Double_E

Going mountain biking with some friends in early August, near Lake Tahoe. Hoping to climb Shasta on the way down there or on the way back. (Probably on way down.) Anyone else want to come along for the Shasta part?? I'm thinking of doing it solo, but would totally enjoy some company. Would do one of the easy routes, either Avalanche Gulch or else Clear Creek ... Or, could also be talked into doing a glacier route, if people are gungho on that and know their shit..whatevr. Two-day trip...camp one night at trailhead and then one night at like 10000 ft. Ideal dates would be July 31 - August 1 (Sunday/Monday), but any dates between July 30 and August 6 could potentially work. For general Shasta beta, go here and here.

The purpose of terrorism is just that.... <<long pause>> ...to terrorise people. --Tony Blair, on the telly a few minutes ago. watta fuckin genius. maybe he's trying to bring himself down to Dubya's level. maybe Dubya's cronies have been telling Blair's cronies "..c'mon now, does he have to appear so damn braiight all the durn time? he's making our boy look dumb."

I think this needs an illustration... taken from a long-gone thread. thanks again to Dru for the url ( www.cougardate.com ) and to Fejas for being brave enuf to venture far enough into that site to find this priceless picture.

well, if you're a young guy and the chick's older, i think one term in use is cougar. not sure if it's a young girl and an old dude. get yer terminology straight, TLG... "Cougar" has a very specific meaning. it ain't just any older broad. it's a skanky older broad who smokes a lot of cigarettes and wears lots of makeup purchased at Walmart and hangs out in bars, trying to pick up young men.

thanks.. yeah, I keep forgetting about TAY.com. great site. ...um.. unless I'm much mistaken tho (have jussst started the scoping/map work on it all) ... the Hotlum/Wintum route isn't the same as either route I mentioned. looks like CC might sorta skirt the edge of the Wintum Glacier tho..(?) hey another thing,.. anyone know... between CC and AG, which is gonna offer the better glissading??

anyone go up the Clear Creek or Avy Gulch routes lately? also, any chronic Shasta climbers have any "predictive beta" on what those routes will be like the first week in August? I actually just called the Avalanche and Climbing Advisory number, from this site ..... VERY COOL how detailed of a report the message gives you!!!! for instance, road to Clear Creek TH is currently about 1/2 mile snowed in. anyway, was wondering if anyone else had 2 cents to add.

nice beach picture, BreezyD! here's some from my trip to Point of Arches, about 13 months ago. still need to put up my pics from this summer's beach hike....

I'm with ya on that one, Fern. as long as it's above say 50 degrees, I'll just brave the rain (if it's light to moderate) with layers of polypro..... all the while daydreaming about the nice dry goretex I'll put on when i get to camp.

nursing a sprained ankle. (it's fine to walk on, on flat ground, but stairs or other uneven ground is not going well). was hoping for a hike and skillz-practice at Mt. Rainier on Sunday, but that ain't gonna be happ'ning now. so instead .... doing a couple gravel road rides on my new bike (Iron Horse Trail yesterday, maybe Tiger Mtn tomorrow). taking some shit back to REI, maybe buying some other shit. catching up on emails, photo stuff, music stuff, Spray, and other computer ..... stuff. BBQ at friend's house on Monday, then maybe head down for the fireworks afterwards if we dont get too crunky.

When I climbed Olympus, we didn't do the last 20 vertical feet of the summit block, cuz of lack of rock protection (nor superlative rock skillz). When I clibmed Hood, we were speculating as to whether that rocky crag over thataway was maybe just maybe taller than the thing we were sitting on. The two times I climbed St. Helens, we made it to the rim but not to the very highest part ot if. (one time cuz of brutal winter weather, one time cuz of summertime lazyness). Still in all, I consider all of the above successfull "summitings" of those peaks. standing on theee-very-highest part of the mountain (give/take a few meters) is so relatively unimportant to me, compared to all the other reasons to be up there.

why don't you like Fox forx, Ken? I' just got my first one (Talas RL) and love it. most people seem to put them on equal footing with Marzocchi. actually I haven't found that to be true at all; some say noway, you gotta just buy the other parts separately. when I bought my Stumpjumper at Gregg's Greenlake, I wanted to swap out the SPD pedals for Times... they said they could only give me 20 bucks credit for the SPDs ... ... not their full retail price of 80... said it was cause, even tho they were brand new (not even on a bike ont he floor yet), they couldn't be sold for retail prices cuz they weren't in their fancy, sleek box, they just came in the big box from Specialized. I finally got them to give me 50 bucks credit, which is close to REI's killer price on the same pedals, so ... that was all fine n' good. sounds like some fun night riding there in Rwanda, Ken!!! first time I ever rode a motorcycle (well, for more than a 1/4 mile at least) was on rural roads in India... dodging laughing kids, cows, goats, oxen-carts, busses, etc. ... that was in daytime tho.

Knock knock. Who's there? Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk, nyuk who?? MisterE, the king of the nyuk, nyuk jokes.

I'm sad, sad, sad,.. about the fact that haven't been to Europe for a whopping 8 years now.

Marie .... most (not all, but most) of the stuff that guy did & said was pretty weak. Still, tho.... That's fuckin ridiculous. If you don't like the way a date's going, just finish your dinner real quick (or whatever portion of it you want to eat), ask for the check, split it halfway, then get on your merry way out of there. I mean, if something your date says really, REALLY pisses you off, to the point where you can't stand one more minute of him (or her), just walk out of the restaurant, whether or not you can do so secretively ...... and stiff the asshole (or bitch) with the bill. but why plot/contrive stupid lies like that? lame.

wasn't there a Mad comic strip way back when (by Don Martin maybe) that featured "shmelvis parsley" ??

i think i might just hafta go down and meet up w/ Mr. Klenke for a pint or two. anyone else??

i've test ridden both the Enduro and the Dawg.. liked both alot; also have heard great feedback on both. prolly the main difference between them is that the Enduro costs a few hundred bucks less. I was totally considering buying one of the above, but then decided to go with a cross country bike. just bought me a Specialized Stumpjumper this past weekend.

well the little cold thing was a 24 hr false alarm (i think maybe temporary allergies from having moved to a new cubicle maybe??) ... like dust and other cooties from the former inhabitant. anyway... i'm ready for Saturday... and then maybe Baker one of them next couple weekends!! O-O-o-o- will send email soon. .... Gordon, check yer voice mail!!

so you work nights or somethin, Gordon? yeah i'm still up for it ... I really really want to go in fact... but like i said in that email I'm feeling like i might be coming down with a cold (seriously). feels like a pretty mild cold, so chances are 99% i'll still want to go, but ... travel w/me at yer own risk. who else is in? Divot? ... what's the deal? you fa real?

y'know, chaps.... as far as I know, no one has EVER been banned from this site for... um.... having never, ever, EVER had anything worthwhile to say,... but be careful.... there's a first for everything.

nyuk nyuk nyuk...

grocery bags... who woulda thunk!

got plans for that weekend... most other weekends this summer are still flexible tho. hoping to do Baker or Rainier this summer. or both. maybe other snowy peaks too... I'm up for suggestions.