Second Star to the Right and Straight on til Morning

After weeks of inspired talk and constant procrastination we finally resolved the dispute of climbing Mt. Adams, 12,326 ft, and made our dream a reality. Tom, LT, and I left the MAC at 10:30pm on 7/31/09 to summit the second highest peak in WA. LT drove us to the trail head and despite a half hour detour that almost crashed us into a wild heard of cows, we made it to the starting line and made our quest for the summit at 12:00am on 8/1/09.

Tom and I getting ready to glascade/slide on our asses/trash bags down the mountain.

Some people, well let's say most people, may say we were crazy to summit a dangerous peak in the dark with no map, no trail pass, no parking pass, no crampons, and no climbing experience. Well, we were crazy, and most importantly oblivious to the challenge that laid above us. The biggest idea driving us to the summit was the thought of catching sunrise at the summit.

View from the False Summit.

After about an hour and a half on a steady, solid, and consistent ground we arrived in a more open and free area of land. The trail, at first, was easy to follow and gradual, but once we arrived at the rockier section and lost the trail, the true adventure began...

We were just climbing UP. UP. That's what we needed to do so no one panicked or got frustrated, we just kept following the person in front and trusted their judgement and went with it. Maybe it was because we had been up for about 21 hours at this point but when we got lost in a group of giant rocks or didn't know which route to head towards, we just said, "Oh well." Of course the route we took was much more difficult and longer but we definitely scored adventure points in the process. We climbed over big boulders and through tight fits in between the rocks because we didn't believe the nighttime ice glazed over the snow would be any easier.

Rockstar summit pose.

We could hear the water roaring down the side of Adams and it added another excitement factor to being lost on this giant rock. It was continuous crashing and at times of indecisiveness it could strike fear and intimidation through your body and mind. Every thought and route consideration was pondered through the sound of rushing ice-cold glacial water.

Mt. Rainer in the distance.

The funniest part was walking the next morning through the area that we got lost in just a few hours previously. At the time we had no idea of anything we were doing past 30 feet in front of us. Our head lamps only shone so far so we really had no clue where the trail was or if we would ever meet up with it again later in the darkness. We couldn't see our progress of how far we went or the distance that we still had to go, we were just climbing. We took one of the more confusing routes up the mountain and the part we climbed was a good mile out of the way, and in mountain distance that is quite the costly mistake in terms of energy and time. The rewarding aspect of the climb was that each of us were able to persevere throughout the climb with little frustration or panic. I have incredible amounts of respect for the way LT and Tom handled themselves in such brave and mature manners and it put my worries at ease the entire time with them.

East side glacier view from the summit.

The most frightening and real moment was about 200 yards from the false summit when I waiting for Tom to see how he was progressing up the steep slope. He had an out of body experience where he pushed his limits to a great extreme that brought him to a whole different level of understanding of his body.

Glacier that spans a few hundred yards from the False Summit.

So Tom and I took a little break to catch our breath and to get a little hydration therapy. Laid around and this juncture in the climb there isn't that much verbal communication. Every ounce of energy needs to be preserved, especially since we have been making great time besides our initial detour. Now that Tom was back to reality I tested him with a nature question of, "What is photosynthesis?" because Tom is an Ecology genius and since I actually knew the answer to this one I figured it was appropriate to ask a brilliant man such as Tom. He answered it with flying colors and that was the cue to move up to our pit stop of the False Summit.

We reached the False Summit at 5:00am and we could see the sun come up just enough to feel a sense of accomplishment. We were so drained at this point that it seemed like that was the summit, or we hoped it was at least. We had hot tea and oatmeal and then we each passed out on the rocks for a little bit before making our way towards the summit around 7:30.

We hit summit around 9:00am and soaked up our accomplishment with some rockstar pictures and smiles.

Glascading time! There are glascading trenches where you can slide down the mountain on your ass with anything or nothing under your buns to guide you down. So out came the plastic bags and down the snow-luge for time-saving and bobsled action. We got some great speed on our bags and it took us no time to get down the peak.

LT may have been a little tired at this point.

I did end up getting a sore bottom because I hit a rock mine field and some sharp ice that turned my butt-sliding experience into a boot skating one. I almost got upset by how much my bosom was bruised but it was too much fun to care.

Oh what a feeling to come down a mountain that everyone is climbing up. Haha! They looked so miserable and exhausted. I felt that just a few hours previous but definitely not at the moment of seeing them. I was in pure exuberance and got a pure adrenaline rush to know that the end of this was only a few hours away. The true beauty was finally getting perspective on the incredible feat that we just accomplished. Going up in the dark doesn't fully give you the true scope of the massive rock that you are climbing.

Enjoying some oatmeal and tea while soaking in the sun.

Walking/sliding down Adams and periodically looking back up the slope would show how little the dots of people appeared. After getting down and seeing a broader view of Adams gave each of us a better sense of the incredible feat we just endured.

Tom loving the oatmeal.

Blisters, ripped pants, broken thumbnail, bruised ass, broken down knees, and complete exhaustion filled my body during the last leg of the walk back to the trail head. This will go down as the most physically challenging experience of my life. Every corner was blind and it created illusions of red Toyotas and we thought the parking lot would never appear. We got back to the car at 2pm and took a celebratory shot of whiskey to celebrate the time we just had together.

King of the mountain!

HAHA! Look how far they still have to go!

Sunrise at the False Summit :)

Definition of toughness--PCT Re-Route--White Pass, WA

There was one dynamic of this hitch that couldn’t be matched by any other; that dynamic was mosquitoes. We were told coming in that they were going to be bad but we would be covered in, on average, 50 mosquitoes for every 5 seconds you would stop moving. Let me tell you something folks, it didn’t affect us one bit. Of course we would have the occasional stress outburst on the damn insect, but overall, we just had the same positive and efficient work ethic.

PCTA placed our camp at the top of the ski lift at White Pass Ski Lodge, just miles south of Mt. Rainier. We were at 6,300 ft which is the perfect snow-melt elevation for mosquitoes. Complaining aside, we were placed in White Pass because there are new ski runs being put in where the current PCT runs through. Our job for this hitch was to re-route this trail, avoiding the soon-to-be ski runs, and replace the current broken down and unappealing part of the trail. We worked with two great volunteers named Le Ann and Gabriel. Le Ann lives near Portland and recently retired from working in a hospital and wanted to come out and lend a hand. Gabriel just graduated from Evergreen University and he actually stayed the entire 9 days straight with us!!! Crazy dedication, any sane or “normal” volunteer would have left early, but Gabriel was crazy, and that’s why we love him.

We had to create precise and nearly perfect trail to meet PCTA guidelines. The attention to detail on this re-route was very specific, so the walk back each day on the newly-constructed trail provided great moments of fulfillment and satisfaction for the quality of our completed trail.

We worked with around 5-7 Forest Service peeps on the weekdays and they welcomed us into their region. We beat them in a pull-up competition by quite a bit. They bit off a little more than they could handle with that challenge…what what?!?!

Each day, I grew more exhausted from the mosquitoes and the heat, which was about 90 degrees every day. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. We had some frustrating times out on this hitch, but when the day is all said and done, we always came back the next day with a confident and accomplished attitude. We got to see a really nice sunset each night, and it would set just beside Washington’s tallest mountain, Mt. Rainer (14,000ft +). We got to enjoy a couple beers after work one day and it made me feel like the prisoners on Shawshank Redemption when Tim Robbins does the taxes of the jackass prison guard in return for beers. We drank them on the ski lift platform and forgot about our worries.

For how bad the dynamics were, it really wasn’t all that bad. We ate delicious food every night, I mean out of this world delicious, and watched the sunset every night before we went to bed. At least they weren’t horse flies, right?

Here’s another poem I wrote on this hitch:

Never ending Majesty

The citrus-shaded horizon beams evenly along the jagged-outlined peaks. The sun lulls out of view, but she crescendos, each minute, into newly created shades of brilliance. Daytime surrounds her with the sky blue and limited color diversity exists. The sunset paints the horizon the secret colors of the star. As she fades into the night, we dream of her beauty that is shaped through fiery shadows. The climax is not determined by any single view, for each minute the sun contributes a new pastel to our surroundings. She will disappear into the night and remind us of her pure majesty come sunrise.

Simplicity is beauty---Buck Peak, OR---Mt. Hood Natl. Park

How is everyone? It feels like a great summer so far for everyone I have talked to back home and other family members not back in WI. Shout out to Mom and Dad, I hope the car show went great yesterday and Friday. We'll talk soon :)

So, Buck Peak is the one of the great outlooks of Mt. Hood and it's just west of Oregon's highest peak (Hood). Our campsite was actually located a good 20 minutes south of Buck Peak and we were inconveniently put on a ridge where the brutal July weather hit us with no remorse. The first 3 days were nothing but rain and temperatures ranging from low 40's to mid 50's. It was the type of weather where we really had to look out for the signs of hypothermia.

The great aspect of our team is that none of us complain. Everyone understands the situation and how miserable the weather is but that didn't let us get down. We already have been dealing with adversity during this hitch because I forgot to pack the stuff sack that contained our gravity water filters so we had to dedicate time each day to get water from our spring and then each person would personally sanitize their drinking water with iodine drops, which with prevent giardia.

The rain, combined with cold temps, gets inside your body and chills every muscle to the point of shivering. The toes and the fingers of course are the worst, and even being from WI, I couldn't even stand the cold at some points. Once your clothes get wet you have to consciously watch your body temp to prevent sweating because once your body cools after sweat, you die. Just messin', but it's no fun. Les Stroud (Survivorman) always says in regards to cold temps, "You sweat...you die."

Mt. Hood is such a spectacular view from Buck Peak and the pointy tip makes it one of the most technical summits in the nation. Many people die each year attempting to summit the peak because of the constant avalanches and lack of experience. One day I will summit.

Our team finished our last day by completing 32 aprons for separate rockbars, cleared 5 drains for diverting water flow, and brushed up a good amount of trail. Our treat at the end of the day was the view from Buck Peak which is shown in most of these pictures. It is such a remote location and since we cleaned up all the brush leading up to it, people can now enjoy the hike to the summit to see a fantastic view of Mt. Hood.

This hitch was the most rewarding for me so far. With all the drama that was caused by my forgetting the water filters and everyone sitting down that evening and discussing the importance of communication and also everyone took it upon themselves to express anything else that was on their mind. Our communication is becoming much more open and each member of our team is growing with comfort towards each other's actions and tendencies.

Many of our members quoted this hitch as being our worst one yet but now that it is over I think it was our best one yet. I love cliche quotes that you hear as a child and then they finally make sense later on. Such as, "Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

I am in the middle of reading Walden by Thoreau right now and I really enjoy reading about the simplicity of his life on Walden Pond and relating the simplicity of my hitches when we are in the back country. It really helps me decipher my needs from my wants. The crucial aspect of my experience from Thoreau's would have to be that I have six other great people surrounding me each day to grow with. Simple life helps me appreciate all the luxuries that are present in everyday life. Food, shelter, companionship, water, and my family are the necessities I need to live.