Water

now that sounds beyond reasonable. however, how would you propose that such measures are instituted? Especially altering the health insurance industry to be non-profit. I can imagine (the government regulators) asking the health insurance industries to switch to a non-profit model. I spose the town hallers would jump on the bandwagon for that one...

would a 'pure' (aka no such thing even) capitalism lend itself to approach healthcare from the directive of reducing sickness and investing in and incentivizing preventative care to gain long-term goals of less treatment (reduce long-term potential for profits)? Is there any reason why a private health insurance company who's shareholders are the ones who must be answered to at the end of the day would take this approach? What would the competitive advantage be?

how old are you? just cause you can find an entry on urban dictionary doesn't make it so. Coming from in situ experience, the definitions stand as I stated them. Maybe on the interwebs you can pull it off but among those who know, you do not.

well taxes would have been cut across the board to promote piss-down economics, all social welfare programs significantly cut, tons more troops to both wars, and update of national science education to reflect that both global warming and evolution are both just one of many different 'theories' out there. basically our problems would have been solved! another lovely hypocrisy of the tea garglers -- they don't 'want the government' to be involved with healthcare, but they are more than happy to have the government (law) tell a woman what healthcare she can and can't have. always a hoot to stare at, them folks

not in on this thread at all but need to clarify something. my understanding is that the skin between the balls and ass is called one's taint. a chode (choad) is a penis that is wider than it is long. if this fundamental misunderstanding of your own reproductive and excrement areas is any reflection of your comprehension of political theory and practice, i take pity on you.

Well I'd say it is great your daughter(s) have an interest in the outdoors and that you are very interested in encouraging this and sharing it with them. That is a pretty huge mutual part that you don't have to worry about and that could be the hardest to have happen if it wasn't that way. I'd really recommend nwhikers.net or portlandhikers.org for advice about long and short 'hikes' to the tops of cool things with views. I'm sure people here can help you out but in my opinion its a bit like asking the yankees for tips on playing softball with your family. Both of those other forums have more people geared towards your type of request and you may hear more back from them with detailed responses about specific hikes/scrambles. And as a motivator for getting in shape, being in shape doesn't mean the beer and BBQ have to go bye-bye. Just have to be moderated..and the more active you are, the more you can par-take in those pleasures without consequence, for the most part. Also I think there have been some studies lately that say those who sleep more lose more weight. I'd argue the smokes would have to go but I've seen enough folks smoking while thru hiking or climbing... not that they're helping anything at all-they're hurting a lot. I don't want to harp on it or anything as I'm sure you know a litany of reasons why you shouldn't be smoking. good luck! start with something relatively flat and short and work your way up.

can't hurt to scout-either summit is pretty. I think 75 scrambles in oregon has both - pretty sure a common approach to sacajawea goes up from hurricane creek basin (one valley to the west from Wallowa), whereas matterhorn, for obvious reasons is approached from ice lake (or for more challenge, up and over and around the ridge from raz lake--not heard of that route taken too often). Anyways I've read a report or two around the web of people trying to go from matternhorn to saca and it seems like at some point between there is a large gap that 'could' be crossed but most people whos reports I read turned around there. here is a photo looking south from saca I think. http://s683.photobucket.com/albums/vv195/fergi692000/?action=view&current=506336.jpg

uhh... weather? maybe if he was pulling a mccandless.. the write up make his intention very clear, and living in the mountains ain't it.

this looks a lot better. for a few weeks when I saw it I really scratched my head about where the heck it could be...i knew it could be flipped but was trying to think of anywhere else it could be.

yeah heading out to smith this weekend too..didnt know about this!

berl, dane, These are all things I have wondered as much... that hood should not be to the right of Adams, when looking south from anywhere on Rainier. pre-eruption st. helen's top was still a bit more pointy and rounded than the mountain in this picture I thought. I spose it was just a matter of the image being mirrored to give the mixed up view.. thanks for feedback folks! yeah I guess that is excellence..maybe just having a good view is excellence? dane you know a guy named herm who was from eastern wa? lives around bishop, ca now?

This sure seems to be a PNW volcano, just trying to figure out which ones are in the photo and where it was taken from. its my co-worker's office, he has no clue. it says 'excellence' below, its one of 'those' pictures. anyone have any speculations? Large flattened top volcano to the right (adams, rainier?) and then to the left on the horizon there is pretty pointed, looking like any number of potential volcanoes. thanks

Check ODOT for the 242 closure if that is still in effect limiting access from the west side. If so, find another route over and I'd say go to pole creek TH which is SW of the town of Sisters. From there you can take the soap creek trail and veer off after a bit on a trail which will place you right around the SE ridge of N Sister. I think I'd personally recommend getting up onto the ridge as early as possible..you don't want to keep going up the 'flat' area that parallels the hayden glacier unless you are just going to go up the S ridge of N sister. coming from the pole creek TH taking the SE ridge would be quickest, I believe good luck

this article is total crap. the fees and permits for public lands drive me nuts and i specifically avoid going to these places because there are still tons of great options that don't have the stupid hoops and planning to jump through. national parks too, i hate all the different regs and fees to keep track of, especially when all i want to to back-country camp -- and even more especially when you are required to stay at the backcountry location you have signed up for ahead of time. gives no freedom to adjust to conditions or whatever. if there ever was a schizo government agency it is the USDA.. the forest service's own mission statement is riddled with contradictory statements. it should just say utilitarian use, and be clear that outdoor citizen's uses and economic extraction activities will converge at many places. trail maintenance and trailhead crapper costs are piddly compared to building a road for logging. while there are employees of the FS i respect, i have little respect for the agency. the utilitarian balance between extraction uses and protection/recreational is not a balance..it is quite unequal. most of the pcnw looks like green swiss cheese from the air.

from everything I can tell it seems like it will just be a scree fest at this point in the year - assuming crampons would just go along for a ride..is ice ax even necessary? haven't been in the olympics cept for a hike up to the elk lake last year, so forgive the lack of knowledge--climbing in the olympics book is already out at the library. we are looking for something within 3 hours of pdx that would be some fun. have already done the sisters, and all the other peaks from mid or to south wa this year.. if you got a better suggestion than the brothers let at it.. thanks much

That is kind of what I was thinking.. the trail never goes that close to the base of dragontail. Unless someone is having fun and going up not on the trail..on the south/west side of the creek

BCEP does not cover crevasse rescue. As others have said, and being a BCEP graduate myself, I think ICS is probably solid learning, but the time commitment is pretty huge, and I'm guessing the pace a bit slower. There might be something said for learning mountaineering/rock skills at a low-medium intensity for a long time as opposed to fast and tons of knowledge all at once. Whole difference of going to class all year vs cramming for a week as far as proficiency. There is an intangible part of climbing partners that you will probably form in ICS (its practically a requirement), if you need/want that. Otherwise a 3-5 day intensive with some service could probably cover what you want to learn. Remember Mazamas are not a school or paid guide service or anything, but a club that offers classes that members volunteer to teach..can give a bit of a different style than an instructor being paid to teach, and that isn't to put a value judgment on either.

pics as requested:

haha

thats cool, as least you have an experience to base your hate on, instead of being raised to think that way. thanks for clarifying your weird statement about being unskilled and too specialized cheers

Sure you extended your statement out to cube workers, but you start with "Michiganers opted over time to become relatively unskilled insects". So are you referring to engineering, design, managerial arenas when you say they chose to become relatively unskilled (by being "over-specialized"?)? Perhaps they should have learned construction trades simultaneously? Or when you're speaking of unskilled, did you mean, assembly line workers who are metaphorically are being culled. They over-specialized? Please clarify. Perhaps you meant society's attitudes and approaches are fucked up and Michigan gives a preview of what can/may/will happen elsewhere. However to single out Michiganders as a people having made some sort of dehumanizing choice different from people elsewhere is disingenuous. You are spot on about the worthlessness of over-specialization into the minutiae of corporate/modern workplace scheisse. It has it's place, science can to speak to it, but to the value for an individual and for society to focus so intently down narrow paths surely doesn't make one very adaptable. I myself am wired to be a generalist, and while it can be difficult to find a current at times-there are many currents to ride. This may be a society-wide issue, so speak it as such, no need to speak so mordantly about Michiganders. The generalist knows less and less about more and more until finally S/He knows nothing about everything The specialist knows more and more about less and less until finally S/He knows everything about nothing

Wow. What sweepingly broad generalizations about Michiganders. Yes, there are just so many factory assembly workers who turned their brain and heart off for money..yada yada yada. What a load of fucking bullshit. The amount of people who don't work with the auto-industry but are impacted by its problems is huge, at least in Michigan-I can explain how that works if you don't understand how that works. But yeah, they're totally different than people who live in the rest of the country who grow up where they are born and apply for jobs that are available so they can work and consume. Right... Michigan is just SO unique in that sense. Sure, Michigan was dependent on the Auto co., and over time became more dependent on them than the Autos were on Michiganders. And obviously the Auto co's did a shitty job of playing business. Collapse the largest industry in any other state and see what happens-its not pretty-and it is especially bad in Michigan. But yes, this comes down to the stupid assembly line worker who just wanted money to consume. What a logical conclusion. Not like if that other species actually did a half assed job to develop and position their industry to evolve it could have helped at all.. It is clear you've never been to Southeast Michigan, or if you have, it was as a computer. Let me tell you a secret that people in Michigan are nearly creatures of another planet who don't have communities, families, dreams, hearts, and intellectual pursuits. All those assholes at the Michigan Jungian Society meetings I went to were such losers for having even ancillary jobs connected to the auto market or being even born in Michigan. Same goes for the Michigan Cacti and Succulent Society --unthinking heartless drones! There might be some housing speculation in Michigan - but I'll tell you thats not really a place to point a finger, might try the southwest or florida for that. There are people who want to leave Michigan who can't. People who've lived there for decades, who aren't trying to speculate, who simply need someone to buy their house--even at a huge loss. Nobody is moving there! My girlfriends parents would like to leave the state when the youngest finishes college. They'd like to move back to of all the flashy places - pittsburg - to be closer to family. Heaven forbid they'd want to sell their 2k sq ft cookie cutter suburb house (you can call it a "speculative mcmansion" for effect) for 3 kids + grandma & 2 cats they've been in for 15 years, in the area they've lived in for the last 30. Your statement about what Michigan's population did 'wrong' is simply incorrect. If anyone is at fault for 'shutting off their hearts and minds' for money it would be those who made high level decisions for the Autos-assembly line workers did not march the companies off a cliff with poor designs, r&d, and response to foreign competitors. p.s.: thanks for taking a shit on the humanity of most of the people I know. classy.

got back from N sister this weekend. Up the S.E. ridge, down the S. ridge and out along the moraines/edge of the hayden glacier. Were able to just do a standing, slow scree-slide down half of it. like wimsey reported, bowling alley is entirely snow free. A tiny bit of ice or so about up in the far corner of it but not of importance for the route anyone would go up. Traverse was rock solid snow when we got there-difficult to get the spike in or imagine much in the way of arrest with a fall. donned crampons and I opted to wait for it to soften a bit as we didn't have a rope and pickets. Partner isn't one to sit still so to pass the time he borrowed my ax to secure himself while he chopped steps across with the other. entirely not necessary but passed the time and made it easier a lot easier for me to go across - second tool would have been nice. for me, that traverse was the crux, for him, downclimbing the top of the bowling alley. In this situation he was more comfortable on the snow and I on the rock. No rockfall was occurring that I could see or hear except from where we kicked shit. Another group came up as we were on the summit, but they had only brought rock gear and no ice ax or crampons. rock gear up there seems like a water filter in the desert.. anyways, they were bummed they didnt have the proper gear so short of the summit and had thought it would be snow free from all the info they could find (didnt know of this thread I guess). i can post pics if someone wants to see.

as a born and raised michigander I have to say that the state is fucked for a while. The decline of the auto-industry really started hitting around 2001, even though SUV sales were strong, that was a spikey thing and overall sales from the big three were going south. I don't know what the state is going to do. I have no idea how my girlfriends parents or my mom and stepdad will ever sell their houses there. My dad works with a good environmental ground water testing company and that will be solid well past retirement if he wants to keep working there, but that type of story is far and few between among everyone I know in Michigan.. I can't imagine moving back to anywhere around there, and not just because there aren't any mountains.

timely. I mailed my passport renewal form, plus pictures, old passport, and fees today. Sorta sucks, yeah, but there are other options even, its not like $75/10 years is a bad deal. Though at the same time there is a fee to cross lines drawn by people of power is kinda funny. There is a $20 passport CARD that will allow for border crossings, though the passport BOOK is recommended for travel where you will need visas and go through immigration check points.