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5.12dude: There seems to be some confusion... which sisters are you talking about (OR or WA)?

From my first to to the stronghold...

What I know: Was there (Cochise) in march got hit with a snow storm, but it was clear in less than two days. As other's have said, we just headed back and hit the lower slopes of mt lemmon. One thing (you probably already know) about Cochise is there are seasonal closures for raptors. I htink they mostly effect the east half, but something to chekc out before you base a plane ticket on it. Tucson, I wish I was headed there. I love the climbing there....

Just my opinion: Leave it washed out. I can do without motorized access to plenty of places in WA. And as a side note: In the last seven years, I've been on four wildland fires operating out of Stehekin. During three of those fires, the road was open and traveled by the locals, but virtually unused by fire operations (other than logistics bwtn the boat landing and the airstrip). Up there, jumpers and raps cutting helispots is where it's at. And that's for the relatively few fires that recieve any suppression action. I think the comment about benifiting a small local user group is right on.

You speak of the Xtracycle... they really aren't that great for cargo bikes. They have lots of play which becomes a real prob with heavier loads. The better options are the Kona and Surly cargo frames. similar to the Xtracycle (and junk bucket bike) above, only one solid frame. Better option: trailers. There's thousands of pages discussing cargo bikes vs. trailers on the bike boards.

Funny, there must be a meth-head DIY forum that spreads this kind of wisdom. This same thing happen to seferal of the guys I work with while we were away for several weeks. Somebody tod me they do this because some gas tanks have a bar just inside the opening to prevent would-be thieves from inserting a siphon hose.

I seem to remember seeing in the Forest Service Health and Safety Handbook (obviously not the Park's edition) that glacial travel was covered under "hazardous duty" (along with active fire suppression and low level flight operations) and warranted 25% pay differential.

I'm not speaking to your experience specifically here, you just provided a lead in... I've found the rangers to be very nice when I've paid my campsite fees and follow the rules. I think they're usually "dicks" to people who feel they can violate the rules w/o consequences because they're dirtbaggin' it or out to do some radical climbing feet. I think you closing sums it up: follow the rules and they're generally pretty nice. My opinion about staying in the valley: don't. Communing is where it's at. Who wants to hang out with a bunch of people, anyways?

As a regular bike rider, I spend a fair amount of time considering the car/bike (actually, the driver/rider) interaction. On one hand, I appreciate people following the rules because, as a rider, I hope drivers follow the rules and avoid killing me. I think it's reasonable to expect everyone (bikes included) to play along. On the other hand, bikes don't run into cars and kill the driver instantly. Yeah, fiars fair, but even as a cyclist, I don't really care so much that drivers follow the rules, but more that they are respectful (e.g. don't cut me off) and don't kill me. Overall, I usually follow the rules (e.g. stop at stop lights) unless the area is free of irritatable Prius drivers. Don't you know cars just make people grumpy?

I've seen this stuff in the Chuckanuts pooled up on the surface of runoff water. It's usually been during or immediately after a heavy rain. Initially, I thought it was some kind of mold/fungus substance. Hiking with sciencey freind of mine, she told me she'd used her plant monocular to look at it and had decided it a mass of spiders. We postualted that they were recently hatched from a egg sack/ deposit that got flushed off of/out of the forest floor. Crazy stuff, huh?

From experience it only takes an 8 foot fall on your head to seriously mess you up. In my case 6 weeks in the hospital then release to a monitored life. Past that over a year to return to driving and more than that to ski or climb again. Many people don't even get that lucky. Wear your helmet! Good enough. I usually do wear a helmet. I just meant to say that when I don't (particularly biking), it's not because I'm trying to look cool or because of weight (as Shaolung implied), but rather because it feels good. In '04 I got nailed by a 4" x 2" stob that snapped out of a snag. Hit me square on the temple/side of my hard hat. Lid went down the hill, I got dizzy, and took a knee. If I hadn't had my helmet on, it would have hit me square between the eyes and ears. I'm a fan of head protection. I guess you could also say I'm not always rational.

If you're really asking a question.... I often don't wear a helmet because I love the feeling of being.. free. I ride my bike w/o a helmet sometimes, too. It just feels good.

Check this for the scoop: http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/884941/Re_Mt_Baker_Road_to_Coleman_cl#Post884941

Also found on the cragx site: Their rope washer looks pretty simpleand effective.

(if you're refering to a lengthy discussion in the "tauntaun thread", I skipped it so I'm rehashing here...) Actually, one of the pictures was of this "Y" symbol and I happened to read it's caption (honest, I'm not into this kind of crap!) The caption said something to the effect of "this y symbol was originally thought to be a sign to rescuers of 'we went this way' or 'we're ok', but ended up being the cords of a descent anchor.' maybe you already knew that. I'm not going to go read that thread.

Just an FYI for the Hood geeks: I was wasting time in Frd meyers a few days ago. A book about this disaster is out. I thumbed the pictures.... hood, snow... disaster scene.. helicopters... sad people, a note... and a bunch of words I didn't bother with. But like I said, if you're really into this kind of thing, you might need to spend some time reading this fine piece of literature.

Dan: I climbed this route in... 1999? We didn't bring any rack other than the standard pickets and screws for a glacier. It was pretty early season, thought. We did climb through the top rock step belayed by climbing down into the moat, but no gear. It was a fun route up. Nothing more technical than, say, the north face of the north twin (i think this could have been early during a high snow year). We acsended into a whiteout, and by the time we reached the top of the Wilson glacier, we were in a complete whiteout. We sat for a while to see if things cleared, but the mountain is rounded enough there so we never could see anytthing but glacier. We descended back into the Wilson route, but that could have been tricky if we'd gone much farther. My advice: don't get to far past the top of the Wilson w/o a good plan for finding your way back into it. We descended in whiteout/rain. It was a little nervy being in the Wilson with stuff sluoghing left and right (literally). I rememer the Kutz being a major squish hazard in the bottom quarter of the Wilson. Light feet makes quick work. I'd also anticipate a fair amount of scrapnel if you do it in "warming" conditions. Overall: I'd do it.

Back in the day I used to find a deep/steep roadcut with a good snow bank and throw myself off that and see if my sweetheart could arrest and pull me out... obviously look for one that has a moderate runout and a fair amount of snow along the side. I've been able to find one towards the upper lot at baker 2 for 2 and I'm sure there'd be something near snoqualmie pass. Just stay away from the freeway (or you'll look like a real tool...) Good idea for a spring brushup. I think there are a fair number of people out there who think they know what they're doing because they did this excersise ten years ago but never since.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090422/ap_on_bi_ge/us_freddie_mac_official_dead "WASHINGTON – David Kellermann, the acting chief financial officer of money-losing mortgage giant Freddie Mac was found dead at his home Wednesday morning in what police said was an apparent suicide."

Bitchin photos. That's just what I needed at this hell hole of a computer lab. Via la Vida!

Hey 206'er: I think you're thinking of Medical Lake.

My method: - spf 15+ (30+ on SUNNY snow) - tolerable smell (#1 criteria) - non-oily (I get the stuff that's wax based, and it doesnt make my skin feel like a ball of uncooked hamburger) - reapplied vigorously (think scrubbing face) to face, ears, chin, and entire nose area hourly. Otherwise, I go with what someone else has got or what's cheap.

Question: are you talking about on the hair part or the sticky? If it's in the hair, try scraping, smoothing, and spreading it over a large area of the skin. Helps prevent balling anyways. If there's a whole mess of it, try laying a layer of grocery bag paper on the hair and gently ironing. The wax melts, the paper soaks it up. If you talking about in the adhesive and it's preventing your skins from sticking, I'd guess regluing. Yuck. Good luck. dave