jonathan schrock

FYI: http://www.blm.gov/or/districts/prineville/fire/alerts.php Trout Creek closes annually on January 15th.

eTrex 30 - light weight, compact size, good reception, good battery life, all basic nav functions, mag. compass, pressure altimeter, easy to read screen, easy to use with gloves on, topo map capability, easy menu navigation, customizable setup, easy to use computer based planning/waypoint mgmt. software. I've used or played with most of the other options out there. This one wins out. Ymmv. It works for me. In reality, my GPS gets treated exclusively as a tool ... and sits in my pack most of the year. Wrist mounted nav units (like the foreTrex 301 and 401) are useable and fully capable but less user friendly in real world use due to more complicated menu interfaces. I would guess the same for the newest (Fenix???) with the added problem of shorter battery life. Those fitness GPS watches are generally useless for real navigation purposes.

Cool report! Nice work on a rarely visited side of the mountain. We happened to be in the same neighborhood about 4 days prior...but went up through the rock band instead of the right hand ice variation just short of 13k. Also enjoyable. Didn't see anyone for the entire trip either. Pretty cool after the crowds on the other side. Beta comment: Dropping in at 8,200 off PR worked about as well for us as it could have considering the other gullies available.

Body Found on Mount Rainier Was Missing Camper via Seattle Times

Google translation:

Sig, don't waste your time with the Snow Claw. Slow, inefficient, and more strenuous to use would be the operative descriptors imho. Also next to useless if you run into any sort of ice layer. I've used one. Exactly once. I currently have a BCA B-1 EXT. Good combination of blade strength and size, handle length, and one of the few shovels I've used that packs easily inside my pack if I so desire. Plenty of other good options out there.

put her down right on the numbers. nice vid tyler.

Are there any retail options for high end mtn. boots in the Seattle area besides Feathered Friends? I'm not from the area but may be up there in the next few weeks. Would like to make the rounds and try on various options - from Baruntse to Spantik to Phantom 6000 for doubles (and whatever else I can find) as well as Batura and Phantom Guides for singles. So far I haven't found anyone that stocks much - everything is ordered as needed. Tried Marmot Mtn Works - their selection is nil. thanks much.

Honestly the temps have been perfect for the lower gorge for most of the past couple months. I haven't been down there in a while, but the weird weather this year means that we are likely to see a pretty stinkin' good LG season from here on out. Who really knows with the wacky weather this year...but I'm starting to think this warm weather will just keep getting better. Good recommendations so far. Also look at North Point and the Student Wall if you want to acclimate to basalt before launching off on the sharp end. And look at the Shakespeare Wall for a couple more worthwhile climbs below 5.10. As stated, it's hard to go wrong in the LG. Especially if you stick to some of the well known classics.

Strange area to NOT make it back to the parking lot from. Hoping for the best.

Been "planning" a trip in there for a while now. The plan just went from back burner to front burner. Thanks for the sweet pics.

E-Mail Sent Bump...

Thanks for the comments JosephH. Probably some good advice/ideas in there. We may indeed be backed into a corner to an extent. The whole deal sucks. Really sucks. Hopefully there are SOME folks at the BLM who are still willing to consider collaboration on this. We are willing...heck, we WANT to be involved... but have thus far received little to no response. This is the main frustration. Despite the comments about how nice and upstanding some of the personnel at the BLM office may be...I am thus far not at all impressed with their handling of this issue. It certainly does not build any amount of trust or hope for future, more responsible and professional approaches to other challenges. It's incredibly disappointing and frustrating.