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Here are a few pics for you: Washout on the hike in Fern chilling out in Boston Basin Rap down to Boston Glacier Crossing the glacier NF Buckner Ridgeline

Try Northwest Garment Repair on Fremont Ave. Word has it they're cheaper than Rainy Pass, and they did a great job repairing my pack and tent. 206-545-8683

Tercel.

doood, it's a turkle!

email sent.

From yesterday's PI: Off Limits: Middle Fork Snoqualmie Road closing this week By GREG JOHNSTON P-I REPORTER A gate was scheduled to swing shut this week on the controversial Middle Fork Snoqualmie Road, permanently closing the last 7.6 miles of one of the roughest, nastiest forest routes in Washington -- and eliminating easy access to spectacular highlands of the Alpine Lake Wilderness. The U.S. Forest Service decided to gate and close the 25-mile gravel road at Dingford Creek, about 17.4 miles in, as part of a long public process to develop a plan for the picturesque valley of the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River outside North Bend. It's a popular area for kayakers, hikers, climbers, anglers and campers, but for decades it also has been known as a party and "kegger" spot and remains one of the worst areas in the state for trailhead theft and vandalism. The upper end of the road has also been troublesome for the Forest Service, since it is a slide-prone, four-wheel-drive track that gets blown out virtually every winter. The final 7.6 miles of the road was scheduled to be gated Wednesday and then managed as a trail open to hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders, but closed to motorized vehicles. The road closure remains controversial among hikers, climbers and "peak-baggers." Environmental groups and many hikers support the closure as a way to increase the wilderness quality of the upper Middle Fork valley. They also point out it will save the Forest Service thousands of dollars each year in maintenance. But others argue it will turn premier off-trail scrambles to such places as Big Snow Mountain and its several lakes into overnight trips. They contend it will reduce access to the high country for those with limited mobility and eliminate sublime backcountry spots such as Dutch Miller and La Bohn gaps as potential day hikes. They also argue that the road itself will be a low-quality hike, being a road and with limited views. However, the upper valley also can be reached via the recently completed Middle Fork Trail, a pretty forest path on the south side of the cascading river. "I'm going to have some misgivings about the loss of easy access to some fantastic high country," said Bill Sobieralski, longtime trails coordinator for the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest's North Bend District. "But on the other hand, it puts places like Dutch Miller Gap in the heart of the Alpine Lakes. It will be something like 15 miles now to get to Dutch Miller Gap, so it will be a different sort of hiking experience. It will be a remote area." The Forest Service plan also includes several other elements -- all accomplished last year -- including a new campground, completion of the 14-mile Middle Fork Trail on the south bank of the river and the closure of all side-roads and spurs off the Middle Fork Road. Sobieralski said the parking area just before the gate will now be known as the Dutch Miller Gap trailhead. Previously it was called the Dingford Creek trailhead, the beginning of a trail along the creek to Myrtle and Hester lakes in the wilderness and also one of two access points now for the 14-mile Middle Fork Trail, reached by footbridges across the river. However, a few owners of mining claims and other landowners up the valley, as well as the non-profit group that operates Goldmyer Hot Springs, will be allowed to maintain it minimally as a road and will be given keys to the gate to continue accessing their properties by motorized vehicle. Sobieralski noted that a significant amount of work was completed this spring on the Dutch Miller Gap Trail, since Forest Service crews will not be allowed to drive the road. A new footbridge has also been built across the river to the trail for the hot springs, which will now be about a five-mile hike. He added that members of the general public will not be given keys to the gate, not even general members of the group that operates the hot springs, Northwest Wilderness Programs (goldmyer.org). Gobieralski cautioned hikers that parts of the Middle Fork Trail upstream of the road closure suffered consider storm damage last winter, including large slides and many downed trees across the trail, none of which has yet been fixed. Trail crews from EarthCorps will work on the trail this summer. Meantime, the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest is seeking public input on the future of some 220 other recreation sites, including campgrounds, trailheads, lookouts, visitor centers and picnic areas. The "Recreation Site Facility Master Plan" is designed to identify sites important to the public so the agency can better allocate its limited funding. Three workshops will be conducted, all 6 to 8 p.m.: July 9 at the REI flagship store in Seattle (222 Yale Ave. N.); July 10 at the Mount Baker Ranger Station in Sedro-Woolley (810 state Route 20) and July 11 at the Algona-Pacific Library (255 Ellingson Road). For more information, see www.fs.fed.us/r6/mbs/rsfmp.

Some route or other in Vedauwoo: "Bomb-bay chimney. Tape your belly. Protection: none. Landing: jumbled boulders."

I'm one of the hordes who learned in the gym, and allow me to assure you that the transition to climbing outside, climbing cracks, and placing gear was NOTHING like you seem to think. It was just not a big deal. It wasn't hard, it wasn't scary, it wasn't complicated. It was fun and while I wouldn't necessarily say "easy" it was just part of a continuum. I read Climbing Anchors, I followed some pitches, I borrowed a rack, I went climbing. I found partners, sometimes ones who knew more than me. I started buying gear and assembling my own rack. I quit my job and moved into my car. All the standard stuff. None of it was a big deal. Really, what did ya'll go through when you started climbing in the big bad outdoors that makes you remember it as so fucking hard? And would *you* have stuck with climbing if you were "required" to do this or that? I think most of us like climbing because it's *not* regulated by a governing body.

I didn't have any trouble turning around. There was space for me to pull off and park though not much for anyone else at that *exact* spot, but with a little more clearance you could get through the little gully I was bottoming out on.

I was up there on Friday and got my 2wd Tercel a decent distance past the pullout for Three O'Clock Rock. If you had a 4wd with a short wheel base you could go further but the road was an easy walk. There's a tiny bit of bushwhacking after you cross the stream (good log just a bit upstream of where the trail comes out) but it's negligible by Cascades standards. Have fun.

I like how he hikes uphill for 15 minutes and then decides that it's too much work and he'll just take the word of a random guy at the trailhed that there's a ravine up there. Now that's some admirable investigative journalism.

ryan, nice writing. thanks.

I tried not to read any of that Hood stuff, so no. But I didn't take you seriously; don't take my cracks seriously either. I think the whole thing is highly amusing, even though it cost me a Saturday. Glad the guy's ok, but boy do I wonder....

Well, you get what you pay for.

Pax would go but he hasn't got a thing to wear.

I have your sexy sexy pink blouse that you left at the Public Safety Training Center yesterday.

http://www.alpineclub.org.pk/women_training.php According to The Alpine Club of Pakistan site, it certianly sounds like the impetus behind this program comes from the Alpine Club of Pakistan, not from the US, and that the AAC is supporting them by sending some instructors.

As requested, from a night when Dave and Ken were feeling the love: "Damn. Had it not been for that two-by-four you would have shut the fuck up finally." AlpineDave to Ken, after the object he hurled at Ken was deflected "What a whiney little bitch. You, yes, you." - Ken to Dave "You fuckin touch me, I'll fuckin rip your nuts off in your sleep." - Dave to Ken "Hey, who the fuck put their shit all over my shit?" - Ken "I did not call you a pussy. I did not use the P word. I said....I don't know what I said." - Ken

pm sent

And hypersensitive teenage girls who have no reason to be upset about being called whores, don't forget them. As my parents told me a gazillion times growing up, the fact that someone else did something *more* wrong doesn't mean you won't be punished for the wrong you did.

I think most people with a modicum of common sense realize that free speech doesn't protect them from being reprimanded and/or fired if they mouth off catastrophically on the job.

Here's a shot I got of Joe on the cornice. Nice meeting you both!

Personally I'm partial to Pax's interpretation of "tons o' snaffles." Me in the Bugaboos:

Damn Oly, get well soon. Your particular brand of lunacy is irreplaceable.

I'll carpool with you. I have the feeling I might not be in good shape to drive after this evening.