Water

i have a TR of jefferson look on my profile. or look at summitpost etc for more info. the approach is longer than most routes on a lot of the cascade volcanoes (but not all). it also has a summit pinnacle which by any route must be contended w/ vs the mnts with larger summit areas.

hmm.. well im going to meadows today for the first time. other than falling lots a few times last year on a cheapo tele setup i picked up, the last time I skiied was almost two decades ago at nubsnob or boyne highlands in northern michigan.. hopefully being at meadows turns me into a trust fund brat.. the trust fund aspect of that would be so awesome!

consider staying at the mazama's lodge, as far as price hard to beat, $17.50 for non-members, I think. Bunk style accommodations (bring earplugs and sleeping bag)-)you can get a shower and a meal (i think) and are right on the mnt no exorbitant lodging costs: http://www.mazamas.org/your/adventure/starts-here/C184

like iain said you can't predict up there really well.. if you can do anything Wx related, move up your trip start now. monday and tuesday could be high over-cast with occasional flurry, not bad at all. i find esp. mountain predictions to be terribly tenuous, changing even the day-of. spent a good 36hrs in the tent at crater lake a month ago in rain and 33 degrees after the forecast changed at the last minute. below is a general trend as of now. Keep in mind weds-thurs system could come on tues night, or get pushed to the north or south, or end up more like thurs-mid-day to fri. etc etc. bring extra headlamp batteries and a damn good book/music/vids/game/cards/masturbatory fantasy/conversation with your partners.. you got many hours of darkness to spend in those 7 days.. LONG TERM...SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THE PACIFIC NW WILL BE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE THROUGH THE PERIOD. HOWEVER...THE RIDGE IS NOT VERY STRONG OR AMPLIFIED AND IT WILL BE SUSCEPTIBLE TO ANY UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES THAT COULD BRING PRECIPITATION. A DRY FORECAST IS IN STORE FOR SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY. ACCORDING TO THE GFS...A SHORTWAVE MOVING SOUTH ALONG THE FRONT SIDE OF THE RIDGE WILL BRING A SLIGHT CHANCE TO A CHANCE OF SNOW SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY. THE GFS IS FARTHER WEST AND STRONGER WITH THE SHORTWAVE THAN THE ECMWF AND CANADIAN. FOR NOW...WILL KEEP LOW POPS BUT IT COULD BE DROPPED ENTIRELY IF GFS BECOMES MORE IN LINE WITH THE OTHER MODELS. ANY THREAT OF PRECIPITATION ON MONDAY NIGHT IS MINIMAL. ON TUESDAY...GFS ADVERTISES A WEAK DISTURBANCE BRINGING A SLIGHT CHANCE TO A CHANCE OF SNOW. ONCE AGAIN...THE GFS SHOWS A BETTER POTENTIAL FOR SNOW THAN THE OTHER MODELS. THE ECMWF AND GFS ARE IN SIMILAR AGREEMENT WITH A MOIST WARM FRONT MOVING ACROSS WASHINGTON AND NORTHERN OREGON WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY. IF MODELS VERIFY...THIS COULD BRING DECENT AMOUNTS OF SNOW OVER THE MOUNTAINS WITH A POTENTIAL FOR A WINTER MIX AT THE LOWEST ELEVATIONS. JOHNSON

same as what rocky joe said. that is plenty of time to get up in there and hayden will be a good spot to hit middle and north. Just hope the weather cooperates enough-would not want to be high on N. Sister in a whiteout. winter pictures: http://www.traditionalmountaineering.org/Photos_Nsisterwin.htm i have previously found a first-hand account somewhere on the web--you'll have to search. the traverse is what it is--depends entirely upon the quality of the snow. If it is in good shape, good conditions, you can probably just walk across it fine with self belay--or running belay with a few pickets across it. In typical climbing time the traverse is marked by shaded snow as opposed to much of the prior SE ridge being snowfree.. for winter i suspect you'll know it is the traverse just cause it gets a bit steeper and you're immediately under the summit block prior to that I think you'll be traversing a semi-steep snow slope once you top-out on the S/SE ridge from hayden. the bowling alley -- i would hope it is not verglas or fresh fluffy powder. i would guess at this point in winter it will be well covered in snow, you'll just have to see the consistency. of the 3, doing more or less 'standard routes', north will present the most challenge for navigation and risk on the upper part. good luck, would love to hear a follow-up or see pictures if conditions allow.

your site is awesome broski!!!! love the vids 4 sure. only problem is that ol glory drink tastes like asparagus pee. you have my sympathies if you are drinking it regularly, esp. before or during outdoor pursuits.

from the midwest originally and it is great. living in portland i love that some weekends i sleep in till 10am, spend 6-9 hours hiking, climbing, skiing, etc in beautiful areas, and get to round the day out with incredible beer at the microbrewery of my choice. and the options i have as far as destination within a 2hr drive are plentiful. i can only imagine how much more convenient it would be living in hood river, bend, or leavenworth. did you like visiting the cascades and colorado? if yes, then you'll probably like living here. not like enjoying a trip to a 3rd world tropical country...but wouldnt want to live there. If you live in Portland, Denver, Seattle, you'll still drive ~1.5hrs++++ for many things but they will be gobs more interesting than anything in the white mountains. and there will be some climbing and hiking and biking stuff closer than that to the big cities, and if you can manage to have income/work to live even closer like hood river, leavenworth, methow valley, bend, crested butte, etc.. you will live mere minutes and miles from vacation destinations. beyond that living here is the same as anywhere else, you still work, pay bills, eat, go to the grocery store, hang out with people, deal with traffic, ride a bike, complain about the weather at times, get irritated if you don't live near a hub airport (SEA or VAN), etc. i imagine living in AK is a bit more of a different animal for a whole host of reasons. you will enjoy the outdoors more here than boston. i think your question is where in the cascades do i want to move? or where in colorado is best? or cascades vs colorado (cascades of course), etc. sounds like u dont give a rat's ass about what boston offers outside of the outdoors so i wouldnt stay there any longer than you have to.

rarely will you get a better opportunity than one Macson just posted. Not a promise of a job but yeah, whew! Just getting to the NW no matter where (from Ashland, OR to Spokane, WA and everywhere between).. will allow you to check things out and and hone in on the exact city/town/hermit hut and job that you want. Once you're here you can network a lot easier to your next step than from across the country

1) crevasses on palmer - no. Going NW over illumination saddle down on the reid glacier, yes. Can't honestly say how practice would be there--might not be an ideal spot. 2) yes there are steep slopes right around illumination saddle that you could practice self arrest on (no need to go up to hogsback specifically for that). Not crazy to practice at hogsback per'se... but dep on conditions/time of day.. you're above a toilet-bowl fumerole on one side and a flat patchy of muddy sulferous venting on the other..if a self arrest wasn't successful. plus on any decent climb day in june it tends to be a zoo up there--which could be distracting for learning. 3) yes you can camp there in june. 4) old chute isn't too much of a chute.. compared to pearly gates but yeah 100-150 foot is probably right for the area of it where it 'constricts' more-so.

this couch doc with noodle ankles and knees of steel says yes, a bad sprain--though from my learning of sprains even a moderate one can persist for months. the more medically inclined can probably enrich this opinion I'm sure. I had a high ankle sprain this past april-took perhaps 4 months to return to pre-sprain condition. After the first few weeks it was significantly better but some/noticeable swell maintained for at least ~2 more months, esp. after exertion on it--mountaineering boots felt good because yes, it supported it well. it was tender in certain spots if i prodded it with my fingers as well--2 months+ later. my swelling was also on that natural ankle-bump. like a lot of PT, being ginger with it while it heals is important, esp in the early days and weeks. Me, since it was summer, I was not going to for-go getting out for much of may and june.. so i think the issues stuck around a bit longer. doing bad by it while it is trying to heal will slow healing down and contribute to more long-term likelihood of issues. no need for the doctor..you will waste your time, their time, and your money. find some good online/rec advice on ankle exercises to work on... but don't over-do it. therabands, balance exercises, more than anything it seems. both a benign injury compared to so many that could befall but also a crappy one that is more likely to happen, once it has happened--though a lot are like that i guess.

i was going to say: summit is to peak as chaser is to chaser but then thought, it might be possible, someone was spoofing him. looks like that is the case on peakchaser, though, I can't really tell which one is real..peakchaser's TR looks par for the course

really lookin forward to the guide, thanks for your hard work! long day last december on hood, mine:

i am admittedly out of my league to stand behind this recommendation but others might be able to support it or refute it.. the Peak VX parka by Eddie Bauer has seen action fairly high on everest from reviews ive seen, so, that has got to be worth something. at $269 + any discounts/sales/etc you can find (wait till after xmas?).. you might find yourself avoiding the $500 for a jacket. have a good climb

having used a semi bulky canon A series for a while now and looking to do something in one direction or another (dSLR bulk/weight/cost) or go towards pocket-sized and maxed out for robust'ness, outdoors ease/highest pocket-quality image... Came out with Panasonic TS2 series seeming supreme for small outdoors camera.. I think it is competitive with that stylus tough.. but my research left me on the TS2 for that type of camera. ended up going for a bridge camera (panasonic FZ-100) to see if it is feasible to move towards dslr. comparatively cheap to see if dSLR is way for me. but i'd love to have a TS2 in hand none the less.. ...

haven't tried them but just saw these the other day. Panoptx Sirocco and Raptor CV.. difference I can tell is one is a bit bigger than the other (lens size). Photochromic.. 18%-80%.. 18 isn't terribly low for alpine sun, but a consideration. $89.. cheaper than addidas. http://www.sierratradingpost.com/p/,2460T_Panoptx-Sirocco-Sunglasses-Photochromic-Removable-Eyecup.html http://www.sierratradingpost.com/p/,2390M_Panoptx-Raptor-CV-Photochromic-Sunglasses-Removable-Eyecups.html

If you want someone to tell you it is safe and go climb it, you can probably get that, and if you want someone to say it isn't and don't climb then, you can find that too I bet. Based on what you have read about snow falling for the next 6-7 days, and tons of it, and going up a route called called avalanche gulch, what do you think? do you get a gut feeling telling you this is probably a bad idea? listen to that decision more than any words on here or mental thoughts bumming about how the weather screwed yer plans and maybe you can still eek out a climb if you ignore the gut feeling. sorry if i sound a little rude--just from my armchair knowledge of the route (and admittedly never having been on shasta) it is screaming NO pretty loudly given the weather patterns and outlook you've just shared. but keep an eye on it and be ready, maybe the main snow stops falling on sunday morning and they only get 1 or 2 more inches on my of the mountain by wednesday--then maybe it is a bit of a different story. good luck! what is the access on mt mcloughlin in southern oregon? that might be a less committing peak (though avalanche factor could be identical).. or head to crater lake-open year around--and go for some awesome snow camping on the crater rim (not on cornice) just another option

why do you post so much??? rarely seen someone post so much but say so little. make 1 post with ALL your thoughts then wait for people to respond to that. why do you edit almost all your posts? do you write them in haste to respond or do you re-read them and improve upon them like thinking of a good come-back hours after the fact? i do that sometimes some people post incessantly, but those people seem to manage to keep it in spray. Is it a tendency of IM/FB/chat/txt'ing/instant generation in combination with an ADD thing or some sort of narcissism or what? all fair options, or maybe something else? i ain't that good of a climber on any front and i like reading the wide variety of information people share but i see tons of your posts on other people's threads, a lot of the time lately, and i can't say i have learned much from yours. if there is a silver lining it is that people's response to your posts generally have valuable information. just my observation as a fly on the wall cheers & chill

yes i think columbia is full of shit, like the textile mills of schoeller and malden mills or whomever it is that now does polartec .. are not innovating their ass off to come off with the next level of innovation on a great marketing platform with a few pinches of hype added. i think columbia is on track to come out with their own version of "The Homer", no doubt.. a 6lb coat that boils water, uses batteries to keep you warm, has GPS built into the zipper pull, and has micro-fans built into the jacket to promote vapor transfer. the mammut c_change is a schoeller product, similar to something they have called 'coldblack' which is suppose to allow darker colors to reflect more heat and not feel as http://www.coldblack.ch/ "Dark colors heat up stronger when exposed to direct sunlight compared to light colors. This no longer needs to happen! Now there is coldblack®, a special finishing technology for textiles which reduces heat build-up and provides reliable protection from UV rays. The coldblack® finishing only contains „bluesign® approved“ components. „bluesign® approved“ components are as low as possible in harmful substances, making them benign to mankind and the environment and encouraging the economical and ecological use of resources in the production process."

yes, probably wouldn't hurt to have them as a guess, unless the mini WX trough moving through tonite puts down enough to make it a postholeriffic adventure. btw im pretty sure century drive/cascade lakes hwy is closed at mt bachelor/dutchman flats sno park.. unless you are up on that and taking a snowmobile or skinning. would love to hear an early season report/pics if you manage to get out and up there

but.. my... precious wilderness experience. also, when i'm on a listed/mapped trail through a wilderness area, sometimes I want to blow my brains out cause i know it was made by humans. also if I see a jet or contrail above a wilderness area... ooooo that gets me seething

you know what i find to be trash? orange peels next to the trail. absolutely ruins my wilderness experience. i once quit a 17 day vacation on day 3 in lake clark national park because i saw an orange peel.

how many of you are drinking this evening and how much have you had so far?

when you say backcountry do you mean off trail or just not in a campground? i have a synthetic puffy but use only down really due to warmth/weight. being careful can be as simple as having the stuff-sack for it be sil-nylon instead of just nylon. and/or having a decent DWR or tight-weave material/waterproof shell for the bag. have taken a down bag canoeing for weeks in boundary water canoe area, never got it wet. fiance and i both used down bags for 7 months on Appalachian trail, bags never got wet. colorado t-storms never wet. almost started getting wet after 6-7 days on the north country trail in robson/jasper park in BC/alberta but only because it rained many times every day and our tarp started to send mist down onto us due to heavy rain and constant condensation/never a chance to dry.

technically speaking: what is the top of, and the bottom of, a band of clouds called? ceiling and deck?

yer post title+vid was kinda sprayish.. and you can be kinda irritating (online at least, which counts for very little in the rest of the world). but the death wish es no bueno.