CascadeClimber

Mike, if those were taken on the first dates you mentioned, you may have answered your own question.

Old saying: Men marry women hoping they won't change and they do. Women marry men hoping they will change and they don't.

We're leaving butt-early in the morning, Mr. Rocks. You can ride along if you like. But we have alpine plans for Monday, so you might need to hitch a ride back. -L

That's what I think. I weighed about 135 when I carried 70 lbs into the Bugs and I just about died. I think 60 is extemely heavy, like having both of my kids on my back at once. But who knows, maybe Carlson is a work horse. I used to train with 85-90 pounds, mostly on West Tiger 3. I carried that much up Si one time with Roman, who had to wait for me repeatedly. 85 make 50 feel like a day pack.

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Well, it's looking like a big-ass Smith conclave this weekend. We'll be down Saturday morning. I'll trade beer and firewood for a spot to put up a tent at the Grasslands on Saturday night. Gray 4Runner, unmistakeable pink pinstripe (used to be the wife's ride). -Loren

WOW Weather Put out by Mike Fagin and company. IMHO, he does a fantastic job predicting mountain weather- superior to the local newsies. -L

Ye gads, guys, my intent was to point out that just because it's late May, and the snowpack mostly consolidated (or disappeared), with this recent weather it's worth paying a little extra attention to conditions. The numbers are from the WOW Update this morning. Here is a portion: -Loren

Thank you, Mr. Alpinfox, for the synopsis, and for spending the time and energy to be there. -Loren

I'm jonesing bad to get out this weekend and avoid the throngs, thongs, and Prana tops at Smith, but the avy danger in the hills is pretty scary right now. It sounds like there's been as much as 18" of new snow in the last couple days, on a very firm base. Let's be safe out there this weekend, folks! -L

Matt, perhaps it's your attitude about this site that is causing problems then. I've been to enough non-climbing meetings to know that "irresponsible spew" takes place everywhere, it's just usually couched in more socially acceptable language. Here a suggestion for starters: Publish the minutes from the meeting(s). That way the big "we" can see what the little "we" is up to. The big "we" might be less suspicious and more supportive that way. And it sounds like we (big) could really be helped by some alignment on this one. -Loren

Matt, I think it would be helpful to all involved if you didn't use the word "we" to describe, as near as I can tell, at least two separate groups of people: "...but we DO need to evaluate our practices as climbers..." "...it was only yesterday that we were able to have a direct meeting..." "...we had a meeting with route developer types because we wanted..." It would also be nice to know who the more selective "we" is, as that "we" seems to be speaking for the larger "we". Because, well, I didn't vote for you, and I thought this was an autonomous collective Also, you might consider that by deleting posts, you only foster the kind of external beliefs about climbers that you seek to allay. Censorship and keeping people in the dark, despite alluring arguments to do so, most often bring about exactly the thing that those doing it seek to avoid. Best- Loren

I have a Sony DSC-P1 and V1, my wife has an F707. All take better pics than the AE1-P and Rebel 2000 35mm SLRs we had before (we shot film, not slides). The V1, which I use for climbing now, takes great pics, has nightshot, and a laser-assist AF light. It also takes nice video, unlimited length. It is not as handy to use one-handed as the P1 (and presumably the P10). I'm impressed with the sharpness of the images from the Canon that AlpineDave has (an S40??). One is in a frame in my living room. Sony memory technology is fast, but it's twice as expensive as compact flash or SD, which most of the other manufacturers use. Plan to buy a significantly larger memory card than what is included with the camera. An extra battery is also nice (especially when, unlike me, you remember to charge them up). I agree, the manufacturers have pushed too hard on megapixels at the expense of image quality. The reason I went with the V1 instead of the P10 is that I wanted optics better matched to the CCD. Pics from the P1 (3 megapixel) are good to about 8x10. The 707 and V1 pics (5 megapizel) looks great at 13x19. Don't worry: Whatever you get will be obsolete by this time next year and you'll be jonesing for the latest multimegapixel wonder-widget. FWIW, I figured that my P1 paid for itself in film and processing costs in about a year. -L

I've been in the 80-85 minute range on the old trail to the top. I can't imagine hucking a 60 pound training pack up the haystack, though. -L

I used to sit next to a dude who left his damn Nextel on his desk all day, even when he wasn't there. We finally took it and put it up in the drop ceiling. Was fucking hilarious when he came back- he could hear it beeping and ringing, but couldn't find it. We all just sat there biting our lips. Don't get mad, get even!

I've been meaning to ask about times up Si- I'm trying to get my sorry, lethargic ass back in shape. What is a respectable time up the old trail, say to the little clearing in the trees just past the boulders, not to the top of the Ghayperstack? Under an hour is fast in my book, with all the switchbacks.

What's the weather forecast looking like down there? It's looking like yet another holiday weekend filled with copious amounts of liquid sunshine up here. So suck. -L

Just logon to PayPal and send $$ to Tim's email addy.

The haystack was lovely fun in a cold downpour at 6:00 PM Saturday. Props to the girl carrying her Baker pack and towing her Mom in training for her climb in two weeks. -L

Fredbot Fredbot is the highly refined, waterproof, mil-spec, outdoor-use version of the widely available indoor-only Sendbot. Fredbot features include: Fredbot Digestive System: Eats snaffle, slide alder, and devils club, craps manila hemp. Fredbot Eyes: Can easily distinguish between the obvious gully and the obviously not obvious gully. Can see through white-outs and ground fog, especially to find your girlfriend (see Fredbot Pits). Fredbot Pits: Exude copious amounts of Fredbot pheromomones, combines with Fredbot Skin to make Fredbot irrestible to your girlfriend. Fredbot Chalk Bag: Crafted from snaffle skin left over from last night's dinner, filled with snaffle bone ground to fine powder by Fredbot Teeth. Fredbot Feet: Soles tougher than Vibram, more sticky than Stealth, featuring tough-as-steel retractable five-point crampons/toe nails. Fredbot Nose: Can smell a delectible dinner-size snaffle from over a mile away. Can catch a whiff of an untrammeled route from three easy scrambles and one slightly brushy valley away. Fredbot Hands: Look (and work) like #3.5 Camalots. Fredbot Fingers: Each Fredbot finger features two knuckles from which the molds for Frost Sentinel nuts were cast. Fredbot Ears: Widely rumored to be non-functional, they simply operate in stealth mode so Fredbot isn't distracted by your whining when he steals your girlfriend (see Fredbot Pits). Fredbot Skin: Effortlessly sheds copious amount of Northwest Liquid Sunshine. Impervious to thorns, bug bites, and crack rash. Permabronze coloring combines with Fredbot Pits to make him irrestible to your girlfriend. Fredbot Pack: Looks like an old-school ruck, but weighs nothing and carries everything. Fredbot Little Black Book: Widely believed to be nothing more than a rumor, the Fredbot LBB does exist, but is invisible to all but Fredbot and Helmybot. All notes are taken in Fredroglyphics or Helmyskrit, so you couldn't read it even if you could see it. Fredbot Guidebooks: Filled with translations of information formerly housed in the Fredbot LBB. Consists mostly of routes you'll: 1. Never be able to find. 2. Never be able to get to, even in twice the time noted. 3. Never be able to send, even if you do get to them. Fredbot Belay Slave: Your girlfriend. See Fredbot Pits and Fredbot Skin. Feel free to add-on. -L

Ad-aware gets most of it. But you may also want to run CWShredder: It gets some things that Ad-aware can't.

Fred is a damn god! Go Fred, go!

Dunno how to post from the gallery. That one is from my site. We passed the ice cliff at the top of the rounded rock heap in 2001. Of course, I was later chided for climbing the "Cheater Route": -L

Where were you guys relative to this pic: ??