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very icy, with a dusting of snow. ice flows covering most of the trail. crampons or other serious traction aids highly recommended, although we saw people struggling up with snowshoes, with varying degrees of success. microspikes should work for cascade, but the descent into the col to Porter...

it has to be 60 lb. Female black bears don't grow to 600 lb. A fully mature female may reach 300 but that's the upper limit. 60 lb means she was practically still a cub, and possibly a malnourished one at that. At that age (probably under two years), they are still sometimes dependent on their...

I have also recently seen water flow meters that can be installed on the drinking line of a hydration pack. it's a little digital widget that measures how much water has been drunk. Anybody used it? is it actually accurate? I often have trouble gauging how much water is in my hydration...

if you think mental google is cool... This guy has an ipod.....in his mind!!!

He'd better get it in writing. "reserving the right" to prosecute means this is an unofficial deal that they can go back on for any reason.

Note: Temperatures were unseasonably cool, so expect conditions to be mushier than we encountered. The trail was firm styrofoam most of the way, but was softening by the end of the day. very few postholes, nice and flat. A few bare or icey spots down near the dam, but mostly good hardpack...

The trail up Giant is moderately postholed already. On Saturday the snow was quite firm for most of the way, and our group was able to use crampons without creating new postholes. I carried snowshoes but didn't need them except near the bottom in the afternoon. Others in my group didn't carry...

for 1000 bucks they better be made out of unicorn leather.

Some fairly icey spots. bring your traction aids. I used crampons most of the way, but plenty of people had just snow shoes and were able to make it up. Some of them were slipping and sliding and tumbling down hill though.

I think with the Haiti earthquake at the top of the headlines, this is unlikely to hit the press with much force. luckily Pakistan has the resources to deal with this sort of thing, at least more so than Haiti. I'm sure the Pakistani military is on it.

If you ever see mushrooms hung like Christmas ornaments, it was probably red squirrels.

good grief! That guy climbs vertical ice faster than i can walk! and I walk fast.

I was told (somewhere) not to use a dremel or other high speed gadgetry to sharpen crampons or snowshoes. The heat it generates can damage the temper of the metal and make it soft, and more likely to get dull quicker. use a file. probably two files, a coarse and a fine. they're cheap.

It's also important to note that he wasn't climbing at the time he was killed. he was hiking in a steep gulley above a cliff. The avalanche itself was rather small, and it just swept him off his feet and over the edge. If not for the cliff, he probably would have been ok. bummer...

I wonder...if you stood on Washington, and someone stood on Marcy, could they see your pants on a clear day?

It's normal to lose the distinct knitted look. The yarns all felt together (yes, it is called felting) and it obscures the knit pattern. I'm pretty sure That means you did it right.

My mama always said. if you're hands are cold, put on a warmer hat. She never said anything about boxes of chocolates, but eating chocolate may help supply necessary calories to keep you warm. my advice. keep em dry. wear layers, use hand warmers. I've heard they work well not just on the...

If you expect to be changing plans, then this is probably not for you. There is a tradeoff between independence and safety. If you want the independence to change plans on a whim, you must either have a more flexible means of communication (Spot messenger or cell/satellite phone), or you must...

I carry a curved upholstery needle and a bobbin spool wound with some heavy duty polyester boot thread in my "gear first aid" kit. much smaller than an awl. with a leatherman and/or thimble to hold the needle you could sew through just about anything. I like that spiderwire idea. Might have to...

Is there a stump of the old strap left? if there is any left, that makes it easier, since the new strap can just be sewn onto that. But if the strap is ripped out and missing, then the whole side seam needs to be opened and a new strap sewed in, that makes it a bit more of a chore. I second the...