KaskadskyjKozak

Basically what this says is you want to keep the riff-raff or poor people out of state parks. $30 user fee, no big deal huh. Pick two folks, Sucka makes $15000/ year and Joe makes $300000 per year. Lets see 30 divided by 15000 or 300000. .2% vs .01%. Shit .2% is nothing you've still got 99.8 percent left to blow. No big deal huh? Wait a minute -Income Tax, -Food, -Housing, -Health Care, - Sales Tax, - Public Utilities... Hmm, I think Sucka realizes why he received his given name. I worked hard to earn this There is another angle to this, Feck. If the state charges a fee to use a park, then that makes it seem a lot like a private company charging a fee... and the difference is lost. This could allow for it to be easier for parks to be privatized as the public will see little difference in a fee-based access to something they want. By keeping parks "free"* this scenario will be less likely to occur. Also, consider the problems we have in this country related to obesity. The state should do all it can to make recreation as available and cheap as possible. Closing the doors to parks, and charging fees that the poor can't afford or which at least are unwilling to pay for (and there is a coorelation between poor and obesity), well, this is harmful and stupid. *yes, they cost money, duh, but funding parks through taxes in place makes it seem free, and is at least not usage-based and obvious that you pay for it...

I call BS. If WA state raised sales tax by enough to cover the deficit in funding for WSPs, guess what would happen within a year? Suddenly, again, there would not be enough funds for the WSPs. It's about setting priorities for funding and be responsibile with budgets. THAT is what pisses off a lot of us, not the $30 itself.

Yes, it does. Many do, including me Cutting state park funding and instituting the Discover Pass is just a scam - they do it because they can. I pay sales tax, and I expect that it goes toward funding parks. I don't want taxes and fees scattered all over the place.

You go overseas and a few scant weeks later this is hot? Sobo, she's OK, but buddy, it's gonna be a looooonnnngggggg tour. LLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!! Hot or not... she knows how to handle a gun

Who fed that octopus bath salts?

it's no surprise you liked that... NTTAWWT

Is that the nickname you give to the one "cougar" you bagged?

if you go hunting, what else the hell would you take as a pic to commemorate the trip? standing around for hours? drinking beer? no, the kill shot, duh.

Rabbit slow cooked in garlic. Mmmmmm. Venison can be quite yummy as well.

Yes. We abandoned our primary plan and did a carryover with full packs over Colchuck. I think you were the smarter man this w/e.

Hmmm, I think we may have run into you three on the way out. Unless there were more than 2 cute ladies with foreign accents lounging at the lake (why do I climb and not backpack???)

Picture taken at about 2pm on Sunday - what a difference a day makes in weather, eh?

Enjoy at your own risk

Walmart. Pup tent. It's functionally equivalent.

Continuous snow from Colchuck Lake to Colchuck col. The trail around the lake has lingering snow, and a good deal of the trail portion (climber's left) of Aasgard is under snow. From the summit of Colchuck Peak, the Upper Enchantments look to be 90+% under snow.

Yeah, you guys arrived at the worst possible time to set up camp. I don't blame you for sleeping in. A party of two came up in the morning while we headed out. They went up the NE Couloir. Did you see them?

"hard ass"?

We also considered the NE couloir but it looked to have a few rock bands and one of our party was not feeling up to that. Did you guys summit on Sunday then? We got glimpses of Sherpa and your route throughout the day. Nice job!

If you go in a couple of weeks there is likely not to be a lot of ice. Last year I was up there in September and I brought 2 22cms and 4 16cms and it was fine. The ice is a bit rotten so you'll definitely want to chip down a bit before placing each screw. Enjoy!

Trip: Colchuck - South Route Date: 6/17/2012 Trip Report: My friends IW, KL, and DS were planning to climb the NW Arête of Argonaut this weekend with me, but had an anxious eye on a weird weather forecast: Sat had a high freezing level and 50% chance of precip. Sunday had a much lower freezing level (8500 feet), less precip (30%), but high winds. We decided to give it a shot anyways, as it beats mowing the lawn. We hiked up from the Stuart Lake TH and found the spur trail before the switchbacks. Soon we were at the same log crossing Mountaineer Creek that I have used in the past, and ascended the benches following cairns to the talus fields. Here we opted to drop immediately to the creek and followed it upstream until we thought we were right below Argonaut. Following Mountaineer Creek: We then found a suitable log crossing and began moving up hill. We soon hit a second stream, and then came into the open - with a view of a sea of bushwhacking hell ahead of us. Feeling crafty we skirted the trees we just left behind before heading up and minimized our damage, finding some talus patches before ending on talus and snow fields forever. View up bushwhacking and beyond: The whole approach offered up great weather - warm but not too warm, and sunny, with some clouds. The peaks were in clouds most of the day, however. Winds were light. Was NOAA again full of crap, like so many times this year? We ascended the N basin of Argonaut looking for camps at 6000 or 6400 feet and never found them. At 6800, on a nasty moraine we finally gave up and cleared a few very small bivy sites. As we prepared dinner, the weather came in - first fog, then rain, then wind. NOAA was right after all. Suckage was high, and melting snow was agonizingly slow. Eventually we finished our preps and retired - not too optimistic for the next day and a possible rainy retreat. KL bracing against the weather: KK and IW embracing the suck: It rained much of the night and the winds were high. None of us got much sleep and we worried our bivy poles would snap. In the morning the skies were more like the previous day - mostly clear with clouds floating by quickly and the peaks sometimes obscured. View up the gully to the NW Arete: Another morning view: We hemmed and hawed and finally decided that the NW Arete might not be the wisest decision with the weird weather. We also agreed that packing up and retreating blew. So we opted to pack up our stuff and head up... towards the ridge above and hopefully the Argonaut-Colchuck col. The slope increased to 35 and 40 degrees with firm snow. It appeared to dead-end, so I took over kicking steps leftwards onto rocks and loose class 3 scrambling intermixed with some snow patches and icy parts. Eventually I sniffed out a way to the ridge and we were at the col! Carrying the full packs did suck a bit, that is for sure. KL at the Argonaut-Colchuck col: From here we dropped about 400 feet, rounded the toe of a ridge and headed climbers left towards the S Face of Colchuck. We encountered more slopes in the 35-40 degree range which then mellowed as we approach a serious of false summits until the real summit finally came into view. KL on the South Face: KL looking for the summit: KL at the summit: At this point the sun decided to take its leave, the summit became cloudy and cold and windy as hell. Perhaps we had made the right call to forgo the NW Arête... Argonaut less clear now: We shivered a bit up there in the cold as we ate and drank, and then made our way down the standard route towards the Dragontail-Colchuck col and sun. From here some nice glissading brought us to the lake, the trail, the car, and München Haus. Gear Notes: Ice axe, crampons. Approach Notes: We took the faint trail along Mountaineer Creek.

said the Joker to the Thief.

JayB is right; j_b is wrong. All is as it ever was.

I'd buy cc.com then ban you forever

Looks like rime from hell (as I would have guessed). Glad to skip this one until the nice loose rock is exposed. ;-)

For Canadians it only takes about a thousand posts to reach the douchebaggery index of the highest post count holders.