Mt. Hood

Internet access has been limited for the past week as I continue to play in Washington and Oregon. Four of us--Doug, Deborah, Alex, and myself--climbed Mt. Hood last Monday. The few inches of fresh snow made for a beautiful climb... although arriving at Timberline Lodge on Sunday afternoon in the midst of a miserable snow/rain shower certainly had us questioning our sanity for even considering an attempt. Sometimes, however, the weather gods are on one's side, as was the case for our Mt. Hood ascent. We got a relatively late start and after noticing other parties seeming to struggle on the regular route just below the summit, we opted for the old "crater route." Here we are descending:

It was a bit steep! (O_O) Here are myself, Alex, and our awesome leader (and great pacer), Doug, on the summit, where we hung out for over a half hour. It looks cold, but it was really a nice day up there. What can I say? I have major COLD ISSUES! Because of our later start, we actually had the summit to ourselves!!

These photos were both taken by Deborah. More photos at http://alexfeldman.org/pictures/hiking/2007/debandsue/ T'was a great day with some great folks!

Unfortunately, the weather gods were not on our side for the intended Rainier trip on W-Th-F. In fact, the weather forecast was SO dismal that our group of nine decided to not even start up the mountain, so sure we were of not reaching the summit. Everyone made the best of a disappointing situation, some opting to try for Mt. Adams, others returning home, etc.

As for myself, I chose to get in some badly needed training for my next hundred miler, Tahoe Rim, which consisted of nice runs on the PCT, Cascade Crest 100 (one of my faves!) course, and Mts. Si, Little Si, and Teneriffe, where I was able to get in almost 9000 feet of elevation in ~27 miles. Okay, so it wasn't exactly like Mt. Rainier's 9000 feet of elevation gain but was more enjoyable in the sense that I was carrying a 3-4 lb. pack instead of a ~50 lb. one (yikes). While the weather was not great, I actually got rained on for only ~5 miles.

Yesterday I started heading south once again... under sunny, blue skies. Mt. Rainier was standing out in all her glory. It felt very wrong to be driving away from one of the mountains I came up here to climb, but it's my philosophy that things happen for a reason and usually work out for the best. I'll be back another day to try it again.

This morning I got in a great loop on Dog Mountain in Southern WA--what a cool peak!--then drove to Hood River and consumed the most humungous "Alaskan fish" burrito I've ever eaten in my life. Oink! (What in the heck is "Alaskan fish" anyway??) Until next time..........