Kraken

PS...I'd never 'havahart' for a squirrel. I'd always choose cold hard murder. I've acquired a bloodthirst for those tree dwelling vermine. Some people tell me I need to stop killing the squirrels. My response to all of this is simple... I will stop killing the squirrels when they stop living!

HAHAHAHA I just got another! This kill was quite easy. I was sitting in my living room watching TV and eating dinner. I saw a rustling in the trees and ran for my gun. The bastard ran to the tree right out of my window and I unloaded right into his face. He was dead before he hit the ground. 4 squirrels in one day...that's a record I never even thought possible.

wow, that's a cool shot!

Yeah I don't know what's going on, the images just aren't working. I'm not doing anything that I haven't always done, maybe it's a server thing. Update: A fourth snaffle came around, but was still a little out of range. I took three pot shots but never hit the intended target. He'll be back though.

hmm, seriously though, what's up with that. I used the little image button below. Weird.

why aren't the images working?

I live in a nice privately owned condo in Anchorage, Alaska. We have a beautiful view of the Chugach mountains to the east and the downtown to our west. We frequently get moose walking through our neighborhood along with the countless seed eater birds, ravens, and the occasional eagle. What we have in plenty though are squirrels...snaffles for those on this board. Unlike many other places in the world, the snaffle of Alaska origin prefers to nest in places other than trees, if applicable. Over the last three years, snaffles have invaded our condo building by chewing through siding. They have nested inside our walls for at least the last three winters. This may seem all fine and dandy to you bushy tailed lovers out there, but what you neglect to realize is that they rip out all of the foam insulation, which surrounds the water pipes. Over the last three years, frozen pipes have become a serious problem in our building. In the last three winters alone, the snaffles have caused over $177,000 in damage by way of busted pipes, water damage, and repair. Not only that, but they, on multiple occassions, have fallen in the wall and been unable to escape. This results in a dying squirrel stuck in the walls, which eventually dies and begins to smell and rot. In fact, there appears to be one stuck behind my wall at this very moment. Aside from the damage, smell, and costs, these squirrels are continuously modifying their nests, which involves excessive, nonstop scratching at the walls, similar to that of one's fingernails down a chalkboard. Imagine being awoke at 4 AM every morning when class isn't until 10. Tom, my neighbor, has come up with a great solution...rat zappers. That's right, a few powerful bolts of electricity and a pea-sized ball of peanut butter and they are toast! I have come up with a similar, yet more sporty way of dealing with these bushy tailed bastards... This little pistol proved quite effective. I was able to eliminate 6-7 of those nut-eating annoyances before I figured I could be much more effective. I realized that they were still replenishing quicker than I could destroy them. I knew this meant war. It was time to step it up a notch from mere side arms to full on artillery. That's when I called the NRA (OK, Walmart) and they suggested this bad-chicken: The Crosman 760 Series rifle .177 calibur. Firing BBs at over 590 FPS and pellets at 570 FPS, this thing simply screams 'death' to bushy tailed rodents. Not to mention it has an elevated site equipped with state of the art sighting... I knew right away that didn't stand a chance in hell. As soon as I got back up to Alaska on the 15th, I was eager to try 'er out. My friends and I went down to the Turnagain Arm and decimated a few choice trees before unanimously agreeing that I would win this war. I got home and made a rookie mistake...no more ammunition. In our haste to warm ol' Betty up (Betty is the name of my rifle), we had used all of our known ammo. This required extensive searching in haste while the snaffels frolicked around marrily in the neighborhood trees and in my walls, of course. I finally stumbled on a small box of reserves and placed them on the counter where they would be readily accessible. I awoke this morning at roughly 8:27 to the high pitched squeak of the enemy. I quickly (and stealthly) loaded a pellet round into the chamber and searched the battlefield for Charlie. There he was! Tail flicking in unison to his call on the neighbor's balcony. I steadily took aim, snickered a bit, and fired. DIRECT HIT! He fell over the ledge, one foot still gripping the wood, and fell two seconds later three stories to the cold hard ground. A sense of accomplishment filled my mind, and I returned to bed for another hour or so of sleep. Not soon after however, the call returns. "He CAN'T be alive!" I said, "I killed him!" In haste, I again loaded a pellet into the chamber and pumped 20 times for maximum killing capacity. I ran outside in nothing more than boxers and a pissed off attitude. "Nope," the one squirrel carcass still lay there three stories below, "backup has arrived," I said to myself. The enemy charged. He ran from 40 feet away to the tree that stand right by my deck a mere 15 feet away. In disbelief, and with the marksmanship that would make Patton do a double-take, I fired round two of the morning. The squirrel hit every branch on the way to his final resting spot on the ground, mere feet from his comrade. "Two squirrels in one morning, quite impressive," I told myself. I drifted into sleep yet again...sure that I had erradicated the problem for quite some time. Yet again, I was proven wrong. Not but 15 minutes later, the enemy marched yet again. I knew this was no mere squirmish, but a full on battle to the death. Putting on a small jacket, I ran outside in my boxers with a fresh round poised in the chamber, ready to destroy a third. There he was, on the same tree as his buddy, only 20 feet directly below me. In my haste, I fired, and I watched it go only a milimeter above his head. He froze, unsure as to what to do: fight or flee. I didn't give him a choice. I pulled back the lever and loaded the Copperhead into the chamber, one last time. If the Olympic Gymnastic judges would have been present, he would have received at least a 9.897. His triple-back flip twist impressed even me as he fell all the way to the dense undergrowth of the yard. He flopped and ran a few feet, and slowly died. If this were the real war, I'd get a medal for sure. Instead, I merely loaded my gun once again, and left it in the open, on the ready for another shot at the enemy. This is the real war on terror people, the enemy is in our backyards...literally. Take control now, before it's too late. This is the face of the real enemy: I won't stop until every one in my neighborhood is like this: I have taken the time to join this webpage, www.deadsquirrel.com/ where I will learn better and even more advanced ways to eliminate the bastards. The fight will end with my death!

The vents are pretty damn cool. I spent about 10 minutes down there the last time I was on the top. I went in one vent, crawled/walked around under there, and then came out of another hole about 100 feet down the crater. It was really cool. I'd love to spend a few hours down there playing around in them some time.

What are some of the best deals you've got on climbing gear? I just bought the Marmot Cwm sleeping bag (rated to -40, 900 fill goose down) for $300 from the Attic at REI. The same bag was retailing there for $700. That's a hell of a deal if I may say so myself. I'll put it to good use this coming spring on Denali. I also got a full rack (6) black diamond turbo express screws for $200 new off of ebay. They came with a locking biner and a BD crampon bag too. Also got BD Vipers for $250 for the pair.

I brought my North Face Nebula up to Rainier and used it. On the way down somewhere in between 9000 feet and Pebble Creek my poles came loose and fell off my pack. If I contact NF, will it be easy and cheap to get a replacement set of poles for my Nebula?

We intended to follow the same route as these guys. We got to the Whitechuch Basin and then CLOUDS CLOUDS RAIN! We were forced to retreat through nearly a whiteout. I have pics, I'll convert and upload them. They are pretty good. I'd like to come back and do Sloan or Glacier for sure. Those are both BEAUTIFUL peaks. SLoan, is quite impressive.

Yeah Bruce is a nice guy. I'm really glad he's doing so well. I happened to bump into him on the way down from Muir in mid July. He told me that he was climbing that day and then again on this trip. Say hello to him from me, if you get the chance.

Date: August 19, 2005 Location: Matanuska Glacier...Alaska I got a call from a girl from North Carolina named Jess. She had found me from a website like CascadeClimbers.com. She wanted to know if there were any good places to ice climb in August, when she and her friend Tony were coming up here. I told her that the only close place was the Matanuska Glacier. She offered to pay me to guide them around and supply a rope and screws. I readily agreed and we kept in contact for the coming month. I drove to the glacier early on Friday morning, still hungover from the night before, and finally located them. We hiked to the good seracs where I had climbed many times before and set up a top rope. Being as how I was their guide, I felt it was my duty to make sure they had a good time and got to climb the most, so in order to not take up too much time leading, I just toproped for them. We climbed for about 6 hours and they were having a great time. It was really warm outside, around 75-80 degrees, and the glacier felt good with the radient coolness blowing off of it. We continuously checked the anchors I had built to make sure they weren't melting out too much. We climbed in two different areas and did three different routes. This was my first guiding experience and it was really great. We all had a great time, Tony and Jess were great people, and we had fabulous conditions. Tony kept snapping shots of me while I climbed, that was really nice of him. It was quite a treat to get paid $75 to climb ice for 6 hours, I could make a career out of this easily. It felt good to swing my tools after a 5-6 month break. The only bad thing was that I couldn't find my harness that morning as I was scrambling to get ready, so I was forced to use webbing...which made it uncomfortable at times. Other than that, it was a perfect day and a great time. For more pictures, check out my gallery. The ones I posted are the low quality ones. My gallery has the high quality ones shot with my Canon Rebel XT. PICTURES: http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=7679

Was that bruce vanderhoff?

If the parents keep even one cent of the money they get from this lawsuit, they are no better than any thief in my book. Donating it to some charity or something, I can understand, but if they keep it for themselves and profit off of their own son's death, that's Effed man, Effed!

"yeah it sucks our son died, but hey, we're getting $10 million out of it so I'm sure we'll feel better and be able to replace hime with a new yacht." Bullshit. Your son is dead, mourn his death, don't look for a culprit. How ridiculous.

I first heard about their astonishing alpine style ascent on Mount Hunter's Southeast Spur from the 9th Alpinist, which was devoted to Mount Hunter. The Southeast Spur was first climbed by Johnny Waterman, who soloed the route. He spent 145 days alone on Mount Hunter in an effort to escape his demons and find himself. Making endless carries and ferrying loads up and down the mountain, he climbed the equivilent of roughly 250,000 vertical feet. He later (is believed to have) died on Denali while attempting a new route in the winter, solo. His mental issues were quite troubling to him. At this time, he had decided to run for president of the USA under the "Feed the Starving People" party. To gain awareness for his campaign, he was going to eat only sugar, flour, and margarine during his climb. You're going to die, Johnny," one friend said. He did. Some people believe that he faked his own death however, but after 20 years, no one has any vital proof that he is or ever was alive after Denali. Randall's book spends a lot of time talking about Waterman's climbs on Hunter and Denali. The main focus of the book though, is their second ascent, first alpine style ascent of the route. They rationed out food for six days, and ended up being on the mountain for 13 days. This is one of the most incredible books I've read, and I'm not even done yet. If you want to read the mini epic, check out Alpinist 9. There is a section talking all about Waterman's epic as well as that of which Breaking Point was written. I am pretty suprised I was actually able to find this book. It has been out of print since the mid-late 80s. Upon searching on Amazon, it was going for as much as $200. I was lucky and found it for $2 at Title Wave Books here in Anchorage. "Breaking Point" on Amazon.com Seriously though, check this out. The picture of Randall's emaciated frame after returning to Talkeetna from Hunter in the Alpinist 9 is worth it alone. It's an astonishing account of the climb and the first American book written about an alpine style ascent.

Art Davidson is an astonishing man. To merely be in his presence is very humbling. He is not only a great climber (it shows, he has so many first ascents in the Chugach and Alaska range alone) but also an incredible philanthropist. The work he's done for other cultures is significant. He gave me his book, Endangered Peoples, and personalized it for me. He's one of my role models. Without a doubt, one of the finest men I have ever met.

yes, i was talking about a volunteer climbing ranger.

you may find better luck in the rainier forum

At Rainier: Housing is not free. Seasonal quarters at Longmire run over $200/mo for a shared room. Also, as of a few years back there was no per diem stipend. You might want to recheck your references. While you are working (the 8 days that you are on, you can get housing there. I know one guy who is staying at the old visiter center in Paradise in a dorm room. As for the stipend, they do get it. Whatever though, not a big deal either way.

Joe, I heard about this man! Awesome. Congrats to you and Chad both. Very cool. As far as the smoke goes, it's still here in Anchorage and I hear that the entire interior is still pretty hazy. Puts a damper on a backpacking trip I was going to do in Denali. Anyways, congrats Joe! Do you climb in Alaska often? If you're ever here and need a partner in the Alaska Range I'm game. I'm doing the West Rib on Denali in Spring 2006 and might do Hunter as well if I can find a steady partner by then. Good luck in your future endeavors!

.

REALLY?!?!?!?! Awesome!!!!!!

As far as becoming a ranger at RNP, you almost always start off as a full time volunteer. If you are a climbing ranger, you will generally work 8 on, 6 off. 2 of those days are spent in the climbing office, a few more are spent up at Camp Muir, and then you spend a few days doing a patrol of the mountain (a climb). The park provides free housing while you are on your shift. They generally give a $10/day or so stipend. They also provide jackets to use while you work there. I also know they usually pack light. I'm not sure, but I think it is suggested that you are WFR certified. It's kind of a totem pole type of thing. You start out volunteering for the first year or two, then gradually work your way up the ladder. I'd suggest doing it. I know a few people who did/ are doing it this year and they seem to like it. I plan on doing it next summer. Talk to the park earlier rather than later. Hope that helps a little.