tvashtarkatena

I'm sorry you wasted so much time in your reply, but the 'half' statement was purely figurative - meant to illustrate the competing pressures that land managers face. I thought the rest of message made that pretty clear. Guess not. Re: the restoration comment, I mistook the structures shutters for plywood (ie, boarded up - as was the Mebee Lookout). Caught it at second glance, but didn't think it warranted another post. Quite a few volunteer hours did go into both the Green Mountain and Mebee structures, of course - the principle I was attempting to put forth. Again, sorry for wasting your valuable time. Feel free to beat up other historical preservation supporters, ie, allies, as you see fit.

NWAC accident report

Damn. I just read that article and realized it was Frank. He was a force of nature who loved the mountains and the many people who shared his numerous alpine explorations - and that love came through strong and clear at his Bulger party presentation in November. He knew our mountains as few are lucky enough to. RIP, Frank.

2 recent climax avalanches - 6' crown - in Sibley Creek basin (trail to Hidden Lake Peak). It's kind of rare not to see one there, given that its a steep tefturf farm in there. Lots of windloading, some cornices, but no other significant slides uba ubabserved. It's damn warm up there. Not that I'm complaining - the skiing was actually pretty good above a certain skittering altitude and the weather was stunning.

They did. They became less and less honest.

On the D side, I'm wondering if, at 68, Hilz is gonna run. She's pretty fried these days, and that's pretty damn old for an 8 year stint.

It's not about the traffic, really - it's about a petty bully who's dragging a long trail of vindictive action, with disregard for the public good he was elected give a rip about, against anyone who failed to support his personal ambitions. Standard procedure for certain politicians, perhaps, but in the end, its a choice we get to make. Or probably not, in his case. Make no mistake, this guy's been a lying fucko from day 1. We just got to find out about it earlier than later so we could preemptively tap the flush handle. Grab the plunger, though. Wide load. Now, he may well float back up on a flood of stupidity. Witness the erudite discussions blaming chickification and the endangered status of the 'man's man' currently splashing the shithouse floor.

somebody said it somewhere sometime

The idea that homo sapiens have somehow stopped evolving is, of course, as ludicrous as it is unsupported.

Boilerplate anti-government rhetoric aside, ONP lost a lawsuit in 2005 brought on by Wilderness Watch and two other groups when it attempted to airlift prefab structures to replace 2 original adirondacks that had collapsed. The suit was undoubtedly expensive and resource consuming, as suits usually are - it may have left ONP park managers more circumspect about preserving other structures in the park. This structure is much larger than an adirondack - restoring it without power equipment would be a daunting, expensive, and resource consuming task. The use of power equipment would invite another suit. While its fun to poke at wilderness managers from a keyboard, its a little more difficult to put yourself in their shoes, given the competing pressures and resource limitations they face. Half of users want shelters - the other half not. Either way, many want well managed national parks on the cheap. Myself and others are currently planning some maintenance/restoration work on another lookout - which fortunately lies just outside a wilderness area. Compare the Green Mountain Lookout restoration (inside a wilderness area) with the recent Mebee Lookout Restoration (outside a wilderness area). The latter was light years easier from a bureaucratic and legal standpoint, even if the actual structures were very similar. We are lucky that our project will be more like the latter than the former. This may come as a surprise for some, but the Forest Service has been and continues to be very helpful and generous in its support of such historical restoration and maintenance efforts - but such agencies are now understandably gun shy in locations covered by the Wilderness Act. Until some volunteer group (hint hint) organizes to restore this structure - the hard way, without power equipment, it will likely continue to go back to nature. If nothing else, treat your historical structures kindly when you visit them. Take your 9/10ths empty fuel canisters, mostly empty whiskey bottles, and crappy leftover food back down with you. If there is a wood burning stove - clean it out after use and dispose of the ash properly. Close the shutters and doors properly. Leave the place cleaner than when you found it. If someone else left trash, remove it. This often doesn't happen. In short, what would backcountry Jesus do?

This is giving me a hankerin' for some mountain beaver

We have another living fossil right in our own backyard: Mountain Beaver Weird critter. They eat their own poo, climb trees, and don't hibernate. And they're not real beavers, either - more closely related to squirrels. Anyone ever seen one? I haven't.

Enceladus is cool if you like that greeny blue schmeg you see at Jellystone, but Europa's got 3 times more liquid water than Earth. Could give ice fishing a whole new direction. Bring extra line and lots more whiskey.

Its a gar. They've pretty much opted out of the whole evolution thing. Jesus, why do I even fucking know that....

If it's a Catholic trip, invite a priest, tie a line to him, and tell him there's a group of lost altar boys on the other side in need of rescue. You'll be across in a few minutes.

You might want to consult with Alex on that.

Do you see, Otzi? Do you see what happens when you don't carry the 10 essentials?

Outfitted by the Ice Man.

And their star graduate was CBS Later vintage. Mine was early 80s. I got lucky. My roommates, co-oworkers, and fellow students were all into it. The mountains were neither crowded nor Cblocked by permit systems. It was a great time to explore the mountains. The organizations that got me into the mountains - first the Scouts, then the Mounties, have their issues, as most organizations do, but I have nothing but gratitude and love for them, personally. As always, YMMV. Back to the original topic - MMW - nothing against the store itself, but that location blew goats at 10 cents a herd.

Video is in order

Everett was good times. 15 people in a smoked out snow cave for winter bivvy. The rules were somewhat...relaxed up there. And some of the instructors were actually good climbers - even if they weren't club members per se.

Apparently, if you left these critters alone for too long, they'd emerge driving lizard cars n shit: Anolis evolution in the Bahamas The rate of evolution among viruses, bacteria and insects leave these guys in the beach sand.

Bennett

Jack and Connie ran the basic/intermediate courses when I was taking them

5) Everett