Blakej

In fact I have served and I have held the bodies of my dead friend in my arms a feeling I assume you have not experienced given that you can only quote and not speak your own feelings. I served when I didn't want to because I signed on for it and accepted my committment to my country whether I agreed or not but if I could have avoided having to experience that bloodshed or protected my friends from it I would have. This is how I can understand those that are willing to do what is necessary not to participate. I agree that if you are called to duty to step up to the plate but I cannot falt those who do not go at it with zeal.

I have no intention of denying kerrys service I respect it very much but having served in the military in a conflict I strongly disagree with I can also understand the desire to do what is necessary to participate as little as required. I don't know bush's reasons for what he did perhaps they were his simple desire to skate through the war or perhaps he felt this was his best option to object without running. I'll have to research more.

Again I may be way off base but josh think about it this way. From you previous posts I have to assume you against the current war. So if you were put into the position that you could either go and fight and possibly die for somthing you did not at all agree with or take to opportunity to legally avoid it what would you do.

I know someone will chime in and prove me wrong but anyone over the age of lets say 40 who has never woken up in the morning and said damn i shouldn't have driven home raise your hand. The world is full of people who do stupid stuff when their young or old and some get caught or hurt others and some get lucky and dont. Asking for a president who has never made a mistake is living in a dream world. I wouldn't give up my mistakes for anything. I've learned from them and hopefully become a more mature and knowledgeable person because of them and thankfully no ones been hurt due to them. Once again the question is who has that knowledge and maturity to lead us in the future.

Good point teddy but there was still someone above him to make the decision. It dosen't take much to get a purple heart just a knick and its yours. I guess I can see the suspicion and I am curious why he would want to hide records but once again does something so insignificant that happened 40 years ago really have much bearing on his value as a potential president. I personally cant stand the guy but this debate wont really have any effect on who I vote for. A phrase from high school goverment comes to mind mudslinging. I wish people would focus on whats important now. Like integrety, is the canidate going to produce what this country needs.

Heres a question. Who really gives a damn if kerry really should have gotten a purple hear. I've seen guys get purple hearts for not much more than a scratch its not exactly up to the person but their command to decide if they earned it. As for bush who cares if he managed to get out of a war that no one wanted to be in anyway. He beat the system. Its like whether or not clinton took a hit in the 70's...who gives a shit every one does dumb shit. I want to know about now and how they are going to take care of current issues.

throw them in the fire and enjoy the fireworks...or the shrapnel.

Gotta agree my girl wouldn't get on a rope if I put a gun to her head(though I still have hopes of turning her) but she completely supports it and she's a kick ass skier so theres still hope for ski mountaineering and time togather in the mountains which makes for a mutual passion.

dkemp the high bridge is indead too high to be wiped out by flood and is intact the bridges I was refering to were the small log foot bridges above it.

Climb: Mt Anderson attempt- Date of Climb: 5/29/2004 Trip Report: Bremertonjohn, rollo and I linked up for a attempt at Mt Anderson over the Memorial day weekend. With a steadily worsening forcast we pushed off toward the dosi river at about 4pm and began our approach with what felt like an excessively long MTB section down the closed section of the dosi road. Rain and mist were a constant for the weekend and we quickly found our packs absorbing the extra weight as we made our way down through the trail. The first six miles of trail flew by with great views of the swelling river and awesome rapids I only wish I had the skill to run. Then came our fist challenge. All foot bridges above the high dosi bridge are out and with the river flowing strong we managed a nasty traverse over the river though a new log jam that covered us in sap which I'm still attempting to clean off. Shortly after headlamps were broken out and we continued our push hoping to get within striking distance of the mountain for a morning summit attempt. Our plans were nearly foiled when john took a 10ft vertical fall off the trail to what should have been river but turned out the be a small rocky area threatening to fracture his grape. Walking away from that with nothing but a few scraps and a missing waterbottle we were happy to find camp only a few hundred meters up the trail. Morning brought nothing but more rain and I think we were all look out the tend windows unwilling to suggest getting moving. We finally roused ourselves around 1100 and made way to a higher camp at the shelter approx 1000ft below the anderson glacier to wait out the rain. We were dry but lacking entertainment as we forgot booze book and cards and crashed out early. Waking at around 600am with rain still pouring down and unwilling to let the weekend go without atleast making some kind of an attempt we kickstepped our way up to the terminal moraine of the anderson glacier only to find lousy visibility, rain and some nasty wind wipping down the mountain. Retreating back to the hut we decided to call it a wrap and headed out without delay except for a flat the had me hiking my bike out as I watched ben(only one with a spare)disappear around a bend and then johns attempt to catch him which ended all the way at the bottom.(nothing suck more than hiking a bike and pack down hill)Ben sacraficed and brought his spare back up hill to me and we made our way to good eats and fat tire brew. All in all a disappointment but a nice trek in a new area well worth my weekend. Gear Notes: never going into the olympics again without rainy day entertainment. Approach Notes: trails in great condition except for the foot bridges on the upper trail.

nice shots of second beach

I have random weekdays off every week. How much heads up do you need.

beat me to the question man. That shit from this weekend is still stinking up my room. You planning on posting any kind of TR?

If you could go anywhere just to wander though big peaks and be overwelmed by their beauty where would it be. I've had my eyes on baffin and the patagonias. Beautiful rugged peaks and remoteness beyond belief. Anyone got any good personal pics?

Took my gust out and tested it at about its top end of probobly about 40 lbs or less. Its great in all aspect except you should definately add sternum strap and a little padding to the belt. It would be nice to have those shoulder lifter things but I dont thing it would work without a frame. However with the two mods above and some light compressing straps (3mm accessory cord) a three day basic alpine load should be very concievable and using a basic thermarest allows for it to make a nice summit pack.

so I just tried out my pot coozie on some pasta that usually take about 15-20min to cook this weekend. I ended up bullshitting for too long and at about 25 to 30 min ended up eating mush. This thing is a great investment to save fuel without a doubt. Using an alchol stove combined with this and and light pot saves major weight if you dont have to melt snow. Anyone with a backpack should have one. The guy even costomizes not to mention he give all profits to his boyscouts.

anyone found a watch with a nice loud alarm. Never can wake up to mine and end up waking up either scrambling to move or saying screw it I'll try tomarrow.

Thanks guys but like rodchester stated I'm looking for more glacier travel stuff. Thanks for the discounted sites rodchester I might just have to go with one of those.

I'm looking for a cheap set of first crampons. Somthing like the G-10s or 12s with crampomatic. Anyone got some old ones in decent shape they'll let go of for a size 11.

or for those of you who've eaten mexican in the east that bad ass white cheese/jalapano sauce smothered over everything. Guarenteed to lighten your climbing load by 2lbs

Give up taco bell are you mad! Actually I prefer the deep fried taco time concept. I guess you can get the same from the chalupa but I figure I'm willing to pay more for quality fat kid snacks.

nice TR. What was the round trip time?

Hey my climbing roots started with rappelling. Saw some guy clip into a non locking biner on tv and went promptly to ace hardware and bought 30ft of rope and a few of those 200lb test clips. tied the rope 30ft up in a tree attempted to tie what I now know as a swiss seat(never did tie it the same way twice and it only stayed togather half the time) and had at it. fortunately 10 year olds bones bend nicely.

Damn this is the most mature positive post on this subject yet. Just waiting for someone to chime in with some assinine comment. As for the draft and this IRR crap heres my educated view. I served in Iraq and did what I was told to do kicking and screaming inside and worked with many IRR and Active reservist along the way. As a matter of fact half my platoon consisted of them and heres what I noted which pretty much compares with why the gov want to avoid draft and IRRs as much as they can. Not that they were bad guys or anything but for the most part as "trained warriors" they sucked. The only ones I can remerber that were worth a damn had just gotten out of boot champ with the right mentality and the willingness to absorb what was necessary to survive. The guys who had been in the reserves for 20 years had lost their decipline and skills to perform the job. Lets be honest one weekend a month for 5-20 years is not going to compare to an infantryman who lives it day in and day out. I cant count the times I had to put boot to ass and remind them where they were at. That said they were adequate and eventually shaped up fortunately at no loss of life but I would be terribly concerned if the gov were to institute a draft. To be honest I'd rather fight with half the men than have the other half of them men improperly trained and likely unwilling.

yup I'll give you a call. I have to work this weekend so no brew but we can hash out some details.