maryk

Hey fleb, from the sounds of what caused the injury, it's probably not tendinitis. Sounds like a strained/pulled tendon or possible muscle, and the continued over-use has not allowed it to heal. Still, very hard to tell without real knowledge or more detail. If you haven't already, my not very astute advice is to see a doctor.

Yes, Greg is safe and good to climb with (I'm starting to make my own list). And yes, CG33 is real - I've even climbed with her! And yes, we will be at VW tonight. And...with a few more posts, Nicole's thread will have beat the thread that was caused my introductory note (let's let that thing lay dead and buried please)

Fun article in the PI ~~ sorry if this was already posted (I didn't see it anywhere). Makes me wish I spent more time there this summer... http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/getaways/138966_bcclimb11.html

I agree with both of you, and believe me I've heard the whole "learn to lead" thing several times. Of course I want to learn to lead. I've been climbing for a mere 5 months, so it's not like I've been dragging my feet on leading - I think now is about the right time. BUT, one can't "learn to lead" without partners or help or guidance (or gear!, which I don't have b/c I'm B.R.O.K.E.). Still, I don't see why not leading is such a problem. I can't climb crazy hard stuff, but I can climb moderate stuff. I have been out with a handful of friendly folks, but I'm just still getting to know folks in the climbing community and don't have any regular friends or partners that automatically make plans with me, so I have to keep asking around. I'm not as frustrated as I may sound, just antsy to get on the rock. Maybe I'll just have to solo.....

If anyone would frickin reply to my request for partners I might be able to answer the poll AND take part in the "what did you climb last weekend" follow-up!! Gees, what does it take to get a partner around here! OH God, nevermind, don't answer that.... Seriously though, here's another pitch for friendly, wacky, fun, experienced, safe, trustworthy...folks to take a chance on me (does anyone hear Abba in the background or is that just me?).

I posted a few - some scenery, some climbs. http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showgallery.php?ppuser=4068&cat=500&thumb=1 Enjoy

Hey Klenke ~~ can you PM me your personal list of "respectable" people?

Instead of PMing a dozen people, waiting and potentially having nothing work out, I'll try to accomplish my goals with one quick email.... I've been out of town, working is getting crazy again, and the ghost of Fall is creeping in. I really, really wanting/needing to get out on the rock! Really, really need some more regular partners. (I promise I'm not dorky or mean, and I don't totally suck; I'm just still new here ) Here's my schedule for Sept., contact me if you're interested!! 9/8 week: can climb at Index or 38 or something else local afternoon/evening 9/13 weekend is sketchy but local stuff would be do-able 9/15 week: could probably take one full day to go to Leavenworth, Darrington, N. Cascades, etc OR can do Index or 38 in afternoon/evening 9/20 wkd: may be available, may be at Jugglefest 9/22 week thru end of month: Same as 9/15 week and wkds are more open. If I've climbed with you before, great. If not, I'll want to chat and otherwise check you out beforehand (and I'm happy to have you check up on me with other partners). Haven't lead yet. Can follow thru 5.9, unless it's at Index in which case I can flail, bitch, moan and curse my way to the top - it's do-able, it just ain't pretty. Come on... don't leave me hanging out here all alone....

i dunno man... i sometimes wear cobras for alpine... i take off the heel at belays and dont really have a problem... even climbing a dozen or more pitches isn't too bad... i think sizing is important more than anything else... sizing 2 sizes too small is just dumb... doesn't really help anyways... i find that if you have strong feet, you can wear slippers all day in cracks no prob... though rattly fist cracks will always hurt... Gees, I thought this thread was long dead. Well, since y'all brought it back up... for the record, my big toes got back to normal about a week or 10 days ago. Everyday they felt a little more normal but the tingly sensation lingered for a while. I quickly paid no attention to it tho' and it didn't keep me from backpacking or climbing or anything else. Regarding the shoes, CBS: my shoes are actually quite comfortable now. I don't think any climbing shoe is going to be comfortable for 10 hours, but what do I know. In any case, I'm broke and don't plan on buying a new pair of shoes anytime soon. Thanks for the concern tho'! ~~ mk

Well, I'm a girrrl, so this may not be worth much to you , but I actually just returned my pair of Vasque Alpine GTX after owning them for a year. I had and loved a pair of Vasque Superhikers until I bought the GTXs. Wore the Superhikers out. The GTX is a solid, heavy, full-length steel shank boot. It doesn't move. It was very comfortable in the store and just hanging around the office, trying to wear them in, but once on the trail for a long day or several days, my feet never got used to them. Both my feet would either go numb or have sharp pains shooting through them, which is annoying but not nearly as difficult to deal with as blisters, which was the main reason I returned them. After a year of use, my feet were still getting shredded. ?? Maybe it's just my feet. I put insoles in the boots for more cushion. Nothing seemed to help. Granted, I was using these for backpacking primarily. My 2 cents.

Sorry, I definitely don't have all the climbing lingo down yet. Let me try to clarify.... Yes, I meant the entire route could be soloed -- no rope needed -- the toughest stuff we saw was like 5.5, maybe 5.6. We did simul-climb most the route - though I didn't mention this earlier. Starting out of the gully, we climbed un-roped for a short bit. Then with a ledge to stand on, we anchored a belay with a nut and a tri-cam (if I remember correctly) in a dirty horizontal crack -- but it was solid. That was the only pitch we didn't simul-climb. In this vertical base section of the climb, there are bushes and trees and dirt and pebbles to deal with, but it's not too bad, and within a pitch and a half you are in a grassy boulder field. The slab and the corner are just above you. Simul-climbed the slab (there are some cracks for pro), anchoring in twice (3 times??) so I could give gear back. I followed the whole time. Sorry if this doesn't totally make sense! Yes, the right hand side of the gully didn't look very easy to safely get to - the way the snow was melting. The rock looked good, but figuring out where to stand and start wasn't as straight-forward as on the left side.

Paul ~~ Did the N Face on Saturday, but did the glacier crossing to the base of the route. The sun-kissed snow covered glacier was a bit sketchy, tho' being in running shoes probably didn't help. Took 2 of us probably an hour to traverse - I slipped with about 20 paces left to go and slide down a few feet before my self-arrest held (a hiking pole in one hand and a sharp rock in the other). Large, gapping crevasse was only 10 feet or so further below me. With a bit more slipping and kicking, I got back up and we both made it to the rock safely. Frozen hands quickly recovered. We climbed up the right hand side of the little dirt gully, tho' the book takes the route up the left side. Either is easy to low-mid 5th class and could be free-climbed. At the top of the base, below the slab, there's a section of scrambily hiking. Then we stayed out on the slab, enjoying the friction much the same as you. The corner looked dirty and the slab looked fun tho' there wasn't a ton of protection. Quick climbing compared to the death march approach and descent (I must be soft - I thought the steep hiking was miserable). But great views all day, and that huge bowl with the icy lake and pristine granite-lined stream was freaking amazing. Was disappointed to not see any goats, what with the amount of snow up there. If you go back and do the glacier, it might be worth it to bring crampons and/or an ice axe.

Distel, IceIce ~~ Thanks for the friendly notes. It looks like a regular partner is available now. Still, you're probably better off without me as I've had a bad cold all week and would hate to be a worthless first-time partner! Jimbo already knows I'm worthless, so I have less to worry about with him. Thanks again and have great weekends! ~~ mk

...very likely bailing on hiking plans at Baker...would rather climb anyway. Saturday or Sunday (maybe both if I'm not wiped out). I'm thinking N.Cascades or maybe even Squamish (since I was initially planning for Baker anyway), but I'm open to other ideas. Can't seem to round up a partner for this weekend tho'. Anyone interested? PM me. I can't do crazy shit - my comfortable/ability level is being pushed at 5.9 - tho' long climbs are fine. Can give you several references if you'd like, and I'm happy to supply Thx! -- mk

Ryland -- hey I thought I might hear from you in this post. Yeah, I was thinking Linville Gorge and Stone Mtn. And, I've climbed in the Uwharries once before, years ago, but I don't remember where I was (some things never change!). Yes, since I plan on driving to KY from NC, I could hit up some nice spots in TN too - I hadn't thought of that. The atlas is good advice and I'll try to find the website. I have a few climberish friends back home too, but all this info is very good....keep it coming folks if you have any other helpful info. Thx -- maryk

As if it's not hot enough here, I'll be spending some blocks of time back in North Carolina, Kentucky and Virginia this fall (mostly in October)......do any of you well-traveled folks have advice/info for rock in these areas, and do you know any folks I might be able to partner up with??? (I'm from NC and know the area well, but moved away 2 years ago and have never climbed there. Don't know KY and VA as well, but can read a map! thanks folks! ~~ mk

AlpineFox -- no, I don't think my shoes are really tight... I mean they are tight, normal tight, but not really tight, not anymore at least. ?? I think I'm just still new to all this. I've only been climbing for about 3 months - though lately, I've been climbing 1-3 times a weeks, so maybe my feet are just lashing out at me. Or maybe I'm just a big whiner!

Yeah, that was an interesting mini-epic boys. Good thing none of us had to be anywhere in the morning. Actually, I really enjoyed it -- 10 hrs on the rock, 5 hrs of a lovely bushwacking slog-fest, chocolate gu, the brightest, biggest shooting star I've ever seen, Jimbo and his tire providing comic relief (I thought it was funny, at least), an herbal remedy for our ever-lengthening adventure, listening to the midnight forest noises creeping closer and closer to us, sleeping in sweaty climbing clothes (underneath warmer layers from Jimbo for which I'm very grateful), being saved from an 11 mile death-march, and the best $3 breakfast I've had in a long, long time!! Here's to the Dreamer, double-ropes, and to Boone C. for being in the right place at the right time! Oh, and if you saw my "big-toe" post in "newbies"...I still have a numb tingly asleep feeling in my big toes! and I have to carry 45lbs on my back for 7 days starting Sunday. I'm told I shouldn't be worried, but ??? ...so long as I don't have to amputate, I guess I'll stop worrying

Thanks for the comforting advice....and lovely images. Good to know I'll be "normal" again soon, though many friends and several members of my family might debate that description. Oh, and hakioawa, I wasn't bold enough to lead the climb just yet, though most of it really isn't that tough. Neversummer and jshamster jointly lead, switching on each pitch, and I followed. Thanks again guys - that was loads of fun, especially the post climb, pitch dark, tire changing fiasco! It really should be turned into a TR....Nick, you used to be a writer, right? -- mk

Apparently I lost some brain cells too..... I should've said it's been about 27 hrs since I came off the face, not 15, hence my slight concern for my feet...seems like they should feel normal by now, rather than prickly and asleep. original email and question still stands.... -- maryk

Not sure where to post this question.... It's been about 15 hours since I came off Dreamer (9 pitches of granite slab if you aren't familiar with it) and my big toes are still numb, tingly and sore. I'm starting to get slightly concerned - mostly b/c I have a 7-day backpacking trip starting Sunday morning. My hands and feet feel burned. This is the first time I've ever felt like this, I should add in case that's not obvious. Will this go away fairly soon - particularly the odd numb/tingly sensition in my toes - or should I be worried, and/or is there anything I can do to help my feet/toes get back to normal?? Great climb tho'! Thx -- maryk

Hey Folks --- I often read news on Tidepool (http://www.tidepool.org/) and High Country News, and a recent posting at http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=14088 includes an interesting article, "Invasion of the Rock Jocks: Have rock climbers turned from environmental crusaders into an environmental menace?" There are some other climbing articles posted on this same page. Just thought I'd pass it along.... On another note..... I'm taking all of next week off to climb and still have a few days without plans. Anywhere in WA (or potentially a 2-day trip to BC), 7/29-8/2, (cragging or multis; my limit is 5.9/5.10; don't lead yet).... if you are interested, PM me.

Y'all are some decisive dudes. I moved here 2 years ago, and can't figure out what places I don't like. I would definitely go with the 2 house thing tho' -- somewhere in the San Juans or the Olympics (or Seattle, hell, can't go wrong here) for the winter (but I'm not a snowbunny yet) and somewhere just east of the Cascades in the spring/fall (there's just something about the sagebrush steppe that I love). Summer is for going as many places as you possibly can!

Catbirdseat -- very sorry, but not you're fault - I should've brought a note pad or something. But thanks for vouching for my authenticity! That'll end the rumor mill. Mtnovak -- you mean like hiking up big hills like Ranier, Baker, Hood... and/or you mean "ice climbing?" I actually hike *a lot* - more than I climb, but that's starting to even out. But, my hikes to date have been below 10K - for no real reason though. I had altitude issues once years ago, and my knees are pretty crappy for a youngun like myself (use poles now). Anyway, I've been wanting to get up some of the 12-14K peaks, but haven't yet (afraid I might get altitude sickness - ??). And I'm afraid I can't make the trip to Russia with you. Good luck. -- maryk

yeah, the thread is probably close to being dead. I was just on the chick photo thread for way too long -- funny stuff getting to know everyone here. Anywho, I did hear that rumor that *some* of y'all think I'm a figment of someone's imagination. ?? Some will never know.... Actually, I showed up at PC last night, so there's at least a few nice gentlemen who can vouch for me. Sorry to be lame...but I don't know climbing areas by Hwy exits just yet. What's at those exits? Maybe I'll show up... Really ought to leave work now, esp. since I'm not even working. -- maryk