fastcj

According to King County records, that property is owned by Stanley Nelson III LLC. The shitbags are undoubtedly renters. I suggest crime victim get the address for the owner off the WA Sec. of State website (because it's a limited liability company, it's got to have a registered agent), and let the owner know that the tenants are running a theft ring out of his property, and therefore, now that he's been made aware of this fact, he may be held legally liable for future activities. Then we'll see how long it takes for an eviction notice to get posted.

A database for stolen gear is a great idea. Cascadeclimbers.com would be a very good forum, if a separate section was set up for the purpose of posting thefts. There are similar sites for other sports involving frequently filched expensive gear, such as stolenbicycleregistry.com and Mariner Kayaks runs a registry on its website. Sadly, there are enough shitbags out there stealing stuff the rest of us paid hard-earned cash for, that there is a need for these sites. And three cheers for the climber who returned that gear to its rightful owner. The world needs more people like that.

Then you must have been off the ice and well up the rock scramble. It's a bummer you missed the views, because they were sweet and only got better on the descent as the shadows got longer. We too forgot a camera in our 5am stupor.

Climb: Chiwawa Mtn-North Face Date of Climb: 9/5/2005 Trip Report: Sven Koehler and I climbed the standard north face route on Chiwawa via Phelps Creek, Spider Col, and the Lyman Glacier car-to-car in just over 14 hours. From the Lower Lyman Glacier we contemplated taking a line along the left margin of the upper glacier, but figured there must be a reason why everyone takes the line along the right margin. Once up on the right side of the glacier it looked as if the left line would go fine with only moderate crevasse navigation, only it was steep hard ice, and two tools would be necessary. The only technical challenge on the climb - apart from not knocking rocks onto your partner on the messy slabs between the upper and lower glacier - was the glacial ice. There is virtually no snow cover on the glacier apart from a light dusting from the day before on the upper glacier. Because we'd opted for lighter weight gear (alu crampons, light hiking boots, light axes) the ice felt a bit sketchy, particulary when my light crampons scratched across the surface of the ice instead of sinking in. I had little trouble sinking the pick of my titanium ax in, but Sven had a little more trouble with his alu ax. A second tool would have been nice, and may have shaved 20 minutes off the climb, but it turned out to be unnecessary. The day before we climbed, a party of two turned around halfway up the upper glacier because of the ice hardness. Rock and icefall hazard is moderate. Crevasses were all exposed and snow bridges had long since melted out. The hike out on the Phelps Creek trail is undemanding and pleasant by star light, but the last couple miles feel long. Gear Notes: small glacier rope helmets! ice tool or ax with agressive pick

Lowell's photo is more wintery than current conditions. Forrest Murphy, Dan Aylward, and I climbed the NE buttress route this Memorial Day weekend and saw those ripping tracks coming down the couloir. Wow, what a ski run! There was snow on quite a few short sections of the buttress, but the climbing was superb. The descent, on the other hand, made us wish we'd dragged skis all the way up there, especially when the thunderstorm slammed into us 30 minutes after the first clouds appeared in the cloudless sky. Apart from some heinous blisters, it was a great weekend. Goode is a worthy destination.

It's true that everyone tends to push what they themselves own. I've had a several cars over the years, and I've ridden in many different cars to trailheads with buddies. The pick-up is convenient mobile for two, but if you've got a larger party, then you need multiple vehicles. I made long drives with three people crammed into my midget cab during my grad student dirtbag climber days. No fun. Also, a canopy is a must. I had a nice little canopy with screens on the tinted windows and a padded liner on the bed, so I didn't even need to get the thermarest out at the trailhead. Undisturbed sleep, no matter how many bugs or rain. Throw the packs in the cab, climb in the back, and start sawing logs! And Ranger Rick doesn't even notice your presence. It was a 2WD, so it was easy to get boats on and off the roof rack. Other advantages to having a crappy little rustbucket: no worries about scratching paint, getting dings, etc. Drawbacks: it was a death trap, an uncomfortable ride, handled like crap, was unrealiable, and got stuck a lot. Modern trucks are better on most counts, but they still handle poorly in icy conditions. I had a 4WD Isuzu Trooper. Also a good trailhead mobile and got me up some really rough roads. Reliability took a steep drop after 140K. Toyota 4Runner or Nissan Pathfinder would be my choices in this category. SUVs and trucks suck too much gas, though. Minivans are great. Heaps of gear capacity and good handling on snow and dry. Pull out some seats and sleep in the back. The Vanagon/Eurovan are nice for cushy trailhead camping but reliability is poor. Perhaps the all-time classic TH-mobile, though, is the Toyota Van (pre-Previa & Sienna). That's that little van where you sit on top of the indestructible Toyota 4-cylinder engine. The rear two bench seats fold down into a double bed. Huge capacity, great mileage and reliability! Also available in a higher clearance 4WD version. Just don't ever get in a frontal collision! I've got a Subaru Forester now, and it was a toss up for me between the Outback and Forester. Forester has more clearance and handles a bit better, but is too short to sleep in. It gets up almost everything my SUV could climb with much better mileage, handling and safety. The Legacy wagon will get you to almost every TH too. I'd say any of the Subaru wagons or the Honda Element are great choices for 4 season outings.

There's a trip report on Snowfield Pk for 4/24-4/25 in the "Freshie Zone." We came up the Neve Glacier from the opposite side you see there.

It was more of an IQ test than a phych test, and I failed... The boots sticking off the sides of the pack were fine until we left the "maintained" trail at the lake. I quickly found my ski tips hung up in the branches above while simultaneously wedged in the narrow spots between trees. I then opted for a combination of Forrest's and Kurt's systems: one boot sticking out of the top of the pack and the other strapped upside down to the back of the pack.

Man, this sucks. I second the comment about making sure there aren't any Social Security numbers on anything in your wallet. Also, you should contact the three credit bureaus (Trans Union, Experian, and Equifax) and place a fraud alert and a consumer statement in your credit file. Your statement could be something simple like "must show two forms of picture ID to obtain credit," or "grant no instant credit." This will prevent someone from opening up new credit accounts at department/electronics stores in your name. It can take you years to clean up your credit record...

Unfortunately, I don't think we'll have to wait hundreds of years to see all those snow machines -- and for that matter, climbers' poops -- because it's very unlikely that there will be anything but small remnants of any glaciers in the lower 48 by the year 2050.

Actually, the road ended at 1500', but still, it was an extra hour of hiking. The first washout was from this winter, the second must be 1-3 years old, judging by the plant growth, and the third and final washout named in the Burgdorfer guide is ancient. My guess is the that the USFS has no intention of maintaining that road.