deleted

[classvtony]

There is a time to climb and a time to ride your bike. SC is one of those things you might have to let sleep till next year. Or give the avi' a week to consolidate. This is what separates you guys from a rescue. You have the engine to push through. And the best luck o the year
I doff my helmet...

[Zé]

adrenaline junky

[halhiker]

I dont use a gps. I figure if I can't do it without it..I should just go find something else to do. part of the reason I am out there, is to be capable and able to find a route, manuever through it, and end up safe at the other end. On my own abilities. ( however, stuck in the middle of nowhere in the pitch dark, I have kinda wished I had one with me)

Two of us have had absolutely fine results, going up the east ridge and avoiding the DWA property, no one has bothered us ( I really doubt any one would come up there to stop you, it's bad enough being a part of something that you want to do.) We will, in the future, continue to use the route. I have 2 teenage boys..how do you explain to them you've been arrested for trespassing ? The new route is already kind of established in our heads and we have found we hit our previous marks with pretty good precision along the 4000' level of that ridge. A simple drop down into the gorge into cross Fallscreek (above the falls), a nasty climb up for 20 minutes, go sw for a few minutes, and theres the trail. Nobody is trespassing, you stay out of everybodys way. The only part that is really rough, is the straight up climb from the palms to gain the ridge...I believe it's about 3000' in under 30 yards. It is steep ! Yesterday, we were 5 1/2 hours from our vehicle ( parked adjacent to snowcreek road, north side of hwy 111 ), to the snow tongue. Took an hour break, got on the snow, and witnessed so much of the evil that climb has to offer, I am clinging to the soft security of my chair and the wonderfulness of my refrigerator today. Crevasses that have gotten so dangerous it's trully frightening,a crumbling chockstone bridge that still tempts you to cross it, a 4minute and 48 second long avalanche with a 4' tall front wall at 8200' that we barely got out of the way of( this was an experience I will never forget ), postholing for hours (except where the slide had cleared the chute down to graded ice. and postholing the last 1500' for <2 1/2> hours !!! in butt deep snow that we knew was going to slab off and kill us.... and then the wind came up.....we barely made the last car down. we have done that route 4 out of the last 5 weekends, and after yesterday...I'm finding somewhere else to go play.

I know that post holing hell. I had a friend put his hand on a rattler one time and since he couldn't breathe too well after that we got to the snow late and post holed for HOURS. We weren't lucky enough to make the last tram. We were fortunate enough to be able to access the Tram station so we didn't freeze. Family duties have kept me from getting up this year (the DWA wouldn't stop me) but your tale makes me sad I missed it.

[bluerail]

okay Hal...what exactly does "access the tram station " mean ? I think I remember reading a sort of b&e story of yours....

now that I've rested, as always, yesterday was deep and meaningful..the type of events the twisted part in all of us hopes for...like hoping for a wreck at a car race.
Still...that was a very hard trip, and we both deserve everything we ate today.

and if I EVER put my hand on a rattler and get out unbit...that is when I go buy the lottery ticket.

[halhiker]

okay Hal...what exactly does "access the tram station " mean ? I think I remember reading a sort of b&e story of yours....

now that I've rested, as always, yesterday was deep and meaningful..the type of events the twisted part in all of us hopes for...like hoping for a wreck at a car race.
Still...that was a very hard trip, and we both deserve everything we ate today.

and if I EVER put my hand on a rattler and get out unbit...that is when I go by the lottery ticket.

The whole lower section was hike fifteen minutes, wait for freaked out buddy fifteen minutes. We should have taken the omen and turned back.

To get into the Tram station you have to watch National Treasure, Into the Wild, Touching the Void and the DaVinci Code at the same time and at 56:29 of the movies look for the clue by merging the frames using Quicktime. It's really easy.

[bluerail]

If ever stuck in the situation of missing the tram....I think I'll walk down skyline...my chances are easier than finding the clue.

[KathyW]

Down with that climbing swine! They have pooped in our precious Palm Springs Golf Course Lawn water for the last time!!!

Does anybody know if Snow Creek water is used on golf courses?

Perry: I think they have switched some of the golf courses to recycled water and plan on switching more of them over to recycled water, but my understanding is that many golf courses in the Coachella Valley are using ground water. They are recharging the aquifers with Colorado River Water, but it isn't enough to compensate for what is being sucked up via wells; so the overdraft situation continues. The golf courses are within the CVWD's and the DWA' s boundaries. Water is more valuable than gold in the desert, but people continue to squander it. It's not just the golf courses - there are a lot of people with grass around their homes - such a waste in the desert.

Kathy

[Hikin_Jim]

Down with that climbing swine!

Climbing swine? Really?! This I gotta see!

Do I have to wait less for this than waiting for "when pigs can fly?"

HJ

[Vnthali]

Steve your comments about GPS are spot on. Relying on GPs exclusively as a means of navigation can put you in the hurt locker. Especially, if you don't bring a map, compass, and the ability to convert what you see on the map to the real terrain around you (landmarks, contours, etc.) as you proceed. I'd still buy the lottery ticket. The planets only align themselves so often...