nolanr

Louisiana-Lafayette used to be the Ragin' Cajuns. Don't know if they had to change that due to cultural sensitivity or anything. In probably the first official case of PC Stanford changed it's mascot from Indians to Cardinal way back when. As in the color, not the bird. Not much imagination there for such a nerd school. Purdue are the Boilermakers. And then there's the Indiana Hoosiers, although I have no idea what the hell a hoosier is. They you got you're Ohio State Buckeyes, which near as I can tell is basically an acorn. What is it w/ those BIG 10 schools, they got some goofy mascots.

I had no trouble getting into Canada w/ just a drivers license up north of Babb, Montana. However crossing back into the US at Sumas the guy looked at me a little funny since I didn't have a passport or birth certificate. I wouldn't have even thought about needing a passport to go to Canada. What, like it's another country or something?

It's not quite a mascot, but since somebody brought up rallying cries: there's a college in Kentucky I believe named Austin Peay (pronounced like pee), and their slogan back in the 70's was "The fly is open, let's go Peay." I think the administration frowned on that one.

The post said something about a carload of day hikers. I actually ran into quite a few people that were in and out in a day.

I know. I already admitted to being a wanker and gaper.

Camas Papermakers. Ridgefield Spuds.

Are you kidding? The wind always blows down there. What's going on?

Finished "Nanga Parbat Pilgrimmage" by Herman Buhl. Between that, "Mountains of My Life" by Walter Bonatti and "Conquistadors of the Useless" by Lionel Terray, you get a pretty good idea of what the European super-climbers were up to in the 50's. Read "Starlight and Storm" by Gaston Rebuffat too, but didn't like that particularly. Currently working on "Catch-22" for the 2nd time. Frickin' hilarious, ya gotta read that if you haven't already. Next up will probably be "The Ascent of Rum Doodle."

Damn, the Columbia is wider than I thought, you can't even see the other side.

Canucks drive big SUV's too, I saw it w/ my own eyes!

Right. I SAW one climber. Could have been legions more I didn't see. This guy was wearing a red jacket and was easy to pick out at some distance.

I don't think you even have to worry about chickenwire if you're in and out in a day. The porkies are nocturnal, eh? They have the same problem over in Kokanee Glacier Prov. Park, and let me tell you the chickenwire did not keep those persistent little bastards off of my car. They just crashed right thru it, I had to shoo a couple of them off in the middle of the night while doing an illegal car bivi at the TH (Gibson Lake). Death to quill clad !

Del Campo is one of my favorites. Gothic Basin is beautiful. I like approaching it from another side, little ways up the trail to Headlee Pass (approach for Vesper) you veer off and follow the little valley of the Stilly to the base of the peak. Usually some good kicking steps up snow covered ramps, then from the highest gap on the right you round a corner and find a hidden gulley. Ascend it, then follow ridge to summit. I think Beckey calls that the West Buttress. Fun stuff. I've done numerous variations up there and usually descend a different route than I ascend. I haven't done my annual trip up there yet though.

Um, I was a wanker. I was by myself and worked over after reaching camp, so I just sat there and gaped. Didn't climb. Definitely have to return again some time WITH A CLIMBING PARTNER. Saw one guy on Pingora while I was up there, otherwise I wasn't aware of any climbing activity other than bouldering going on. Ran into some guys on my way out by Big Sandy Lake that are about halfway thru doing the CDT. Oops, I didn't really answer your question. Went up to the Cirque. That's probably the coolest place I've been to so far in my life.

Kids are bored pretty much everywhere. Not really a good excuse for beating people up and causing property damage. I am happy to report that I spent about a week and a half in BC and Alberta, I was never attacked once, my car was not broken into, and I never was aware of any anti-American sentiments. Most people were very friendly and nice. Although there are some HORRIBLE drivers up there. Here's to our neighbors to the north (except for those punk kids in Squamish).

I wonder if Cluck is at all worried about how badly BC is burning up this summer? But that's north of us, so it's no big deal. It all may be cyclical and there are certainly overstated doomsday predictions, but it has been one hell of a hot and dry summer all over the world and there have been some disastrous consequences.

Awesome stuff, huh? I just got done w/ a road trip to those places and a few others.

Was just in the Cirque a couple weeks ago. Definitely not an easy day hike. Looking at the description in the trail guide I figured "This hardly gains any elevation, no problem." Well, it kicked my ass. I wasn't quite acclimated to 10 1/2 thousand feet yet. Anyway once you're there, you want to hang around for a while, it's an absolutely spectacular place. Do yourself a huge favor, aim for the lower pass on the left as you're approaching the Cirque. The main trail gains more elevation than it needs to, then you immediately lose it dropping to Lonesome Lake. If you go w/ the pass on the left, you're in the upper basin which is nicer anyway. Just a little suggestion after I found out the hard way. That's the only stop I made in the Winds, sure there's plenty more great stuff.

three weeks. pfft. i'm taking off today for two months! Okay, sucks to be everybody but you TLG.

Saturday AM I'm taking off road trippin', no work for me for 3 weeks! Rockies here I come.

Yeah, you might have me on that one. Devil's Tooth it is then. Getting up She Devil was easy, I made it a little sporting on the way down. At first I was heading straight for the saddle between She Devil and He Devil. Started to look steepish, so I started angling down the face towards Sheep Lake, kind of a maze of ramps, chimneys, benches, steps, etc., that had a bad habit of cliffing out and dead ending. Started to think I was going to have to backtrack all the way back up, but finally found the right combination to get on easier ground a little below the He Devil/She Devil saddle.

I think Cutthroat is worth climbing once. It is gaining popularity. Last weekend it saw more traffic than the Beckey Route on Lib. Bell, no joke. Surprisingly uncrowded in the whole group S of the Pass.

Saw some parties on the NW Corner route of NEWS Sunday. That looks like a totally cool route. Pretty sustained 5.8-5.9 from the looks of the guide book.

Did He Devil and She Devil in a fairly leisurely day, plus one more (Mt. Baal I think) from a base camp at the next lake down from Sheep Lake. Fairly easy scrambling possibilities, some ridge traversing. There's an impressive face on He Devil facing Sheep Lake. I didn't go up that way, did a series of ledges and ramps mostly. It's much lower elevation, but Tower of Babel near the outlet of Sheep Lake also looked really cool.

Cool, sounds good. Keep the ideas coming.