be excited about. Makes me wonder if we'd still be together if we had picked up our time-consuming hobbies earlier. Moral of the story: CLIMBING IS GOOD.

I don't do combinatorial chemistry. If anyone wants a chemist, give catbirdseat a call.

Nevermind that last post about Sunday. Had a little change of plans. Either Sat or Sun works, just not Mon.

Looks like Sunday will be the day for me. How about Mt. Erie? I haven't been there in a while.

But who'll program that one, hmmmm? Next thing you know, we'll be getting into some deep metaphysical origins of the universe issues here.

Not quite, but for parts of my job, I can be replaced by a robot arm. But I'd still need to program the robot arm first.

This is all very encouraging to read. I was worried I might have to run out and buy more stuff, but it sounds like I have a pretty decent collection already (9 nuts, 7 hexes, 8 cams).

I'm bored and there's this stupid incompetent bitch I have to work with who hates me and decided to do everything in her power to make my life miserable. Anybody know anybody who could use a hotshot biotech/drug discovery/high throughput screening/lab automation expert?

Hey, can I go too? I just got the day off tomorrow. If me/you guys can find a 4th person who can lead, we can have 2 rope teams and nobody would have to lug a second rope just for rapping. In any case, does anybody want to go climb with me tomorrow, whether or not we go with catbird and Ade?