dryad

My burning question: Is "Verlot" (the ranger station) supposed to be pronounced "ver-LAHT" (say the T) or "ver-LOW" (silent T, as if it was French)???

The nice handcrack to the right of twin cracks is Pisces, 5.6. I remember the first time I climbed it I liked it so much I had to go climb it again right then and there. Hmmm... HW told me that crack was 5.8, which seemed a little suspect. I guess I should appreciate that he was trying to boost my ego and make me feel like a badass. Well, it was a mighty sweet crack regardless.

After climbing and drinking a lot with Snowbyrd and company, Hillweasel and I went to Index on Sunday afternoon and climbed GNS and a nice hand crack next to it. This was my first time at Index. Woo hoo! We got the rope stuck after the first rap, but luckily we ran into Skykilo and friend who were heading up as we were going down and they freed our rope. Thanks guys! Hope you liked the beer.

trekking poles

If you have to pick one, go to Smith. You'll get to met some new and different people. You can hang with us Seattle dorks at Pub Club or Exit 38 or whatever any time. And go to Leavenworth any time too.

Yeah, there was a dude [can't remember the nationality] who had a much better rings routine. The Greek dude, along with the rest of the competitors, would hold their poses for barely the required two seconds. The dude who I thought should have won was holding his poses for at least three seconds. You mean the really burly Bulgarian dude with no neck? Yeah, he was badass.

Happy B-Day!

One time I hit 32mph on my crappy old hybrid bike. The thing was shaking in a pretty scary way. Like something out of Star Trek... Kirk: "Warp 8!" Scotty: "Cap'n, I don' know how much longer I can keep 'er together!" I keep saying I'll get a real road bike someday. Reading about going 45mph makes me jealous.

Puny vehicle = Toyota Echo Am I doomed?

Thinking of heading up there this weekend. Is that road closure a permanent thing now? If by chance the road is now open, is it passable by puny vehicles?

so true, will!

And if one bodyguard isn't enough for you, here's another one. See, he's all ready to beat back sketchy characters with that nut.

For the Olympics, the Rain Forest Hostel gives some info on how to get there by public transport HERE (scroll down a bit). I have no idea how current any of this is, but the guy who runs the hostel is pretty knowledgeable so you can try giving him a call for more information.

Been going to Exit 38 a lot in the evenings lately and looking for a new post-climb hangout. We're getting bored with the North Bend Bar and Grill. Suggestions?

I find that it helps to buy socks several sizes smaller than what's written on the package. The right size socks always end up too loose and sloppy and get bunched up in weird places over a day's hike. I wear a women's size 7 shoe, and the most comfy socks are the ones where the package says size 4-5 or something like that. Smartwool kids socks work great for me, and save a few bucks. This is one of the few instances where it's nice to be a midget.

A friend of mine sent me this poem. Apparently the poet, Donald Justice, died recently. Sestina: Here in Katmandu We have climbed the mountain. There's nothing more to do. It is terrible to come down To the valley Where, amidst many flowers, One thinks of snow, As formerly, amidst snow, Climbing the mountain, One thought of flowers, Tremulous, ruddy with dew, In the valley. One caught their scent coming down. It is difficult to adjust, once down, To the absence of snow. Clear days, from the valley, One looks up at the mountain. What else is there to do? Prayer wheels, flowers! Let the flowers Fade, the prayer wheels run down. What have they to do With us who have stood atop the snow Atop the mountain, Flags seen from the valley? It might be possible to live in the valley, To bury oneself among flowers, If one could forget the mountain, How, never once looking down, Stiff, blinded with snow, One knew what to do. Meanwhile it is not easy here in Katmandu, Especially when to the valley That wind which means snow Elsewhere, but here means flowers, Comes down, As soon it must, from the mountain. -Donald Justice

No worries, if CBS gets out of hand, we just beat him with a #4 Camalot. It's all good.

I think the comment IG was referring to was the one about how one should always carry at least some tied webbing for 2 reasons: 1. emergency rap achors 2. so you can tie it to the correct length to make a gear sling to fit over your tits when you're cleaning gear, because standard over the shoulder sewn slings don't always fit right. See, these are the kinds of issues guys just can't relate to.

And people wonder why Americans score in the bottom whatever percentile in math and science compared to the rest of the world. (I forget the exact stats, but they're pretty scary)

Can't resist any longer... I put my money on this crew not even getting past the Tibet border without a Chinese guide, being stuck in the cesspit hellhole that is Zhangmu, contracting food poisoning leading to explosive diarrhea, and spending the remainder of their time on the squat shitter, before crawling back to KTM in shame.

The first pic of IG looks very heroic, like she's about to embark on a NASA mission to Mars.

Thanks for the shout-out, Laura. Wish I could have been there, but I was busy clutching my skull to keep my head from exploding. BTW, a Google image search for "head exploding" yields all sorts of really interesting things.

Hey, did anyone see/remember that episode of Enterprise where 3 guys rappel down into this big cave to rescue somebody or other? They go down on 3 different rap lines. For light they have what look like desk lamps sticking out of their backs. Then at one point a cam pulls and they begin falling. Some lessons from this episode: 1. Climbing technology hasn't changed in 300 years or however long 2. They don't teach about redundant and equalized anchors at Starfleet Academy 3. The knowledge of headlamps was lost during the 21st century apocalypse I could go on... I was watching this episode and just about rolling on the floor.

What happens after too much time on Khao San Road (attachment)

TNG was great but had some really annoying characters... Wesley Crusher, Deanna Troi ... ick! But Captain Jean-Luc Picard... *sigh* DS9 had its moments and some pretty cool kick-ass characters. Voyager was pretty much just eye candy with 7 of 9 and lots of CGI. Enterprise sucks major massive donkey balls and has pretty much no redeeming properties, except maybe frequent ass shots of that Vulcan chick, if you're into that sort of thing. I can't believe I'm here on cc.com spraying about Star Trek on a beautiful Saturday morning. I had a nice alpine project all planned out but I'm stuck at home sick with some mutant flu!