NWHikers.net

When you click on a thumbnail to open the larger picture, the thumbnail should close. It's slightly annoying to have to go back after viewing the large pic and close out the thumbnail.

Daisy and I played with a brindle boxer on Wednesday at Discovery park. Charlie, I think his name was. 8 years old. Great dog, soft coat, and I love the coloration pattern. Charlie had a slimmer build, and more white on his head, so maybe he wasn't a purebred.

I feel the pain of these poor folks. I hope the dog turns up soon.

This area won't be over-run, IMO. It's too hard to get to for trail hikers, not challenging enough for climbers or scramblers, and too close to civilization for the deep wilderness lovers. Now if a trail was constructed, maybe, but that ain't happening.

They can't ticket you for that. That's the same exact sign they use when the Mtn Loop highway is closed for the winter. The exact same sign they use on other roads closed to vehicular traffic, but are open to pedestrians and winter sports users. Let me be more specific: you could be written a ticket, but it would never stand up in court. I know this to be true, because I had that argument with a Snohomish county deputy over a road closure sign on the Mtn Loop highway a couple of years ago (not the regular closing place). He told me he could ticket me for walking past the sign, and I pointed out it is the same sign they use at the normal winter closure spot. I asked him if that meant it's illegal to snowshoe to Big Four picnic area, he said "Of course not". So I asked him how he was going to enforce a ticket based on me not being a mind reader. He admitted he couldn't.

Here's a useful weather site: http://www.nwrfc.noaa.gov/weather/10_day.cgi You can look at the weather 10 days ahead and pretend it will really happen.

OK, it's no good for knowing anything 10 days in advance. But what it does do is show where any rain will be in the region, and where it won't be. Take a look at this image for this Saturday.

What it tells me is that I'd be better off at Mt Rainier than Mt Baker.

Keep in mind that it is giving you the total precip over a 24 hour period, but doesn't indicate things like "rainy in the morning, clearing in the afternoon". It's one good weapon for your weather arsenal. The one linked by iron is another good one.

Wow, awesome video you added to the first post.

And the first touchdown already.

That didn't take long. No wonder this game always goes "over".

Yes, it's that time of year again. The modern equivalent of gladiatorial combat returns. Right now on NBC, channel 5, is a battle between the Minnesota Vikings and the N'Orleans Saints. The defending Super Bowl champion Saints, led by bionic superman Drew Brees, host the the world champion retiree, Brett Favre, and his Vikings. And there's the kick off! Whoo hoo!

Rainy weather can ruin a mountain hike, even make it dangerous, especially if it turns to snow. But there are lots of good things to see on the Olympic coast, and in the lower-elevation rain forests. Seeing as you're going to be out here for two weeks, I'd wager you will see some good weather. But who knows, this has been a weird year overall. Be sure to have some flexibility in your plans. Theoretical example: you have a beach hike planned first, then a mountain trip, but the weather starts off good. Bag the beach trip, save it for later, and hit the mountains. Call the Wilderness Information Center (WIC) in Port Angeles. They will change your permits over the phone, if your itinerary doesn't bring you past an open ranger station. At the time of year you will be here, you should have no problem with what you desire being "sold out".

I always know where I took my pictures: on the hike.

Seriously, though, that's cool. This feature would be especially useful for helping someone else with trail or route beta. Example: the route from White pass over to Foam creek and then on to Glacier gap/peak. There are apparently several ways that "go" over the ridge in between. Seeing a picture would help, but knowing the exact spot the picture was taken would enhance the value of the information.

I sometimes forget that a GPS is not just a tool, it's also a toy. I think I will bring it on a hike in the near future, leave it on, and have it record the track, then download it. For some reason I have never done this. I guess I always figured the GPS's job was done when the hike was over.

Since weather forecasters can't tell us what will happen the day after tomorrow, pardon me if I don't run out and buy a snowblower.

I have a really stupid method of telling the time. I pull out the camera, take a picture, and then look at the time stamp on the picture.

This is easier than navigating the camera's menus to the time setting, or digging my watch out of the pack. The funny thing is that these "time photos" are often some of my favorites from the trip. I've been considering starting a thread to display some of them, or maybe a post in Pic of the Day.

[quote="Tag Man"][quote="Slugman"]Please explain the difference. I always thought routes were what I drew using TOPO (for example), and tracks were what I could download from my GPS after the hike. So anything I have posted so far has been a "route" by my definition.

OK, got it, thanks. So, what do you call the third thing, the line I draw in TOPO, using the mouse, that TOPO uses to create the route?