Water

awesome on ya! yeah find where your work is and unless you live close to it, try to stay on that side of the river or you're in for traffic fun one way or another.

was it indeed due to some shitheads? i hadn't heard that punks were responsible for marble mnt. source? I can think of a great use for the $50,000+ the mnt st helens institute makes yearly off the mandatory non-refundable $5 donation when people pay $21 to climb st. helens. Supposedly that money goes to maintain the climbers trail, most expensive trail in the state, for sure. they could rebuild the warming hut with that money. http://www.columbian.com/news/2011/apr/11/fire-destroys-marble-mountain-snow-shelter/ ie the wallowa-whitman visitor center in enterprise burned down last summer..beautiful building--turned out some workers had left balled up paint-thinner rags up against the building when they went for a break.

what is your plan if you decide to not carry tents 'just in case' and you arrive to find the shelter full?

kingfrankiv, this is good, very good. I am looking at epl-2... because i feel I have hit the limits of my P&S, it is 4 years old and while I get good results, I spend too much time fiddling due to not getting what I want. I'd rather spend more time fiddling due to perfecting what I do have. I'm on the cust of this purchase right now. Almost went dSLR then realized I would never honestly lug that along half the places I go. Tried epl-2 last night at a store with 14-42mm lens and yes bigger than p&s but fits in my jacket pocket overall, and if it was on neck strap is nothing close to dSLR. What lens do you use, kingfrankiv?

did you climb or just skiing? webcams did show plenty of sun today. if climbing did you dig any avy pits-findings? avy forecast and knowledge of all the new snow enough to keep me off of up high for now.

we have FF Lark and WM Ultralight. Ultralight is really a winner in my book! just a great all-around bag. hood is great, zipper never snags, great for 3 season or even winter when it is not too cold. I find the zipper on the Lark snags like a mofo--pretty irritating if WM can make a near-snagfree zipper, that FF can't. Though i've read the design on FF is easier to repair if there was an issue. 400+ nights in the WM Ultralight and no zipper failure so I'll take a better mechanism. I do find the hood on the WM better, but that isn't to say there is a problem with the one on FF--WM was just easier/better cord/setup it seemed. FWIF also WM and FF will zip-together--we paid a bit extra for the zip to be on the proper side for the Lark to zip into the ultralight. This has given us (as a couple) a better temp range.

really though, your wife decided she doesn't like the color? so back 'the great and unique pant' goes. sorry thats kind of funny. but if they sell them to someone in canada, no one has to pay the tax that was refunded you.

cool TR from the portrayal perspective-there is definitely something unique about a retrospective (10 years later) re-telling. Adding to that fact, the place you were coming from prior to the trip, out east/without having been to the NW, really sets the stage for how meaningful and impacting such a trip would be. thanks for sharing.

really beautiful-thanks for sharing. also, no better humor than borat to assuage the impending 'no-fun' of the shittake bivy.

ive heard full wax will more or less waterproof it but also make it non-breathable if gortex liner in there. Do you have Lowa Mnt Experts? I use the nikiwax water based leather waterproofing stuff. just sort of a spongy stuff you wipe onto the leather. I do it a time or two a year, though really never have had water issues in the 2 years I've used my boots.

duh! thanks. I was freaking out. didn't think of the date as everything else today has been spoof and hoax free.

So click the link or read below. http://www.timberlinelodge.com/heli/ I didn't see any news about timberline being granted some exception to the wilderness act. I'll contact the number below to get clarification. So really, helicopters in wilderness area for recreation, didn't think that was allowed outside of frank church river of no return wilderness area with landing strips they have. I'm surprised this is allowed. Or if they don't put a skid on summit are they clear of having a motorized vehicle in the wilderness area? ---------------------------

benb dont apologize. your relxed and patient response is humbling. whats your bivy setup? sleeping bag + outer? glorified space blanket? etc. probably room there stove setup? jetboil? whisperlight? bag of charcoal? =] might be room to lighten up there fluke? the name itself implies its value..i think most shovel head can be rigged fairly for such pro puffy pants and jacket - whats the setup there, can go lighter? using down or synth? take single warmer jacket is good advise, pants are (20oz?). i'd probably drop that, dont see big value in day-jaunt up hood..what is avg winter temp at 7k-probably 20? puff pants maybe if i spent a lot of time on rainier at 9-11k camps in shoulder season. but not hood stuff much of winter/spring, if windows avail. use backpack and/or light foam pad ($5 gardening kneel pad at bimart/walmart) for standing-still warmth (stand on pad, sit on pad, lean against, etc..)

SOLD thanks

just want to throw out that i have these boots and for my foot (low/no arch, narrow heel, low-medium volume) they are excellent and the durability has been phenomenal from snow to scree surfing. Have found the waterproofing to be excellent (no leaks, only get damp from natural born swampfoot), and the insulation to be warm. Climbed in them with thick woolies down to 5 degrees and was fine, though not sure i'd go much lower. I use them in the summer with a thinner synth sock too.

so.. people dog on the mazamas but i get the impression they are not a 1-to-1 of the mounties..anyone have any feedback on how the two orgs square up? I took their basic course and 90% was a recap of my backpacking life. You get what you pay for most of the time, non-profit with volunteers teaching/assisting/leading.. people do not expect the same as an AMGA, ACMG, AAI course, right? I didn't.

check those noaa links for the extrapolated data for adams and rainier @ 10k+ during storms. I've seen it showing 38"-41" for a 'night', then 31"-33" for the next day, etc, for a few days/nights. those extrapolated point-forecasts are a marvel of modeling and a dollop of deceit. frequently the 6k timberline post-snow measurements don't square at all with what the point-forecast for 6k were, at least on hood.

glad you had a good time and got a taste for some fun on hood. Any consolation my fiance's sister was here for a similar time period during memorial day weekend....so two months later--and she never got a decent glimpse of any volcano either, and we had a fresh inch of snow at the clear lake lookout we managed to rent at the last minute. Until you can get back, you can use these to assuage your lack of summit views: Mt. Rainier from Paradise: http://www.nps.gov/webcams-mora/mountain.jpg Mt. St helens view: http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/hdimages/volcanocamhd.jpg Crater Rim view of Crater Lake: http://www.nps.gov/webcams-crla/camerasinnott.jpg Mt Adams: http://www.petries.net/troutlake/camera0.jpg Central OR-3FJ, Wash, Sisters: http://www.callatg.com/~nsps/weather4.htm

Awesome TR! I would like to know if you ever figured out the who and why of 'everything is normal' and the ice cream. Who was it, and why the ice cream purchases--friendly hospitality of a drunk? Or the local visitor association representative? =] Thanks for sharing, the rock and mountains looks beautiful back up in there!

I most definitely did not step up to prove your point as you have listed it. like I said, I enjoy watching the drama unfold and have found good bits of info and some thought-provoking dialogue at times. You may argue otherwise, but most of the time when you post, the lines are drawn, and from both, it is all

for the record, i care. -to watch the shitstorm unfold whenever raindawg posts. there is often good food for thought with bits of good dialogue but the majority is: btw can we make that one of the standard smiley icons?

great TR, loved reading it--beautiful scenery also. love your digicam navigation technique, used that to some effect before, incl. pictures of maps.

mountains aren't going anywhere. You need to keep doing research about climbs and maybe even make a phone call to forest service ranger districts. Mt. Adams is probably a 25 mile trip from where you can access the road. Same issue you had with south sister. Why don't you talk with your instructor and get their assessment of what you think would be a good thing to do during your time off? you can probably call them now and get an idea. finish the class and sign up for one of their climbs. and/or make friends with people in class and climb with them when it is finished. If you look at your syllabus for BCEP you will see there is an outdoors snow weekend, likely in April, up on hood where you will practice self-arrest. Doesn't seem like you should be on anything where you may need to self arrest, until you know more about it.

*face palm* you need to keep researching. may i suggest snowshoeing around trillium lake?

you need to clarify. At first you said you're doing MSH then hiking to muir-that is work, but reasonable for two days. Now its MSH then trying to summit Rainier. Unless you're in really good shape, most people would indeed feel bombed to do MSH on thurs and then go to Rainier and summit it a day. But if you're an endurance person then it may not be unfeasible-it would be about 14,000ft of elevation gain between the two, presumably with some weight on the 9k of rainier. Just be realistic and it will be more fun. MSH is beautiful and will give you a great view of Rainier, if it is clear. driving to rainier than night (remember you'll have to go back out to I-5, don't try to cut up through the east side of MSH.. that road will still be snowed in probably-confirm before you leave) and going up to muir the next day would be feasible for just being in 'good' shape in my opinion. You'll feel tired from MSH but it isnt unfeasible if you're use to doing 5k gains.