June 20, 2003
Shasta
I had a great time hiking up shasta. i really need something like that every couple of weeks, just to try to take on nature. i normally end up realizing i don't have a chance and the only reason i got to the top was because the mountain decided to let me up that day. It is good to be put in your place every once and awhile.
We started off at about 7000+ ft at about 5 oclock, so we just hiked to the camp at 8000 with the plan of hiking to the top the next morning at 3 or so. Before we went to bed we were cooking dinner, about 7 oclock, telling stories, when a guy down the hill a little ways from us sticks his head out of the tent and asks if we could keep it down because there are people trying to sleep. That made since, so we quieted down and went to bed. The next morning they weren't really feeling like climbing so we slept in and then got a late start and headed up to the camp at 10000 ft. Before we left, at about 8 oclock though, the guy from the previous night hops out of his tent, packs up his stuff, and heads down the mountain. Mike had a few choice comments, but we figured at least we stayed around that way he couldn't trash our tents (apparently this happens, go figure).
I got thouroughly sunburned that morning (this would be an ongoing problem) because i forgot that snow reflects the sun at a really high percentage. We kind of just sat around most of the day and tried to save our energy, we only brought food for that first night and then the next day, so Uncle Hugh and i had to ration our bagels and cream cheese, and we drank Mike's Green Tea, although hugh wasn't into it at all. The snow started to fall at about 6 or 7 oclock that night, just as we were finishing up dinner (top ramen, two packs for three people), so we went to bed. i slept for a couple of hours then i woke up one time to go the bathroom and then the next time i wasn't really sure why i woke up. so i sat there and listened the snow fall. then all of the sudden i saw a really bright flash that looked like it was covering the whole sky. almost instantly i thought, Lightning, oh, lets see how far away it is, one missis... and then BAMMMM. it was really loud thunder, and then i started to get scared. the next time i saw a flash as quickly as i could clench my fists and close my eyes, it hit. This continued on for a couple of more times. i was about to pee my pants but i think hugh, mike, and josh slept through the whole thing, they are tough.
We headed up the next morning at about 5, for an hour it was nice, then we got into the clouds, and then out of the clouds and into the winds. I thought they were blowing like 80 mph, but Mike said only 50 or so. Needless to say i spent quite a bit of time trying just to stay standing up. I kept hiking though, i think living at 5000 feet helped me out a lot, the climb itself wasn't that hard. i was worried about stabbing myself with my crampons or falling and taking everybody, but everything went smoothly. We summitted about 11 oclock to a blueish brown hazy sky around and above and clouds below, but it was still cool. The wind was really strong so we headed down pretty quickly. we glissaded down quite a bit of the mountain (i love that mountainiers have a fancy name for slidding down on your but). We hit the cars that afternoon, headed to a hotel, ate a lot of food, said goodbye, wished them good luck on Hood and in Idaho, and i headed home. All my dreams that night were about falling into crevasses and avalanches and getting blown off the mountain, it sucked. But the trip was great, i want to go back up and do it in a day though, only 7000 feet up, that isn't so bad.
Hey, before i forget, here is the picture of pete at some party, he says he wasn't drunk but i think we can all see the truth, the picture speaks for itself, something about a 1000 words, i don't remember.
Andrew, what am i doing wrong with the picture?
Posted by cmorton at June 20, 2003 03:11 PM | TrackBack