2Heeldrive – Walk it off Wimp!

SEATTLE (AP) — Climbers will have to pay more if they want to scale Mount Rainier.

Mount Rainier National Park officials announced Tuesday that an annual climbing pass will cost most adults $43, or an increase of $13. A new youth fee will cost $30 for climbers 24 and younger. The new fees go into effect immediately.

About 11,000 people climb the 14,411-foot volcano each year. Climbing fees pay for rangers salaries, updated climbing routes and weather information, maintenance of toilets at high camps and other services.

Park officials say the fees haven’t covered the full costs of the climbing program over the years. The climbing fee was last increased in 2003.

 
      
       
        TEXTING FOR SENIORS
 
           Since more and more Seniors are texting and tweeting there
           Appears to be a need for a STC (Senior Texting Code). If you
           Qualify for Senior Discounts this is the code for you.
 
           Please pass this on to your CHILDREN and Grandchildren so
           They can understand your texts.
 
           ATD: At The Doctor’s
 
           BFF: Best Friend Fainted
 
           BTW: Bring The Wheelchair
 
           BYOT: Bring Your Own Teeth
 
           CBM: Covered By Medicare
 
           CGU: Can’t get up
 
           CUATSC: See You At The Senior Center
 
           DWI: Driving While Incontinent
 
           FWB: Friend With Beta Blockers
 
           FWIW: Forgot Where I Was
 
           FYI: Found Your Insulin
 
           GGPBL: Gotta Go, Pacemaker Battery Low!
 
           GHA: Got Heartburn Again
 
           HGBM: Had Good Bowel Movement
 
           IMHO: Is My Hearing-Aid On?
 
           LMDO: Laughing My Dentures Out
 
           LOL: Living On Lipitor
 
           LWO: Lawrence Welk’s On
 
           OMMR: On My Massage Recliner
 
           OMSG: Oh My! Sorry, Gas.
 
           ROFL… CGU: Rolling On The Floor Laughing… And Can’t Get Up
 
           TTYL: Talk To You Louder
 
           WAITT: Who Am I Talking To?
 
           WTFA: Wet The Furniture Again
 
           WTP: Where’s The Prunes?
 
           WWNO: Walker Wheels Need Oil
 
           GGLKI: (Gotta Go, Laxative Kicking In) 
 
 
  
 
 
    

Mount Adams

Mount Adams is one of the largest volcanoes in the Cascade Range; it is way bigger than any of the surrounding mountains. Mount Adams has been less active during the past few thousand years than its neighboring mountains of St. Helens, Rainier, and Mt. Hood, it will erupt again.
In the future the eruptions will probably happen more often from vents on the summit and upper sides of Mount Adams than from vents scattered in the volcanic fields beyond. Large landslides and lahars that don‘t need to be related to eruptions probably will cause the most destructive, far-reaching hazard of Mount Adams. Volcanoes create a variety of geologic hazards during eruptions and when there isn‘t any eruptive activity.

During most of its history Mount Adams has shown a limited range of eruptive styles only being lava flows, debris slides, and tephra falls. Very explosive eruptions have been rare. Compared to the large explosive eruptions at nearby Mount St. Helens during the past 20,000 years, the eruptions of Mount Adams have been very mild. Eruptions at Mount St. Helens have covered areas more than 120 miles downwind with ash deposits several centimeters or inches thick, but those at Mount Adams have blanketed only areas a few miles away with a the same thickness of ash. Even though they‘re low levels of power and force, eruptions at Mount Adams are still very hazardous. More importantly even during times of no eruptive activity, landslides of weakened rock that originate on the steep upper sides of Mount Adams have been a dangerous common thing and they can start lahars, which are watery flows of volcanic rocks and mud that surge downstream like rapid flowing concrete. Lahars also known as mudflows or debris flows and they can destroy and kill everything in the valley floors that they run down in to tens of miles from the volcano.

The most frequent occurring type of eruption that has happened at Mount Adams, as well as in the other volcanic areas, produces lava flows, or streams of molten rock. These and older lava flows usually travel less than 12 miles from the vents, but in some events larger flows where as long as 15 to 30 miles. Typical lava flows on the lower sections of the mountain and other places in the volcanic fields spread out onto gentle slopes and funneled out into valleys. The moving flows were tens of feet to more than 100 feet thick and where made up of crusty lava blocks covering a more fluid like liquid core. Their steep fronts moved very slowly at about only about 330 feet per hour. That‘s much more slowly than people typically walk. Still, the lava flows will bury, crush, and burn all structures in their paths, and hot lava boulders coming off flows make it very dangers to on lookers and the also will start forest fires. A normal eruption consists of one main single lava flow over a period of days or weeks and even of a sequence of flows erupted over weeks to a few years. Eruptions that keep happening over years to decades build a broad apron of lava flows on a side of a mountain or even build a separate small volcano several 1,000 feet 6 miles or more in diameter.

There is a very large possibility of Mt. Adams erupting again very soon because it has been a long time since the last time it awoke. The people and businesses in the area need to be aware and cautious of the risk they are in by living and working near the mountain like as it is with any other volcano. This mountain also provides a great place for hiking, biking, skiing, and many other things that would be ruined if this mountain was to awake. It is a very scenic beautiful mountain that has the potential to do what Helens has done.

Winter backpacking can mean your footprints are the only ones out there. That adds to the beauty of the experience, but also to the danger. Alone and in a cold environment, it’s important to know what to do in an emergency. Learning a few basic cold weather survival skills can save your life.

Fire Making

Imagine slipping into a stream and soaking everything with you, when you are more than a day from the nearest road and it’s below freezing out. What would you do? Start a fire, of course, but can you?

Always carry waterproof matches, and practice starting a fire in the cold BEFORE you go winter backpacking. Learn which tinder’s work even when wet. Birch bark, for example, will burn when wet, and so will sap from pines and spruces. You may have only minutes before your fingers get too cold to function, so speed is of the essence.

Winter Backpacking – Survival Shelters

You’ll probably have a tent with you, but you still may want to learn shelter building using snow blocks. Sometimes you can stomp out blocks without tools, using your feet, and then lift them from beneath. Just play around in your backyard until you get the hang of it. In an emergency, or if the weather turns extremely cold, you may want to put your tent behind a wall of snow blocks, to stop the wind.

If it isn’t raining, a quick survival shelter for warmth is a pile of dry leaves, grass, bracken ferns or other plants. I once collected enough dried grass from a frozen swamp in thirty minutes to make a pile several feet thick. I slept warmly in the middle of it (half the insulating grass above, half below) with just a jacket, despite below freezing temperatures.

Staying Dry

You can be wet and warm when it is far below freezing, as long as you stay active. The moment you stop moving, however, you start to lose your body heat. Once you get chilled through, it is difficult to get warm again. Hypothermia (a lowered body temperature) kills many people every year.

If you get wet, try to get dry before you go to sleep. Put dry clothes on if you have them, and use a fire to dry any wet clothes. Earlier in the day, you may be able to hang damp clothes on your pack to dry in the sun. Often when it is coldest, the air is dryer.

Try not to sweat. Adjust your layers, removing and adding shirts, sweaters and jackets as necessary to keep from getting too hot or too cold. Sweat, and clothes damp with sweat, will cause you to lose body heat fast once you stop moving. Stay dry to stay warm.

There are many other cold weather survival skills that you may want to learn. (You can generate heat by eating fatty foods, for example.) You don’t need to know hundreds of skills and techniques, but why not learn a few basics, like the ones above, before your next winter backpacking trip?

Hiking over mountains and trekking through thick forests may seem to be a tough and demanding sort of activity, but in fact all it takes is a good fitness level, some basic equipment and a sound understanding of a few key concepts.

The key for those new to hiking, as with most other learning experiences, is to take things slowly.

So where should you start? An excellent idea to begin with would be to find a suitable location in your local area in which to practice; a park or an area of the nearest suburbs for example. By staying local to residential areas you are ensuring the terrain remains reasonably tame and that you are never too far from help if something should go wrong. Walking in a group with experienced hikers is always a good idea; it increases your own safety and that of the other members of the group and also allows you to ask questions if you are unsure about anything or would just like some extra guidance.

Anticipating weather conditions and equipping yourself accordingly is another important element of hiking and although you should only consider hiking in good conditions to begin with, it is still crucial that you remember to pack equipment and clothing for any outcome. Clothing is another element of paramount importance to a good hiker, with footwear being the most crucial attire of all. However, expensive hiking boots are by no means imperative; any footwear that is consistently comfortable and durable will be suitable for most hikes. It is vital, however, that you test a range of products and choose something most suitable to your own preferences. You should never wear a new pair of boots or shoes straight out of the box on a hike, instead wearing them for a few days in advance to allow yourself to properly adjust to them and ensuring that they are ‘broken in’ and will remain comfortable for the duration of the hike.

As with footwear, the rest of your clothing should be chosen primarily for the sake of comfort. Ideally, you should be wearing reasonably loose fitting clothes; they should not restrict your movement in any way, but should not be so lose as to become a hindrance. Weather conditions on your planned hike must also be taken into account and clothing that will maintain a constant and comfortable body temperature should be worn, with layering being the key here. Having chosen clothing to begin the hike in, you must also ensure you pack spares in case of changes in weather conditions; you should also never leave without a few extra pairs of socks!

Finally, there are a few items of basic equipment with which new hikers should familiarize themselves. The most important and potentially lifesaving of these are a good quality topographic map and compass. The ability to find your bearing and read a map accurately is the by far the most important skill for hikers. Other equipment to consider ranges from basics, such as sun lotion and sunglasses, through to potentially important items such as a first aid kit and water purifying tablets.