ryanb

It is probably a russula but it is hard to tell from that angle and we have found a lot of matusaki at undisclosed locations in the last few weeks (and a lot of russula). I usually check the "tap root" for the grey ash like substance and distinctive coloration for positive matsu if but you can also often tell by the shape and color of the cap. Many people will don't like the big ones because they are tough but for those of us with low standards they are quite tasty My fiance doing some matsu Identification last year:

I think I see a ring on the stem of your russola. Sure its not a mature matusaki? A good rule for the cascades is to stick to the non gilled species until you know what you are doing.

This type of thing is actually a mathematically interesting question first proposed by the great Benoît B. Mandelbrot who died last week: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_Long_Is_the_Coast_of_Britain%3F_Statistical_Self-Similarity_and_Fractional_Dimension Assuming you are happy with an approximate that ignores those factors, if you have a geeky side, you can get reasonably high resolution topographic data from several places on the web and should be able to write something to interpolate along your path along the rim. Buying a good altimeter and climbing it again might be easier though.

There is that giant black chimney behind the great northern slab and defoliator (above and to the right of the GNS above breakfast of champions) has some chimneying particularly if you continue up to the top of the wall. I seem to remember some intriguing looking chimney called the flu on the mid wall but we never did it. If we include grovely flares then we get to add a number of other lower wall classics, dr sniff, p3 japanese gardens, tatoosh. There are also a number of dirty chimneys on the upper wall.

That wild country helmet looks nice, metolius also makes a hard shell + full coverage foam option: http://www.metoliusclimbing.com/helmet.html I just wish they could figure out how to make them as light as the foam only ones.

I like something with foam all the way around my head due to some of the info on this site: http://www.thebmc.co.uk/Feature.aspx?id=1534 Beacause i have a hugh head this means a bd tracer since it is the only helmet i could find that fit. However the new dual rated (bike and climb) petzl seems like it might be actually certified for off center impact ... if only it came in a large.

Are there any big cliffs on your land? How tall are they and how frequently do bits seem to be falling off them? These are the questions most climbers evaluate knew cliffs with. If there aren't existing cliffs it is probably not cost effective to dig some up. Why not simply build a wooden climbing structure as many Outdoor Education programs and camps do? You could also look into hiring some experienced guides/climbing educators and getting permits to take kids on some of the established climbs near you on public land.

My much loved/abused patagonia ascentionist soft shell is starting to soak through during my 30 minute bike commute. I've tried some nikwax tx direct spray (recommended by patagonia customer service) before but found that it wore out much quicker then the original DWR (sliding down snow slopes and thrutching up granite flares may not have helped that) and smelled terrible. Do people have favorite brands or products that work better? Opinion on wash in vs spray on? Tricks for getting the treatment to work particularly well?

Raft guides buy olive barrels surplus from places that buy olives in bulk (grocery stores etc) ... loads of places in seattle drill a couple of holes in them, stick a faucet in and sell them as rain barrels in the spring but you ought to be able to find some with out the holes... they do smell like whatever they had in them originally though which could be an issue for bears.

Great write up, dug the combination of history, personal experience and ample photos.

As with most roped climbing crags in the icicle, the easiest way to find it is to follow the excellent directions and maps found in "Central Washington Bouldering."

The parking lot (and a strip of land along the tracks which must be crossed to get from the road to the walls) belongs to the Rail Road. The WCC worked out a deal with them to ensure unthreatened access/parking... I'm not sure on the final terms that were settled on but the bridge or whatever they go with is part of that. Party in the evening on the 19th should be a good time. Now anyone want to head out there mid week and act like we own the place?

I used to work in a lab next to some of the uw gravity guys. Basically they use really delicate pendulums to check to see if gravity behaves oddly at shortish distances (~1 mm when i was there). The idea, as they explained it at the time, was if string theory involves a lot of weird extra dimensions all wound up maybe the pendulum might interact with them. No string theorists seems to think this might happen but it is good to check these things. The cool thing is that the pendulums were accurate enough that they could tell when the parking lot was full or the hillside outside was soaked with rain water by looking at the data and delicate enough that a jostle to the enclosure (or an earthquake) would break the wire it was hung by.

There are TONS of great sport climbs at index but most/all of them are in the 10d or harder range check out the stuff in the country... some of the easier single pitch climbs are Cunning Stunt and Elvis Nixon. If you are willing to go multi pitch Leave my Face Alone and Hairway to Stephan are good as well (if you can get over from frank presley or elvis nixon ... we went up zoom which your friend should not do). The stuff above the tunnel would be good too if you are willing to lead the 5.7 gear pitch up to it (can you get over there from the top of cunning stunt). Some decent tens and easier 11's along the base of the upper wall and nearby crags too (checkout earwax wall and the stuff below the perverse traverse). Note there may be signifigant runouts on easy ground on some of these routes and some might even take a piece of gear or two to make them safe (Gorilla my Deams springs to mind, Cunning Stunt takes a small cam or two before the first pin if you want, leave my face alone includes a bit of loose gully you could place in).

"As a kid, I knew two things to be self-evident. Flying: Believe it and it'll happen. Superpowers: Bound to be something - spinach or whatever will do the trick. Climbing is my flying and coffee is my spinach." -- Peter Croft "A man doesn't go to drink coffee after climbing, coffee is integral part of the climbing." --Wolfgang Güllich Gsi makes decent but kind of a pain to use/clean, sprays bits of coffee allover outside the cup and the gasket goes bad if you use it a lot. Starbucks instant is the best really light/quick option. Jet boil french press is my current standard option (i actually wore the threads on the plunger of one out and am on my second) for good coffee in the backcountry on on 1-3 night trips...I like that i can boil a pot of water and have enough for oatmeal and coffee (got to add a bit and re boil for two people). Biggest downside is that you have to use a lot of grounds for best results and it takes a bit of water to clean. Areo press makes the best best coffee and the closest to good espresso by far and is easy to clean but takes a bit of fiddling/time to get right... I have one at home and one at work to avoid paying coffee shop prices but haven't had the urge to take it outside. What do people do for milk/cream? I get some powdered skim stuff at PCC but it clumps pretty easy and something with a bit of fat would be nice...

Those metolius rap anchors seem sweet but do they really not come in stainless? Painted 1018 seems like a recipe for hidden corrosion...

Here is a question: Do you guys want a shoe that you can both approach and climb in or two shoes one for each purpose? I find that the security I get on small feet from a modern shoe (anasazi or miura if it fits your feet) outweighs concerns over comfort, walkability or even ankle protection. Maybe the ultimate would be a two shoe solution... a light high top approach shoe with an edging toe patch for approaching/scrambling and a modern rock shoe for harder pitches. I'd like them both to be velcro for easy swap-ability (why aren't there any velcor approach shoes? seems like it would be perfect for cragging/bouldering). I actually prefer velcro in cracks... if you can get your foot that far in pretty much anything works and i've never worn through the velcro straps on my shoes mid climb.

Anasazi velcro but with c4 and a more relaxed heel. Like a synthetic and more aggressive version of the ascent or v-Mile...good for standing on tinny edges fiddling in gear, able to pull them off at belays.

Thanks for the recommendations so far, we had a good day up there sunday. Looking over at the see of knobs in the waterfall area got me wondering what people's favorite knob pitches up there are. Any good recommendations for intros to upper wall knobs? Seem steeper then the stuff in the country/lower wall.

Does the "It's A Grind" coffe place in 11worth actually exsist? Area code is CA and adress is not google mappable... From feck's link: It's A Grind 17401 Bastanchury Rd Leavenworth, WA 98826 (714) 528-7777 (Free Wifi Coffeeshop / Cafe) It's a Grind Coffee House sells a variety of coffees, teas, blended drinks, and bakery it...

I've done basically nothing on the upper wall (some of the single pitch stuff and flailing up Tempitcheous following a buddy) and am looking for some route recommendations for some trips up there in the next few weeks. Classic, oddball, recently scrubbed or rarely done and in need of a scrub are all fine as long as the climbing is fun. Probably won't hop on anything harder then 11b at the moment but if you have a favorite harder then that I'd love to hear about it (particularly if you can a0 the hard bits . 70 vs 60 vs 2x60/Rope length/rap beta etc would be great too.

oh yeah!

I have a pile of shoes with worn out toes... mostly ~us size 9. Are these of any use to you?

gimp is awesome. Look into using the "stroke path" feature ... you can probably find some video tutorials but basically you create and edit/tweak your path by placing and moving control points until you have it right and then "stroke" it with a doted line or whatever. I like dots because they don't cover the crack systems etc. I made this using it:

Crank Bros just came out with a whole new generation of pedals that are supposed to have longer lasting bearings... you can find the old ones on clearance a lot of places at the moment. However I just switched my mountain bike over to time atak aliums after having some retention issues with my egg beaters while bunny hoping etc... They are kind of a beefed up candy...similar design but each rail gets its own spring, i like them so far the only drawbacks being weight and less float and i'll probably switch my commuter over as well next pay check. This means I have a pair of eggbeaters (the old style c's i think...) in decent condition if anybody wants to make an offer...I'd throw in a pair of beat up crank brothers smarties (their POS commuter clipples) and a couple of pairs of worn out cleats if you want them.