pup_on_the_mountain

Thinking about you Dane. Hope the treatment completely roots the cancer out. Hang in there tough guy!

We have Verizon, and switched over to a plan that covered both US and Canada for 1 week when we were traveling in CAN. It cost us $20 extra (for two of us on a Family Plan) for a week. I'm guessing other carriers might have similar switch-over options. But as Dane pointed out, we were not able to use it much north of Lake Louise (until we got to Jasper).

Glad it all went went well Ken! Enjoy the narcotics, and get back up on the walls soon.

The future of the internet is CATS!!! [video:youtube]7uBZRE5mXpc

Really enjoyed reading the TR. Good to see you back writing TRs - please keep 'em coming Pat!!

summa' time! [video:facebook]184569158272399 (Hmmm.. facebook video linky not worky... any idea (G/M)ods?? Click the url above for now.)

Try sending a PM/Email to Beau Carillo (AlpineBEAU.509 here).

Trip: Jefferson - Jeff Park Glacier (attempt) Date: 7/15/2011 Trip Report: Chris and I attempted Jeff Park Glacier Thu-Fri. While the conditions were generally great, we didn't like the looks of things higher up once it started warming up on Friday AM. We bailed from around 9400 ft. We set out late in the afternoon from PDX on Thursday, driving through intermittent rain. There is still a lot of snow on the approach, and at Jeff Park. Given our late start, we were a bit worried about having to search in the dark for snow-free ground to camp. We found a bare patch a bit lower down close to a stream, and decided to bivy there. The upper mountain was still enclosed in stormy clouds: There was supposed to a window of good weather on Friday AM. We walked around a bit, but were not able to ascertain exactly where we were located with respect to the base of Jeff Park Glacier, given how the mountain was still enclosed in clouds. The bivy was cozy, and it got cold (close to freezing) overnight - a good sign for us. The promised good weather window did come next morning, and we cramponed up on firm snow. We had seen one more vehicle at the trailhead when we left, and we passed a BD tent higher up on the ridge near the entry to Jeff Park glacier. Conditions looked great, although it had started to warm up a bit. As we roped up and made our way up Jeff Park glacier, we saw the team of three making their way down the upper glacier: This team of three had made their way up to the ridge earlier in the AM. The bergschrund was apparently passable through a snowbridge. They found the upper knife-edge ridge fairly rimed up, and hence were bailing. Not a good sign, but we kept making upward progress. As we got close to the shrund, we could see and hear some snow and ice coming down the gully left of Mohler's tooth - the sun was starting to do some damage up there. We felt fairly discouraged, and decided that we'll cut left and up at that point to gain the upper North ridge instead. As we gained the ridge, we were greeted by a slew of rocks tumbling down! Upper portion of the ridge looked like a heap of kitty litter plastered together with fast-melting snow: We didn't like the look of things. Looking to the North, we could see signs of moisture moving in. Mt Hood is hidden behind the clouds to the left of the gendarme in this picture: Looking at the gendarme and the lower North ridge reminded us of what Oregon High had to say about the rock quality on the ridge - something along the line of "the rocks are quite big, but it is often not sure what is holding them all in place!" As we made out way out, we could see the clouds and wind picking up high above. We were happy to not be suffering higher up. Instead, we had a relaxing soak in the hot springs on Clackamas river on the way back home. Nice way to end some good times with Chris in the 'pine! Gear Notes: Two tools each, glacier gear (used), small alpine rack (not used). Approach Notes: Lots of snow, but super easy to follow the trail.

Integral Designs eVent Thru Hiker weighs less than 12 oz. There are no pit zips - eVent is supposed to breathe so well that there is apparently no need for pit zips. This is my shell currently, and I like it. Curiously, I could not find any jackets listed on the main ID web page.

Plenty of snow up there still. Patches start from the trailhead, and it's all snow beyond a few hundred yards. But floatation is not necessary (unless you want to ski/board down). There are a few bare patches of ground in the flat region (near where the trail to Moraine Lake meets the Devils lake trail) on which one could camp. Moraine Lake is still mostly frozen.

One more gem!! :tup: Keep 'em coming Tim!

Awesome!!! Thanks for sharing. I was once told that the order according to Chinese was apparently black man > white man >> Chinese man (for size of junk, that is). South Park had this topic in one of their episodes (although, they had Japanese in place of Chinese people).

Thanks for the heads up! I got mine (2009 Outback) reprogrammed today; took about 30 minutes. Apparently, they are sending out the letters in a staggered fashion - 2006 and 2007 vehicles first, followed by 2010, then 2008, and finally, 2009.

We were looking at the weatheroffice forecast for Pemberton and the UW precip loops for the "greater PNW". You could look at related links on this UW page (forecasts for wind, pressure, etc.). May be the local weather expert(s) would chime in with other/better links... Jmace?

Trip: Joffre Lakes - Stonecrop face on Rex's Pillar (attempt) Date: 6/17/2011 Trip Report: We had planned to do the Joffre enchainment - up Stonecrop face of Slalok (Rex's pillar), move over to Matier, up North Face of Matier, bivy at Matier-Joffre col, up South Buttress of Joffre next day, and hike out. Weather demons had other ideas, so we just spent the night in a gorgeous location, and hiked out in the rain with the promise to return soon. We made the drive from Portland on Thursday, arriving at the parking lot in time to catch a great view of the Stonecrop face: While the forecast had called for clear weather on Friday and chance of rain on Saturday, we woke up Friday completely soaked in a warm marine layer of clouds. We decided to hike in to the upper Joffre lake, set up camp, and wait for conditions to clear. This picture of Chris hiking in summed up most of the first part of the day - clouds! We sat around, ate, talked about all sorts of things - Kurt Hicks, East coasters falling in love with Portland, coffee craze of South Indians, and so on. The clouds kept the place super warm. Finally, just before 2 pm, there was some clearing up. It was too late for multiple objectives, so we decided to try the Stonecrop face. Chris approaching the gully leading to the face: We were wary of the avy debris at the base of the gully, but the snow appeared super stable when we walked on it. There was probably 6 inches of fresh snow on a stable layer underneath. But we were not setting off any slides even when we tried to kick things off. So we trudged upward. The clouds parted a bit when we were about half way up, and the sun was shining bright, warming things up even more. When we started up again after a break, we heard a rumbling noise, and snowballs started flowing down a ditch in the middle of the gully. We were scared shitless, and got our asses out of there quickly . Back at the lake, we could see about ten small point releases on the upper face, all of which were getting funneled down the middle of the gully: . Rock and chunks of ice/snow were coming down pretty regularly toward the lake on the other face as well (from the bottom of Matier glacier/ice fall): The only other exciting development happened when Chris woke up in the middle of the night hissing "I heard a grunt.. and rocks rolling. May be it's a bear!". We both peered outside, and everything was eerily calm. I got back to sleep quickly, while Chris was lying awake with ears peeled, trying to hear the bear moving around. Soon I started snoring again, and that's when Chris realized what the "bear" was . The rain came as promised later that night. While not super heavy, it was constant, and followed us pretty much all the way back home . Epilogue: It may take several sunny days for conditions to settle down in the Joffre-Matier area. Once things shape up better, we both want to go back. There are several potential routes accessible from our camp, and many of them doable for an out-of-the-game-forever fat gumby like me. While the drive from PDX is somewhat long, the concentration of several snow/ice/rock routes with relatively easy and short approaches, all in beautiful settings, make it quite worth IMHO. Gear Notes: Lots carried, none used :-). Approach Notes: Snow most of the way on trail, but no floatation needed.

I got more or less the same response for writing to their CEO - may be a bit of customization in the beginning. BTW, are there any updates?

A slightly different perspective.

Do you recall conditions? time of day? Here are some pics from that trip. While not the most pretty one, the second picture captured the serac fall. Some of the other pics show the break and fall line quite clearly. Contrary to what Kurt mentioned above, I recall it happened around 8-8:30 pm, after we had settled down in our camp, to which we had hiked in starting that afternoon. We naturally tried to haul ass the next day when we were climbing through the same area.

I really like your writing style Dan - crisp, clean, and concise, but still has all the punches! Keep the articles coming .

2011 Mugs Stump Award winners. Keep up the good work John!

Attached is a preview showing the 12 photos, 4 per page. The order of the pics is horizontal, i.e., the first row in the first page has the pics for Jan and then Feb, while the bottom row has the ones for Mar and Apr, and so on. The cover has Steph's signature picture (the one for July). It looks sweeeeet!! I'll be ordering some for sure. Mel, PM me if you still want help with getting the Jpeg of the cover. You could also post a link to the pdf attached here. 4342.pdf

+1 for being able to see a preview (or smaller version of the entire thing). I'm sure many folks would be willing to buy it after seeing what it looks like. Tyson or Sobo (if you're done with the hydrocodone ), could you send me the pdf you are talking about? I can help with creating a mini-version (and posting it online somewhere and putting a link here if needed). mt UnDeRsCoRe daydream aT yahoo dOt CoM.

Happy b'day Paul!! Drink to the fill today, and then some more.

Roadcut ice near Libby should be ~2.5 hrs drive from Spokane. 2-minute approach!! Plenty of mixed options nearby too. These pictures are from 2-3 seasons back. Not sure if things got cold enough last season. This season should hopefully be good!

You guys kept your act together wonderfully. Wish you a speedy recovery! Damages to the leg should be temporary, as you use the down time to make progress toward your Permanent head Damage (PhD) .