Recycled

I like to scramble around the peaks along the US/Canada Border. Before 9/11, it seems that nobody really cared what you did. The Chilliwach River trail was maintained and an excellent way to get to Whatcom Pass. Now it's completely overgrown and "abandoned." More recently, I've been questioned extensively by the Man when I re-entered the US in Sumas. I've run into Border Patrol folks (with their shiny dress shoes) up the Ross Lake trail, but haven't seen actually seen anyone along the Chilliwack Lake or Nooksack drainages. When I've asked about current protocol, I've been told to keep a passport with me at all times (even on the US side when approaching from the US side) and to call (!) as soon as I cross the border. This seems a bit rich, particularly when I'm obviously a dirtbag scrambler/climber and not trying to smuggle Koreans, dope or bombs. Has anyone else had a less-than-friendly encounter while doing backcountry crossings for Tomyhoi, the border peaks, the Chilliwack river trail, Hozomeen, Silver Peaks or any other areas? I'm trying to figure out the practical rules before I end up under a spotlight getting a cavity search.

I'd like to thrash my way into the old Red Mountain Mine workings on Larrabee. Has anyone been on that side or Larrabee on there way to the E side of American Border Peak or the Pleiades? Any beta on the best access? The gating of the Tamahi road doesn't make things any easier... Also, PM me if anyone else in the B'ham area is interested in exploring that area with me.

I vote for Samuel L. Jackson as Treadwell. They can also use artistic license with the ending. Maybe along the lines of Pulp Fiction.

Yeah, that's always the strange thing. My wife and I each own small businesses and probably would be termed libertarians in many respects. You know, the open competition, fiscal responsibility, personal liberty thing. It didn't take long to figure out that the Republicans and the current crop of so-called conservatives were not of that vein. Democrats aren't either. Doesn't bode well for our Country.

Life cycle studies are a bitch. I happen to believe most of them do not provide much enlightenment. For example, you can't compare the energy used to produce biodiesel with fossil fuel accurately unless you also include all of the prospecting, extraction, distribution and vapor losses of liquid fuels. It's rare to get an accurate assessment of this. It's also bogus to focus on Soy oil as the long-term source of feedstock for biodiesel. The use of biofuels is in its infancy, so you should expect a shift to other, more productive, feedstocks as demand grows. Rapeseed is one, but mustard seed has even higher yields. King County is currently producing biodiesel from mustard seed grown on farmland fertilized with biosolids. The biodiesel is used to supplement the diesel used to haul the biosoids to the farm. I've used 100% biodiesel for 3 years. The reasons are: (1) sustainability; (2) not using sequestered carbon with the obvious climate change implications; and (3) to reduce our dependency on foreign oil, with all the obvious foreign policy considerations. It's really funny to see the "conservative" response to this. You would think conservatives would be strongly supportive of alternative fuels: no need to continuously intervene in the Middle East to "safeguard" our oil supply, moving toward strategic energy independence, and support for American jobs. I guess not. They just spew about how silly alternative fuels are and get there panties in a bunch about modest subsidies. Well, how about eliminating all subsidies and adding amortizing the costs of the past 20 years of Middle East wars and aid over the fuels we derive from the region. That way gas would be $10/gallon and biodiesel would be $3/gallon. We could even value military and civilian lives lost at whatever the neocons value a soldier's life ($10, $100, $1000?) Fair enough? Sorry that came out as too much of a rant. Our neighbor just lost his brother in Iraq and I'm getting tired of the farce.

Whoa! This dating crap is way too complicated. I've been married for almost 20 years and thus qualify as an old fart probably unable to provide any constructive comment. I will note however, that if I had opened a car door for my (now) wife on our first date that would have been the end of that! Not her style at all. It's a matter of simple politeness for the first person to reach a door to open it and to listen and respect what the other person has to say. I believe that will get you further than any superficial rules. That last thing a woman (or man!) wants to hear on a date is a 1 hour monolog about their job, what a good school they went to, or how much money they have. On to a "good" first date story: My wife and I knew eachother a few years before our first date. We actively disliked eachother, but I was friends with her roommate. When I came over, she would leave. Eventually, we happened to go out to pizza with our mutual friend and during that "non-date" I (and she) gradually "noticed" eachother. I invited her on a hike, she accepted, I cooked her a very good dinner following the hike and we moved pretty fast from there. Goes to show... you never know who "it" will be and it's all a matter of timing. If we had not been on the same wavelenghth at the same time, we'd probably still dislike eachother.

Looks like a marten to me, though I don't think they hang out above treeline much. Maybe it was on Pika patrol. When I was the Kulshan Cabin caretaker back in the early 80s, there was a marten that hung around the cabin taking care of mice for me. It was not particularly shy, though I certainly didn't want to get too close to those teeth. Speaking of useful predators, anyone personally seen a wolverine in the N. Cascades?

The Oregon pumping situation always cracks me up. Talk about unintended consequences... Instead of having a large population exposed to low levels of Benzene and other carcinogens, they create an underclass who are continuously exposed, all in the name of job creation. I also loved the arguments I used to have when I had to intercept the gas jockeys so they wouldn't pump gas into my car, after I specifically requested diesel.

Thanks Marie. Anyone else have suggestions?

I'm heading on a solo trip to Chamonix the 2nd and 3rd week of September and am seeking advice on a few topics not covered in other threads. I'm there mostly to scramble, though I may try Mont Blanc if the weather looks stable and I can hook up with someone I trust. My questions: (1) Any suggestions on "must do" Class 2 and 3 scrambles in the area? (2) Is Cham the place to go, or is Zermatt or elsewhere better for scrambling? (3) I have not lined up anywhere to stay on the assumption that there will likely be vacancies and I can choose huts/hostels based on where I want to be given the weather at the time. Is this a mistake? Should I book a hostel now? (4) Is it worth renting a car? I know the transportation system is good, but I'm thinking I could get around better to Zermatt or other places of interest, not to mention opening up more distant lodging options if Cham hostels are full. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Too many things eat ducks. Raven for me. Bring on the tasty ducklings!

Yeah, the "hot showers, and nutritious feasts will ensure you the mental and physical stamina to maximize each day's offerings" sounded pretty good too.

Sounds pretty damn Tantric to me.

Prolly not. Oxycontin=narcotic Oxytocin=hormone related to breast feeding letdown, etc. and is believed to have a role in socialization and the interactions being discussed.

I knew it! It's all because I wasn't breastfed. I'd better catch up. Of course, I'm not so sure that empathy (vis-a-vis being aware of fear in others and taking steps to mitigate it) is typical behavior for a sociopath off their meds.

That's happened to me quite a bit when I used to be allowed out late at night, pre-kid. It's very stange when you're walking somewhere in a city late at night on a parallel course with a women when nobody else is around. You know you're freaking her out, as she keeps looking over her shoulder to see if you're getting closer (which I usually do since I walk fast). Then you see her pace and body language change as she starts to panic, and you can really smell the fear. When that happens, I actually cross the street to make them feel more comfortable. How's that for being pussy whipped by someone you don't know!

I believe in past years they've camped above treeline in the broad slopes west of the railroad grade, below the Easton Glacier and over towards the middle fork Nooksack drainage. There's a lot of relatively hidden camping areas there. I've seen climbing-course groups over there a number of times, though I don't know for sure whether they are AAI.

A brief look in the eye and a nod should suffice, but I have slightly different rules for men and women. If I encounter a solo women on the trail I usually go out of my way to be as non-threatening as possible. Since I'm 6'5" and 240 pounds I get tired of sensing the fear from 30 feet away. As for men, I stand on the uphill side of the trail, look them straight in the eye and scowl. Whatever you do, don't say "Howeryourdoing." As if you care. That drives me nuts and has led to ice axe disembowling although they can't prove a thing. If you have to say something, just say hi.

OK, I'll take the bait and instead of lurking, I'll bring this to the top. When I was the ripe old age of 17, I decided to take a solo trip to the Enchantments, starting at Snow Lake, exiting at Colchuck, resupplying from a cache then heading to windy pass. It was June right after school let out, midweek and nobody else was anywhere to be seen (this was 1979). The weather was mixed with lots of low cloud. I cruised up to the upper enchantments, got disoriented and ended up spending the night on the side of Little Annapurna. Got up the next morning to head down Aasgard Pass. Found the pass and it looked like a cool glissade, with a nice track already set by earlier parties. So I started down. Fast. I quickly learned that rubberized canvass raingear is very slick on steep snow. I also found out that my heavy REI cruiser pack with the frame extensions was getting snagged in the glissade track. I was careening down the slope at what seemed about 50mpg, then started cartwheeling. When I finally stopped cartwheeling and resumed sliding, I realized that: (1) my ice axe was stuck all the way through my arm, and (2) the rocks at the base of the pass were rapidly approaching. I pulled the ice axe out of my arm, self arrested, then sat in the snow looking at the hole in my arm. I missed arteries, but had about a 1" wide hole in my arm where the end of the axe went in, bounced off the bone, and exited the other side. I remember thinking how cool subcutaneous fat looked at it started to fill in the hole. Then I realized that I was alone, had to hike out, had no car at the trailhead and not a whole lost of prospect of meeting anyone else near the trailhead. I walked out and amazingly, met a couple from Seattle out for an afternoon walk near the trailhead. They gave me a ride to the Leavenworth clinic then gave me a ride back to Seattle. After that my parents made me take the North Cascades Alpine Institute climbing course (with Andy Selters, no less). More close calls in the early 80s on Rainier and NF Shuksan, but my early adventures left the biggest scar...

Maybe we're just too damn boring to having anything to say. Four years of lurking suites me fine. Of course, it might just be the questionable genetic makeup thang.

I was up at Cascade Pass yesterday, 10/27/04. No snow on road to trailhead, scattered snow up to where the trail breaks out of the woods and traverses to the pass. I was hiking, but a skier was ahead of me and had switched to skis at the start of the short traverse. There was snow, at the pass and up the start of Sahale arm, but not enough for enjoyable skiing. Don't know what things were like further up the arm. Joberg and Mix-up were looking good!

We had a family outing in Larrabee State Park two or three weekends ago. There were Subaru and "Event in Progress" signs all over the place that gave the impression that the State Park was closed or at least restricted access. There was also a helicopter buzzing around incessantly right over the water off the beach. We headed off in the other direction to the Fragrance Lake Trail, but it took a while to get out of earshot of the helicopter. My wife and I spent a while quite irritated, trying to figure out how Subaru could essentially shut down a major State park on a sunny September weekend and have such a high impact (i.e. helicopter) on other users. Perhaps this was the same event? I don't get why the State Parks can charge their access fees, yet allow this level of intrusion. It really sucked. Whine, whine, whine....

TDIs are better environmentally unless you do a lot of stop and go driving. Hybrids do very well in traffic, less well on longer hauls. TDIs have a lot of power and are also the only car that allows you to run an alternative non-fossil fuel (biodiesel). Then there are the PC factors: climate change, energy security, unnecessary wars, not supporting the Saudis and all that. I should know - we have 2 TDIs, both running 100% biodiesel.

Word to the wise: get a passport and keep it with you - not in the car at trailheads. Canada is NOT the U.S. I'm in BC 30-40 times a year and all my post-9/11 hassles went away when I got a passport. Went up through Sumas yesterday - two or three questions from the Canadian border guard and I'm on my way. Just got back from Slesse an hour ago and had to provide the US guard a description of exactly how to get to the trailhead and the condition of the trail. I guess they are paying more attention to people who go from the US up to the border peaks area, perhaps due to a perception that it would be easy to sling a bag of BC bud from Rexford over to the US side BTW - the flood damage from last week on the Nesakwatch road has now been repaired as of yesterday.

All gone - sorry!