tvashtarkatena

Free solo. They just dropped the thing from an altitude of 22 km. No landing thrusters (the top thrusters failed). Wow. Nicely done. 7 cameras on board. 1st surface pics in a few hours.

Philae nailed it.

Philae was scheduled to land 9 min ago. Confirmation pending.

Sweet. See ya Thursday.

Jeff's Sisko exhibition is the product of a beautiful mind.

Reverse chronology seems to be all the rage. LULZ!

No, wait, wrong hallucination. I meant THIS visitor from the spirit realm:

You guys did look a little rode hard and put away wet when we got to you. Had I known your situ, I could have made some big money on a pint of Lord Calvert and a pack of Mavericks. If Ivan ever carried any cash. Which he doesn't. In addition to the company of the Big Man and Man Who Lies In Sleeping Bag and Giggles, we had this visitor from the spirit realm:

We remember hearing Ivan and Josh loooooong before we could see them.... Standing at the pass above White Rock Lakes: "Are they down there?" "Oh yeah, they're down there." We avoided the Bachelor Creek alderfest by traversing the lower Sinister alderfest, followed by the Suiattle River trail Million Hurdle Blowdown Course. The washed out road bestowed both the blessings and curses of solitude. We stumbled out of the wilds, overjoyed to find the spacecraft at road's end, only to find its dilithium crystals deader than Dillinger. Fortunately, the Gadget Master had a recharging unit on board, enabling us to shoot the Video That Will Live In Infamy. We cried, we laughed...we're laughing still.

Regarding our national parks - I think they're managed very well - its a tough job, particularly in popular parks like Rainier, Yosemite, and Zion. NCNP is kept wild - as befits its character and history. Yosemite balances the needs of drive in tourists, backcountry travelers, and climbers. In all of them, the needs of the environment is king - and that's appropriate to preserve them for the future. If that costs me a few extra bucks here and there, no big. I should also add that the climbing rangers I've met in these parks, and that's been a few now, are first rate. If, Dog forbid, I should ever need help getting my party's ass out of jam - there's no better group of people I can imagine coming to my aid. Mostly, I'm grateful and lucky to live a place that has so much wilderness at hand. The day will come when I can't do the approaches anymore - and I'll be fine with that. That's life.

Never said a word about the W side road. Never bragged about anything. As for the Suiattle - brains over brawn. Always. It was 6 years ago. You might consider moving on. We just do our trips and report on 'em. Well, we used to report on 'em, anyway. Now we just share with friends and family.

The mirth you've brought Josh and I on this fine day cannot never be repaid. Now just pay the $25 bucks and be damn glad MRNP is in your back yard.

I know, NCNP should get off their asses and put up a restaurant and tram already!! Why must one of the last remote areas in the lower-48 stay that way?? Europe has already proven you can place humanity on every square inch of the alpine, so let's get our act together. Seriously though, I'm actually curious wtf you are talking about? I spend nearly all of my outdoor time up in the N Cascades, a large % of that in the NCNP. I have never been locked out of anything, nor unable to do what I wanted to do. If we are talking about washed out roads or something...well, that's what mountain bikes and not being lazy are for. Or is there something else in particular I'm not aware of? I'm sorry josh, but this is priceless--coming from a guy (you) who crashed the washout gate on the Suiattle road in his 4wd Audi Quatro a few years back and posted the video online. And here I thought the memories of this trip couldn't get any sweeter.

We must have made one hell of an impression, what, with all of Darrington still abuzz about it a full year later.

What year was that road closure pic taken? The title indicates 2009. So does your TR. Our trip was in 2008. A couple of weeks later...plus one year. LOL

Dome Spire Such a great area.

The fee hike brings MRNP in line with other great NPs, like Zion and Yosemite. I go to Rainier at least once a year. I'm grateful the discount lasted as long as it did.

You recall wrong as usual. Ivan was loudly lamenting running out of smokes at White Rock Lake. In any case, he judiciously pockets his butts.

Thanks for bringing back memories of such a great trip with such good friends. Formidable, Le Conte, Sentinel, Dome, Sinister, Hanging Gardens, Image Lake. In perfect weather. We're heading up to Green Mountain Lookout tomorrow, in fact. Not the outcome you were shooting for, I'd wager, but that's our fickle universe, doing its thing.

1: The Suiattle River Road is not in the Glacier Peak Wilderness 2: There was no prohibition against driving to Downey Creek at the time. The route was wide open for any vehicle that could handle it. All that came later. 3: Josh was in Seattle when that video was shot. I should know - I shot it. 4: That complete Ptarmigan traverse was really awesome. Driving that 12 miles was sweet icing on a very delicious cake. 5: Josh, that was our very first meeting at White Rock Lakes, no? Why, I believe it was *sigh*

Can I haz Goodell Creek Regrade, too?

That's obviously a trail, and has been for a while. Thanks, Google Earth!

FYI: You can ride your bike aaaaall the way to the end of the Stehekin road - 13 miles to the Car Wash Bridge - about 2 mi past High Bridge. Fatties can get in shape and hike NCNP any time they want. They can get in shape BY hiking NCNP, even. Or they can just drive Highway 20 and the Cascade River Road. It's truly a free country.