Winterfest 2006

“The things I do for you people...

I'm bringing Spirithand along in case I am in need of a massage and Jill (she's a doctor) in case I get hurt.

I'll struggle along with these two lovely ladies....all for you folks.

Oh, the sacrifices I make.....


;>)”

“speaking of sacrifices - you're still bringing the virgin snowboarder, aren't you?

Oh, I forgot - my girlfried is coming along.

;)

Rob”

“so...Karen, where do you get this Kiva?

This group is sounding very warm. Huuummm

So we have a doctor and massuse (sp). What else do we have on the list?”

“The ladies are accompany me to check on Shasta this Sunday. Spirithand is going to make it to Wwinterfest, not sure about Jill yet.

A doctor may be a good idea though.”

“Rob...no luck on the virgin yet.”

“Great! We have a doctor, a PA, and a maseusse. I feel so safe already. Somehow, my arms and shoulders are sore from falling off the stairs hauling a bike :-)))

m”

“Permit in hand! It's official! I'll be there! I'm not a doctor or masseuse, but I can work up a spreadsheet and balance assets, does that count? (Note to self.. Next career will be FUN!)
last edited: 12/10/05 12:36:58 AM”

“I am dreaming of a warm California right now as I snuggle in my bed in Chicago with the temp outside my window at 11 degrees. I should be sitting in a tent with a stove going and people drinking instant coffee and kahlua (or is that Baileys) with this kind of temps setting off fireworks!”

“Sandyann, snuggled in your bed? WTF, get up!! You're supposed to be dancing.

Songbyrd, I got the Kiva from the Fan Francisco REI. It's backordered from the warehouse, but SF had one. Instead of having it sent, we drove down and spent the day poking around Union Square. Nieman Marcus had a nice little tan knit cap for $199!!!!!! Sheesh, does anyone ever actually buy stuff for that price?”

“wanna, you mispronounced the name. It's Needless Markup.


And yes they do buy stuff like that because they have more money than brains.”

“LOL at Navi. Needless Markup is exactly what it is.”

“wannabp - having just returned home from Chicago I have to tell you - I saw more fur coats than my imagination could absorb. I went into the Burberry store to look around and they had these wonderful scarves. They were a mere $250 bucks. As I wandered down Michigan avenue, I lost count of the number of $250 scarves I saw wrapped around peoples necks. Louis Vuitton was on virtually every other arm. I have never seen such a display of filthy rich people in my life who have nothing else to do with their money.

Am I complaining that they can spend their money any way they want? No....I just wonder if I will ever reach that particular income bracket where cost is not an issue...ever.”

“Glad yer back in CA. Hope yer charms do the trick for us!

Ladyhiker, if yer skills with accounting can somehow "find" enough "new" money in my bank account to be able to buy some new backcountry skis and such, then heck with the masseuse. hahahaha

Kilgore Rumi nihilist”

“Sandyann, do you even want to reach that income bracket?”

“No, I do not ever want to get to the point of spending money just because I can. I am at the point in my life where I do not need anything nor does my family. I guess I have just never witnessed such conspicuous consumption before.”

“Sandy, glad your back, we need some of you mojo. Lassen only had about 4"/6" of snow at Silver Snag last week. They are saying we may get a little rain in a few days, but we need a lot more. Now that your back, we should see an improvement (?) in the weather.

I just got back from a run up to Horse Camp and to check on conditions for the backup site for New Years. There is a fair amount of snow on the mountain. I have pictures here and a map of the area here . Camp would be the little tent thingy (unclick auto resize or hit view full size)

We still have time for the weather to change and give Lassen the snow it needs, but if it doest happen, it looks like Shasta will do. Now that Sandy's back, I suspect the weather will change ;>)”

“I had a long chat with Ladyhiker (luv ya babe) last night and I think I will be up for Thursday night as the first leg of a "get the hell outta Dodge" road trip. I am hoping space can be made for me to curl up in the tipi - I will have my tent along but if I can get away without carrying it in for only one night I would appreciate it. I don't have the patience to review all these messages - who is coming up on Thursday? Could someone indulge me with an update?”

“PepperDog...I'll be going in on Thursday. I will be sure to leave room in Tipi. We won't carve out the seating spots until Saturday, so there will be room.”

“thanks mtnsteve. I will begin plotting about something fun to share.....”

“Hey Peppergod! Glad you are going to be here! Check with Navi about his ETA. If both of you are coming in Thursday we can try to meet somewhere along the road.

Steve - What time do you plan on getting in on Thursday? Had a great weekend cross country skiing and snowshoeing - You can move the TP to the cascades if you need snow! However, I've seen Sandyann's results before and there is NO doubt about her abilities!

Kilgore, Rumi, Nihlist, whatever... If you want to drive down as far as my place on wednesday night, we can get an early start on Thursday. (that way you don't have to wait forever for me at IHOP - you can wait forever for me at home! hee hee). If I find any lost money, it's MINE! You might be happier with the massage!

Wannabp - What day are you coming in? Don't forget the chocolate espresso beans!

Rob - You talked your GF into snowcamping? She might be a keeper! Now, if she can just handle your calm, quiet, no-fun, lifeless snow friends.. :-) (Speaking of myself of course.. I'll try harder to be noisier!)

Rockman aka Pantscandy - I thought you were joining us? I don't see you on the list?

Snowbyrd - Thanks for the link for the NCH!”

“OK, I'm starting to get excited now.

Let's see:
Birthday
Christmas
Winterfest

Fun, fun, fun!!!”

“I got my permit, I got my permit.....now all we need is snow!”

“Navi,
When's your Birthday?
Attention all, we may have another reason to celebrate!”

“Did someone say celebrate?

I'll drink to that!”

“Hold on Hold on! Let's at least get a date. Then I'm with ya 100%. YAAhhhoooo!”

“Looks like there is more than one B-day. My birthday is Dec 31. I plan on bringing a cheesecake. I'll be 28. Every year I 'm at some lame New Years party. Thanks Steve for making this birthday one I'll remember!

Jason L.”

“Before Christmas, Song.
Can we still celebrate?

Well, there's that Jason kid, I guess we could celebrate his birthday.”

“I'll drink to that!

Who's birthday is it?”

“Whooo's burthhhda s it?
A drinkkk to m!”

“Happy Birhday Navi!”

“Lets see....celebrate all the time zones, assorted Birthdays (Happy Birthday BTW)Christmas Past, Christmas coming, toasts to those that couldn't make it, various other toasts...


This is shaping up to be a toasted New
Years.

LadyHiker...I will be getting there early, 10:00am or so...I have a lot of stuff to haul in.”

“A little early yet, but thank you Wind.”

“I just checked with the Rangers about the backup site on Shasta. If we do end up using it, wilderness permits are not required and we can have a outside fire if we wish....no parking fees either.

The weather is disgustingly beautiful.”

“8^(”

“... get some snow. I haven't checked the long range forecast for the No CA mtns, so maybe there is some good stuff on the way for us. It doesn't have to be Donner Party kinda dumps, but enough snow to have a good time with all these people. Daytime fun in the snow and eveningtime fun in the tipi.

Ladyhiker, I just found your email in my address book. I'm assuming this addy still works. I'll zip you a message soon about the logistics of getting together.

Sandyann, you mentioned that you could only be there part of the time. When are you planning to come? Bring the whole family!

Kilgore Trout”

“They are now calling for some weather this Sunday and Monday, clearing, more weather for another couple days.

We need 3' for the Tipi, shoveling like we did last year to make that happen took a couple hours, it would be nice if we had it on the ground :-) A couple years ago we had to haul the sleds (115 lb) in through 3' of fresh powder, that sucked big time.

We still have the Shasta option. One way or another, Winterfest will go on.”

“We be getting weather. Snow level is susposed to be 5000'. They are calling for rain/showers through the 26th.

You go girl!

”

“Some of "our people" went up for an overnight at Winnamucca (out of Carson Pass) this weekend. I will be curious to see how it went. It has been dumping buckets in the valley - should be snowing plenty in the Sierra. I'm not sure about Lassen or Shasta but I suspect the same story there.”

“I've been checking the Yahoo site to see when someone gets back with a weather up date.

I know Lassen and Shasta are getting snow, it's the snow level that concerns me. As cold as it is in Redding, I suspect Lassen is getting snow at around 5500'...Shasta for sure. Thats good news for us.”

“mtnsteve,
You got enough room for all of us? I went back through this thread today and count 16 people. What is the most poeple that have gone to Winterfest before?
I'm looking forward to this trip but if you are getting too full, I can back out being that everyone else seems to really know each other well. Another option for me is to stay in Cottonwood and day hike in.
Let me know....if you're not too full, I'm there! ;)”

“Does somebody have room on their permit for me? (not that anyone will be checking). I forgot to order one.”

“I am having a dilemna. My 17 year old daughter seems to be in crisis right now and I am not sure it is a good time to be away from home.

I may not be able to go to Winterfest this year. I don't know what to do.”

“Hey, you have to do what you have to do. I hope everything works out fine for your daughter. So don't worry. If you are there, I'll make sure to treat you to a nice post-Winterfest meal. If not, we will be thinking about you. Keep us posted.

trailbum - I have two listed on my permit, so you are covered.

Anyone heard about snow and snow levels in Lassen?

Kilgore”

“http://community.webshots.com/album/525941260kftWVc
Here's my pics of last weekend at Winnemucca. We got 3 ft of snow overnight and had complete white out blizzard conditions. Still can't get over it.”

“Dang Song that looks COLD!”

“I've been down with the flu bug, but here are couple quick notes while I can think of them...

Group size...
I am expecting at least 2 to 6 local buds to show up as well, we could easily be looking at a total of 20 to 25 people.

One year we had around 32 people up for New Years. Obviously not everyone was in the tent at the same time. LOL. Folks were outside playing, skiing and snowshoeing and would pop in the tent for awhile to warm up, then they were gone again.

I am planing to re-do the trenches in the Tipi to fit more people. Last year I believe we had 14 at one time sitting around the stove, I'm sure we can squeeze a couple more in this year. The worst case scenario would be a couple folks may have to rotate out and ski or snowshoe for a bit. We usually seem to have a few folks outside anyway. I'm thinking we can get 16/17 in the tent at one time with out too much trouble. It will be cozy though ;-)

One factor that may help with the group size, in a different sort of way, is....snow level. Current snow level is around 6000'/7000'. Silver Snag may not have enough snow (6400'). I was planing to run up there the day after Christmas and check on it. If we have to resort to moving up to Mt Shasta, we will be able to have a outside fire as well as the stove inside the Tipi to keep people warn and cheery.


Stove fuel...
Wood for the stove can be about up to 12" long and no bigger than 2.5" in diameter.



LOL, You should have seen all the mistakes in spellcheck..complete sentences were gibberish, thats enough for me for now..must go lay down.
last edited: 12/20/05 1:39:23 PM”

“Navi, Are you still going? If so, what day? I'm looking for a ride from the Sac area. Jason would like to carpool as well.”

“Songbyrd - Based on when Navi said he was leaving, would have him there the 29th.

I don't plan on leaving until early the 30th. I haven't pushed the carpool issue much. I'll probably drive myself because I may want to wet a line in McCloud Lake (expecially if the party is moved to Shasta). I caught some beautiful rainbows out of that lake about 4 weeks ago. It is a well known lake by our local group MLCALAFFRARC (Mother Lode Chug-A-Lug-A Fish Fry Rod And Reel Club) ;)

See ya all there!”

“Sonbyrd, Francis and I are still heading in on the 30th. If there is no one to car pool with, Francis can sit at the back.”

“Thanks Ladymaritel, I'll keep that in mind. But I think Jason still wants to carpool as well. I may end up driving.”