still_climbin

Had Castle Rock all to ourselves until the hoard that got rained off Outer Space showed up.

Being from the Desert East I've come to know them fairly well. The ones we have in E WA are Pacific Rattlers. They seldom grow longer that about three feet, however, I've captured several in the 4-5 ft range. These guys are very shy as far as rattlers go and usually prefer not to rattle, which isn't necessarily good. But they're not aggressive and sometimes a defensive bite carries little if any venom. Most people bitten in E WA have either touched the snake (say by reaching into a hole) or supprised the snake (suddenly stepping in front of it). They are very sensitive to ground vibrations and unually will know your there long before you see them. They prefer to quietly slip down a hole or try to lie undetected. Snake are out this time of the year because the nights are still cold while days are not too hot. As soon as the heat begins they're seldom seen during the day.

Using the 60% - 80% rule I'd say about 5 km cord will do.

Another trip if your new to the Cascades is from Leavenworth, up the Icicle River to Eightmile Creek. Take the trail to Colchuck Lake, XC up though Aasgard Pass to the Enchantment Valley, North through Prusik Pass, Toketie Lake, and descend to Snow Creek (pick up trail here) and out to the Icicle. This is somewhat higher and better weather than the North Cascades. Very scenic and only limited steep snow.

Try the Alpine Lakes High Route from road end of Miller River off HW 2, Trail to Dorothy Lake, then XC to Gold Lake; Chetwood Lake; Azure Lake; LaBohn Lakes; pick up the trail in the Necklace Valley and hike out to the Foss River Road and back to HW 2. Lots of scenery with some snow and small glaciers, but nothing technical. Also there are lots of options to bail should the weather go bad.

I case you didn't go Sat (today) we're going Monday when the rain chance is down to 20%. Feel free to join in if you like.

Mount Rainier in itself is unique in the lower 48. Compared to Colorado's 14Kers Rainier has 12,500 ft of elevation gain form the surrounding valleys vs. 5-6K. And the alpine starts at 5K elevation or so. Can't be equaled in CA or CO.

The new Mammut 6 mm slings my have as much material in them as the 8's since they're round instead of flat. We'll have to judge that after we see the weight. Being round instead of flat, they'll have less exposed surface area which could help lessen both wear and sun damage. I really like using aramid cord such as that sold by BD. At 5.5 mm they rate it the same as their dyneema cord (although dyneema is typically stronger per gram). Aramid has much better UV and heat resistance. I'm not sure about wear but so far the cords I use for nut slings, etc. are lasting well.

Although "darts, debauchery, and drink" are all wonderful, I prefer dedauchery on climbing days.

BC has Overwaitea grocery stores.

How were they stored? Dyneema does't like sun or heat. It's basically polyethelene.

Heard a rumor that the site is being renamed "TallywhackerTalk.com"

Back in the Glacier Cream days I climbed Rainier with a group (WAZZU Alpine Club) of about 7-8 climbers. Most of us had been on the mountain numerous times before and used the same precautions, yet we all burned badly. One of us was hospitalized for the burns. Myself, my face was a series of huge 2nd degree blisters and I was unrecognizable. I looked like an overdone baked potato for days as I recovered. The thing many of us recalled afterwards was that the sky seemed more of a dark purple then we had remembered in the past. One of the members did a little research and made a presentation at a club meeting about atmosheric anomalities that can cause ecxeptional sun exposure at altitude. My second trick was to use copious quantities of clown white (After my Rainier experence I used straight zinc oxide cream) while climbing St Helens (the part that later blew away). I forgot that I was wearing knickers. Ended up with a harshly burned band around each calf that reamained a different color than the rest of my legs the rest of the summer.

I've done the West Face of the Tower. It was crumbly and not too asthetic. There's a number of route choices. The way we did it was two picthes of about 5.5.

Again for its grade, Midway is also intimidating with lots of exposure and the classic step-accross.

Maybe its golf. Fine with me.

I don't understand it. We climbed Peshastin Saturday and were the only other serious climbers we saw. It was a perfect day and we had a blast doing Potholes, W Face Grand Central, Lighting Crack and one of the Martian Diagnal Crack variations. I did some of my earliest climbing there in the 70's. Yes, wearing my blue suede Robbins, and doing the obligatory Trigger Finger ascent every trip. But, in those days it was sometimes crowded. Quite frankly I found our trip Saturday to live up to some of the best Leavenworth has to offer. No crowds, beautiful multi-pitch rock to be found and great memories.

The Nose is the pick of the day.

Maybe it grew! You know, tectonic plates colliding and all.

WOW! You did the right things but still you're very lucky. Glad your not seriously hurt. I took a thousand foot fall on hard spring ice near Steven Pass two years ago. Had the same horrible feeling when I accelerated over a cliff and through rock bands and heavy forest. I broke six ribs and my sternum and was generally beat to shit. I also had to self rescue with no gear, skis or poles, to finish the icy decent. The accident dominated my thoughts for several months but when I regained the ability to climb and ski I feel like I have more confidence and focus. I also don't get as rattled by little risks such as a few feet of runnout as I used to. Hang in there. You'll not only be back, but back better.

I think those draws are Nanos by Camp. Used some at Peshastin yesterday and they'e small, but worked great. Not sure what his pitons are for. Remember, CLIMB CLEAN!

At a Tri Cities gym the staff now allows wall users with a certain level of experience to use ATC's because all of their safety problems have come from lowering with GriGris. Hope you're back in the saddle soon.

Now children! children!

Whats the condition of the Reddington reel?

I have two pair of Robbins boots. Ruined my Goldline dragging logs in the forest, howver. BTW.. I have several Bongs to add to the Smith Rock gig.