Double_E

what's next, a frickin' visitors center?

we went up the main trail from CS, which was snow-covered except for a few short stretches (maybe totalling 60 yds) which were bare. for most of the first 1/2 mile, snow was about 6-12 inches deep, but very skiable. I think most of the skiers bypassed that first 1/2 mile, tho, with other routes. approaching Lunch Ctr, there were a number of exposed piles of boulders ... and there were also a few places where the snow we were hiking on was only a foot deep. like I said, we took snowshoes but didn't need them... plenty of good tracks to use. on the way down, we kept thinking about putting them on, but didn't. in the last 100 yds before LC, there were some real icy patches too. and I heard that past LC it got reeaally icy. I'd at least take crampons if i were going soon. have fun! one friend from last weekend wants to go try it again this weekend, but I'm going to the coast instead... planning a beach hike from Rialto to Sand Point.

Infinity also has a wagon-type thing, similar to that Dodge. (sorry, too lazy to go google a picture of it) must be a trend in the auto industry, these sleek and tuff-lookin wagons. I do sorta like them.. but yeah... "IF i had to get a wagon.."

happy belated birthday, Colonel Klenke!

we went up to Lunch Counter on Saturday. avy conditions not too bad up to there. our friend camped at lunch counter with his dog, made an overnite of it. he said the winds were way too high on Sunday to even think about summiting, on skis or crampons. talked to at least 10 folks on Saturday who had gone up to Pikers Peak or close to it. they all seemed to say the snow was real crusty and icy up there... but safe and skiable. for them at least. I didn't even take my skis... stayed on snowshoes so I could hang with a newbie-friend who doesn't ski. we took snowshoes, but didn't need them.

gotta love Canada. they have socialized healtcare... but they also allow trustafarianism. I wish I could spend all day surfing the net and posting on sites like this... and then go climbing or biking with my poor wage-slave friends when they get off work.

that is pathetic. bigtime. I think ascentionist.com is pathetic too. I only go there now and then, when I'm feeling bored and in a dark mood and feel like gazing into the armpit (one of the armpits) of human existance. kinda like when I'm surfing thru the channels on teevee and I'll stop and watch 10 minutes of some "reality" show. but why censor out any mention of it? lame.

bullseye eggs

nice... looks like some kind of bodily organ. freaky Austrian architects.

One theory says that the reason little kids are so fascinated by dinosaurs is that they're such big, big, BIIIGG creatures.. so big they could eat up their parents!

never could figger out how to reconcile my deep appreciation of Edward Abbey's books ....... with my affinity for dams.

that is the reason why Banks Lake, in central WA, exists. It was filled when Grand Coulee Dam was built. Dams rock. Gotta love clean power. Don't like what it does to the fish and other critters, and to the watershed, but fuckit... it's a whole lot better than most of the alternatives. nuclear power, for one.... gives me the willies.

some guys will do anything to disgust the girls. c'mon lads, grow up already. I hope you're not still snapping bra-straps too.

jordop, why are you concerened with getting coverage down here? and when you have CBC, why bother paying attention to Fox News at all?!? (seriously,.... what Dave said. I thot you were smarter than that.) I've been watching CBC news a lot in the past year. that is, when I do watch TV news & when I do watch TV. It's BY FAR the best news I can get, with my measly 30 channels that I get with my Basic Limited cable, or Limited Basic, or whateverthefuck Comcast's cheapo plan is called. when I'm zoning out after dinner, I'm MUCH more inclined to want to learn about Quebec election laws than I am to, say, turn on NWCN and learn about some neighborhood in Spanaway or Everett that's having a series of bake sales to help tsunami-orphaned children. and their international coverage is worlds away from NWCN and their ilk. American TV news, by and large, sucks ass.

right on. turns out we're going the May weekend, but i'm taking the snowshoes I think. three of us on Snowshoes and one on skis... should be interesting.

yep, got truck. thanks.

happy birthday OC!!! may your pint glass runneth over.

anyone have any ideas how good the skiing looks, given the snows of April, for Mt. Adams for the weeks to come? am planning on climbing it either the weekend of May 21/22, or else June 18/19. my guess is that it might be sorta skiable the May weekend, but noway for late June. one friend I'm going with is on snowshoes no matter what (doesn't ski) and the other will be on skis no matter what (15+ years of BC experience) and i haven't made up my mind yet. I've got decent BC experience but only once with a pack heavier than 20 lbs. another question.. this is from a post I made recently to a South WA Cascades thread: i've been up Adams before, but never in spring and never w/skis. once the road opens to Cold Springs (whenever that may be), do you think it'll be skiable from the TH, or will you have to hike in a ways to get to skiable snow? i can't remember the lay of that land right there at all.

... and best of all, with Sympathy Suit ®, you can announce to friends and family that "We're pregnant", and feel like you too are really, truly pregnant.

_______ this.

If you Google me, you'll find this dorky post I made to the Mounties' BBS, when I moved to Seattle four years ago, basically saying "hi Everyone... just moved here.. looking for peak-scrambling partners..." ... for some reason tho, I can't seem to find the posts I made to that BBS about speed-climbing, donkey-punching, rodents, MILFs, and stuff like that.... or the ones I made about how only six of the ten essentials are actually essential. I must not have used my last name for those. No but seriously... I think that a lot of people, like myself, used to use their first and last name for BBSs, forums, listservs, etc.... when they were new to the net and didn't realize how much of it goes out there to the Grand Public Internet Archive. funny how reading something you wrote four years ago can be kind of awkward.. sorta like listening to a recording of your own voice. What really annoys me are they email listservs which put their archives out there for everyone to Google. There should be a law requiring them to tell you these delicate facts of life in your subscription-confirmation-email.

in 1999 and 2000 I flew to & from Wenatchee a few times each summer. Was doing stream/creek surveys on the eastside of the mountains at the time. we generally tried to avoid checking luggage, to save time... and some of the stuff in our carry-ons were fancy electronic gizmos with wires and stuff... flow meter, hi-tech GPS, etc. about half of the times we went thru security in Seatac, they carefully examined our bags and asked us about the equipment... but then some times they didn't even blink an eye. so one day I got kinda freaked out by it all, and asked to speak to the manager... I was hoping to talk to someone from Port of Seattle, but instead met with some schmoe from like "Acme Security" or some shit like that. so I basically tell him, "look, I don't know what level of scrutiny is standard for this kind of equipment, but JUST SO YOU KNOW, there's a reeaally wide range of diligence among the security screeners at this airport...." he didn't seem that concerened by the whole matter, but he said he'd log my comment or something.

sweet!! I did better on that one.. 12/16. nice soundtrack too.

niice. i saw that recently too.

anothe cliché that bores the fuck out of me (tho i wasn't able to put it in a quick, succinct phrase) is when you hear people moaning and grumbling about how THEIR neighborhood... or THEIR hometown ... or their home county... or state .... or region ... is seeing new subdivisions and strip malls and parking lots and other forms of .. of .... <<ghoulish demonic voice>>.. Developpmennttt... you seem to especially hear it from those who grew up in the southern and western states, which have seen the fastest population growth in the last 20 years. but even back in my hometown (DC suburbs), you hear people say this shit. and it's amazing how much bitterness and frustration you hear some of them seem to have about about all their cherished little places that got paved over in recent years. wake up, PEOPLE!!! the whole goddam planet is getting crowded!!! believe it or not, there is NOT any type of consipracy, government or otherwise, to especially make YOUR precious little hometown a hyper-paved, hyper-gridlocked, hyper-commercialized, HORRIBLE place to live!!! it's happening elsewhere too. so quit yer bitching.