dougd

Ratigan's anger is certainly warranted. He keeps it up and he's gonna stroke out though. He's put on some pounds since he got his own show. Maria used to keep him in shape... I bet he misses her. lol

I don't mind slow food service as long as the beer is cold. d

The Detroit Rangers usually have good info on such things... http://oregon.hometownlocator.com/local/local-directory,st,detroit%20ranger%20station,lat,44.5667897,lon,-122.1822974,cf,043.cfm d

Heya top, My partner and I will be doing the S face via the E ridge (standard route) this month also. We've selected the E Rosebud (phantom cr trail #17) approach due to the W Rosebud road washout which adds 1.5 miles to the approach on the Mystic Lake side... It's a long enough hike in without that imo. The beta on the T storms are correct, one needs be off that peak early. Don't let em scare ya off though... Hope the links help some. http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/custer/currentconditions/index.shtml http://www.friendsofgranitepeak.com/TRAILHEADS.html Maybe we'll see ya up there. d

Cool pic with the cloud cap.

Surely, sir, you don't intend to include their beef stroganoff in this statement! d

Brian, Nice work on your summit and not reacting to the guy who gave you a hard time. Shows good discipline on your part which I believe is critical to overall longevity in the "arena". The DC's main objective danger is a fairly high percentage of the other people you will find on that route imo. Patience and discipline are attributes that will serve one well in the mountains, the DC will test those. I descended the DC in early June this year after climbing another route and was reminded how slow it could be when we reached the fixed lines at the cleaver. We queued up and waited for almost an hour for a group to get down them. Appeared to be a lot of standing around and waving of arms. Tough to tell what took so long but we just chilled, had a snack etc. Others were caught and did the same. It was cool... Patience... BTW nice pics there. It's melted off a lot since I was there almost a couple months ago fur sure. d

Great TR. Great pics. Glad you made it up and over ok. My stays at Muir and Camp Schurman this year were made very much more pleasant by the rangers there. David in particular was a lot of fun. That guy is a very strong climber. They're just one of the many good reasons I don't mind paying the fee for climbing that mountain. Well worth it... My partner and I were just talking about your TR and maybe doing Ptarmigan Ridge someday... d

Anybody climbs that wall deserves more than a "modicum" of respect imho. All bullshit aside. d

True, this fall could be stellar. I would only add that being able to get a bead on those pesky cracks before they get a bead on you, could be a plus to a fall attempt also... On the DC, doing the DC is a great way for relative beginners to learn some important lessons about the mountain, and gain confidence. Otherwise difficult to understand... On whether to climb the DC in summer, or the WW or not, I say to each his/her own. It's part of the beauty of climbing. Freedom of the hills baby. Good luck Wayne. d

I like the matt's early spring and weather suggestions, but this could be the year for a serious look in the late fall with the exceptional snow year we've had on the mountain. Late Sept early Oct 2011 may see favorable conditions Possibly... d

I wonder about the person who previously owned the plates you're using. Wouldn't the authorities be chasing them now? Wasting resources that could be otherwise spent? If so, would you care?

Probably shouldn't carry all that in your front pocket... Just in case... d

My 8.5mm x 35m rope has served me well. Good for 2 or 3 climbers on moderate glacier routes... Wouldn't want 4 on it unless I had to... I'm about to retire it and will go 40 meters in length for the next one I think... d

This Minnesota State government shutdown has now, officially, gone too far. http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/13/news/economy/Minnesota_shutdown_beer/index.htm?&hpt=hp_c2 Thank your lucky stars you live in Washington. We still have all of "our" beer options at least! d

Unfortunately, you're not: Just what, prey tell, justifies this accusation?

Well, you're consistent fairweather... Normally a plus, but...

By all means, take your guess. You were going to share it with us weren't you? ...

def. fleecing: obtaining a great deal of money from someone, typically by overcharging or swindling them... I do not believe Washington Legislators fleece the people of the State by using a parking fee to partially fund the park system so they remain open to us all, including transplanted Oregonians, given current political realities concerning tax/spending and resulting budget deficit issues specifically. Anyone who does not acknowledge these difficulties appears to me to be uninformed, or misinformed. Your use of the term fleecing is somewhat extreme, certainly presumptuous, unnecessary, and does not advance discourse on this issue IMO. If you're simply misinformed, well, I guess I can apologize, otherwise I stand by my statement. Saying I was insinuating that "we're all idiots with our useless drivel", it's the way you see things Kirk. You used the word idiot, not me. Not much I can do about that one... I bet if you got into it a bit more btw you'd find that the Washington/Oregon State park folks do a lot more than simply provide a shitter and some tp or build and maintain motorhome pads or cut a log out of your way on a trail somewhere... It's huge man, and it's expensive, all of it. Everybody pays for it, including users. Finally, your opinion does count. And it should count, but the boo hoo poor me shit makes it tough to really hear you. d

Collective bargaining = extortion (oh yes, only for public employee unions!) lol Fee for services = fleecing of the public... Uninformed generalizations/hyperbolic declarations = useless drivel. JMHO mind you. d

Been there, done that, backed down at the red saddle on a solo trip a few years ago... Wonder how many times that's happened at that time in that spot (lots)... Nice TR and great job Kirk. d

jfree, Cogent, concise, yet comprehensive... Oh yeah, and, quite correct. Great post. d

What a great Idea. Supporting the parks with dollars and time... I've done volunteer work for the WTA, it's a great organization. It was hard work but a lot of fun too. I plan to put in more time with them in the future. Brilliant! d

"The parks are not "our" parks, they truly are in fact our parks." Well. Ok. I stand corrected?? haha

"Collective bargaining = extortion?" "In the case of public employee unions, yes. Absolutely." Fairweather, thanks for the clarification. Agreed, it is off topic, but that's about all I'd agree on. I wanted to make sure of where you were coming from on this. For future reference. Might be a good topic for spray forum though which is where this thread might be headed come to think of it... campwire: I applaud your effort, against your better judgement, to contact your elected representatives on this, or any, issue. It is a very important element of how our representative government is supposed to work. If not representative government, what then? Of course, funding State services is the larger related issue here. It appears open parks have, sadly, become an amenity, an extra, given the current State budget crisis. That is the reality. We the people, feel entitled to "our" parks. Not a bad thing IMO, but it is a bit more complicated these days. An alternative example would be Minnesota's State parks I suppose. They are closed along with State government. Raise revenue? NO. Cut services? NO. "Elected representatives" can't agree on a budget deficit solution there. Tens of thousands of "wicked extortionists" are in their homes without pay. While I realize that may not make some of you sad, it does me. Literally shutting down State government has become an alternative, albeit one of the less pallatable alternatives to a thing like a user fee. You can't even use a rest stop in that State to take a shit anymore, they're closed... In Washington at least they agreed on a budget deficit solution, which yes, included a lousy $30/year user fee for parking at State parks... My bottom line is that user fees are better than the Minnesota alternative. For now, we have access to our parks at least. We may find that changing in the near future if the user fee supplement does not work as it is intended. And we work our way back full circle to mattp's question, "what else can they do?" d