Sunday, April 24, 2005
Blog under construction
Many of you (if anyone still reads this) may have noticed the format problems with my Blog over the past month. I finally decided to take the time to do something about it, so I have chosen a new template. The problem is I have to go in and add all of the links I had on there so this make take a day or two. It should me much better when I finish updating it. I have alot of new stuff to add.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Jim and David's visit to CA
Last week Jim (my brother) and David (my cousin) came out to visit the Ranch. It was a great week. We stayed really busy and packed alot into the week. I picked them up at the airport in Medford and then we drove straight back to the Ranch. We decided to hike up on Etna Summit and camp for the night in the snow. The hiking was very hard because the snow was nearly waist deep. Pictures are on the way. It was a cold night but the three of us stayed warm in my tent. The next morning we hiked out early. Jim and David went to Mt. Shasta to snowboard but I had to stay at the Ranch to work. We had alot of fun hanging out every night. Friday we went to Mt. Shasta to snowshoe. It was a beautiful day. We hiked to about 9200ft. The views were incredible! The next day Jim and I returned to Shasta to try to climb to the top. Our packs were heavy and the weather report was not very good for Sunday. We hiked to 10,000 feet and camped. We had to dig into the side of the hill to build a shelter to block the wind. It was a long night. We cooked dinner and then the wind started to blow. It was gusting up to 50mph that night. I thought the tent poles were going to collapse. Neither one of us slept much that night. It also snowed about 10 inches during the night. We woke up at 2am to start the summit climb. When we looked out the door of the tent the weather was to bad to try to climb to the summit so we decided to sleep for awhile. We woke up a few hours later to hike back to the car. Visibility was about 10 ft. We thought it would improve as we descended but it got worse. We got off course on the way down but Jim was able to get us back on track. It only took us a few hours to get back to the car and then we went into town to eat a good meal. I finally bought Kathryn's (my sister) birthday present (a few months late). It was a fun climb even though we did not get to make a summit attempt. The next day I took Jim and David to the airport. It was great to have them here for the week. It really made me miss being home.
A quick trip to Birmingham
I realize it has been a long time since I have posted an update so I decided to break it up into three posts. Pictures are on the way. The week before my trip home was crazy trying to get everything ready for me to leave. The trip to Birmingham was great but to fast. I had to cram a lot into a few days but I was able to do it. I arrived late in Birmingham the first night. The next day I slept late and drove to Auburn for the day to visit some friends and have lunch with Jaime (my cousin). It was weird to be back in Auburn. In May I will have been 2 years since I graduated. Whoever said time flies after you graduate was right. Auburn’s campus is changing so much, there is construction everywhere. I have been back to Auburn only a handful of times since graduation. I understand now why people go back to the football games to “relive the glory days.” I loved my time at Auburn and often compare things to it. My goal is not look back on those days as the best days of my life as most people do, but to see it as another chapter of adventure in my life. One of many chapters of adventure. I returned to B’ham that night to have dinner with Mom and Dad while Jim and Kathryn were still out of town. It was a great time for the three of us just to talk and catch up since I have been gone for nearly 3 months now. The next night was spent with Granny at dinner, continuing our tradition of trying new restaurants in Birmingham. It was great, as it always is. We always have a great time just talking about life. Saturday was a great day. Me, Daniel, Andrew, Kathryn (my sister) and John headed out early to the lake to go wakeboarding. Daniel had the boat running great after many months of frustration (the frustration is another story). The water was cold, even with wetsuits. The water was calm and the sky clear. It was one of the most fun days on the lake in a long time. The lake is one of the things I will miss the most this summer. I hope to make it back to Birmingham in time to catch the end of wakeboarding season with the guys. I have several good pictures to post soon from this trip to the lake. Sunday was a crazy day. We celebrated Easter with my dad’s family at our house and then went to my grandmother’s house to celebrate with my Mom’s family. It was a full day. It was great to see all of the family. Monday morning I flew back to the Ranch but did not arrive until Tuesday because I was voluntarily bumped from two flights. I have always wanted to do that. They gave me 2 free round trip tickets to anywhere in the US, meal vouchers, and a free hotel room. It worked out great. Overall, it was a great trip. I wish it could have been longer. Jim and David are flying out next week to visit the Ranch.
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Another Weekly Update March 19
This week was a very productive one. The footings for the deck were poured at the beginning of the week. We all had to help carry around the tube that pumped the concrete. It weighed a ton! There were about 30 footings and a retaining wall (see my picture of the plans from a week ago). Also this week Bob moved into his new house. We spent a few days helping him move. The view from his house is incredible. I am close to wrapping up several projects this week after getting approval to order several things I have been waiting for. Monday I will order lining for the boat trailer drawers, pay phones, and ping pong tables (I found a great deal on these). So things are moving forward.
It looks like it is going to rain all weekend so I am trying to decide between going snowboarding and checking out Ashland, OR. Travis's cousin is here for the weekend and they are going to the Redwood Forest to sleep in the rain which doesn't sound fun to me. They are saying it may rain over an inch this weekend. I almost forgot. I bought a kayak this week! It is a Dagger Redline, which is a huge boat. Now I don't have to worry about getting thrashed in hydraulics as much because of the higher volume of the boat. We played basketball last night at the church in Etna. It was alot of fun and I think we are going to try to do it one night every week.
I finished reading Bill Johnston's book When Heaven Invades Earth this week. It was a great book about the gifts of the Holy Spirit manifested today. Very Interesting. That is most of what happened this week. Keep in touch. I am going to go cook breakfast now...
It looks like it is going to rain all weekend so I am trying to decide between going snowboarding and checking out Ashland, OR. Travis's cousin is here for the weekend and they are going to the Redwood Forest to sleep in the rain which doesn't sound fun to me. They are saying it may rain over an inch this weekend. I almost forgot. I bought a kayak this week! It is a Dagger Redline, which is a huge boat. Now I don't have to worry about getting thrashed in hydraulics as much because of the higher volume of the boat. We played basketball last night at the church in Etna. It was alot of fun and I think we are going to try to do it one night every week.
I finished reading Bill Johnston's book When Heaven Invades Earth this week. It was a great book about the gifts of the Holy Spirit manifested today. Very Interesting. That is most of what happened this week. Keep in touch. I am going to go cook breakfast now...
Sunday, March 13, 2005
Saturday, March 12, 2005
Just another day in paradise...
There is something satisfying about digging a hole that is as deep as I am tall and about 4 feet in diameter. We have been digging the holes for the footings of the new deck (by the lodge). These holes are huge! We started around 8:30 this morning and finished at 5pm. My back was aching and I was exhausted but the sense of accomplishment was great. After the deck was finished we loaded up the van and went to Callahan to snowboard until dark. The snow is melting fast up there. The highs were in the 70's here this week. Great weather. It was a full day.
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
New pictures posted!
New pictures posted!
http://saundha.dotphoto.com/CPListAlbums.asp
Click here to see them (Furman work week)
http://saundha.dotphoto.com/CPListAlbums.asp
Click here to see them (Furman work week)
Birthdays, Mountains, atomic breakfast burritos, and more Mountains
So it has been a few weeks since I have posted a real update. Here it is.
My Birthday was February 16th. It was great! Chef Bob made a cake for me and then I went to dinner with the guys at the China Dragon in Yreka (great chinese food). I received a huge box with different presents from my family. I got several great books, some gloves, and some other camping gear.
Our meeting times with Ray (staff pastor) have been very good lately. He has walked us through how we should address conflict with one another which has helped us alot. He has also just finished his teaching a segment on the authority of Christ. It probably takes us 5 times as long as any other group to make it through one of Ray's teaching segments because we ask so many questions and it always leads to other discussions that are very interesting. I like the flexibility in our classes. We are never in a hurry to finish a section. I came up with a way to record Ray's sessions with us so we can archive the meetings in case someone has to miss one. We use my camera's audio recording function to record the meetings. It works very well.
My study times have not been quite as consistent as they were. I need to make it a higher priority than I have lately. My projects are coming along very well though slow at times. My focus for the past few weeks has been on the new boat trailer, the river trailer and the Gear trailer (see pictures previously posted). I finished the boat trailer tonight except for the drawers. I learned how to use a pneumatic pop rivet gun today to attach the angle iron to the boat trailer. I cut, painted, and screwed plywood to the boat trailer and then glued carpet to the wood. The final touch was the angle iron to trim it on the edges. The last step is to line the drawers with plastic mesh. I need to order this soon. The boat trailer has taken several weeks. The River trailer is a much more simple project basically just modifying some of the shelving and fixing broken lights. The Gear Trailer (as I have named it) is where we store the river and wilderness equipment plus some ropes course equipment. It was a wreck when I started. I am trying to inventory, organize and clean it up. I am currently about 1/2 way finished with this. So those are the main projects and I will not bore you anymore with the little projects. I have been busy.
We scouted out Callahan Summit for snowboarding last week. It is a great run, about 30 minutes away. The view is incredible. The run is easier than the one off of Etna Summit which is good for most of us. I am still trying to to recruit the guys to buy snowboards but they are taking way to long! Matt finally bought some boots last weekend.
I recently read the book The Da Vinci Code. It was a great book. Very fast read. I don't agree with what the book presents but it is still a great novel. I won't give it away for those of you who have not read it.
It seems that the conflict within the house has started to die down. Of course, every time I think this then something happens, maybe it won't this time. We have set up 3 meetings a week to help us communicate better and get to know one another more.
I have decided I need to get into better physical shape. Any of you who have read about my shasta climb know this. I decided to start riding more. I want to go on at least one long bike ride each week (20+ miles) and ride down French Creek and back 3 times per week. That seems like a good start at least. I want to work up to riding up Etna summit road to the top. The days are starting to seem longer so this will be easier to do soon.
Experimental cooking has been an interest of mine lately for some reason? I can make a great breakfast burrito now. I have made Chicken Spagheti, fajitas and my favorite the atomic egg burrito (fried egg, tobasco, fresh cut jalapenos w/ the seeds in a cooked tortilla). Everything has been good so far. I'm not sure how this started.
This last week was the Furman work week. Several guys from last summer brought some of their friends from Furman to do work projects. It was a fun week and major progress was made on several projects (the deck and the split rail fence). We played paintball while they were here and went snowshoeing on Shasta to (I'll post pictures soon). Sledding on Etna Summit to!
Friday night Travis and I drove to Shasta for an Avalanche awareness class followed by a transceiver course on Saturday. We learned a ton of great info about the backcountry for FREE! We camped in the Aerostar and I forgot my ground pad so I slept terribly. It was a fun trip. I won a free avalanche probe ($40 value) by being the fastest person to find the buried transceiver (55 seconds). Several great connections were made this weekend with people at Shasta and Etna. Three of the other guys went to San Francisco to visit Chad Etheridge and Leigh Etheridge (formerly Threadgill). I went for another long bike ride Sunday afternoon (~25 miles). I was lost for a little while but it turned out ok. I realize more and more that we are basically in the center of the universe for Outdoor Adventure. You name it, we can do it in less than a 2 hour drive. I understand why Outdoor magazine featured Etna as the #2 Outdoor Adventure destination in the US. I could definitley live somewhere like this for awhile if the community was a little bigger (just kidding mom, maybe?) It is awesome.
My parents sent me a daily Bible for my birthday. It is the bible in chronological order set up to be read in 1 year. I am reading it every day and hope to finish it by the end of summer. I am in 1st Samuel right now. I need to pick up the pace! I also started reading Bill Johnston's book When Heaven Invades Earth It is about the power of the Holy Spirit manifested outwardly today. It is an inspiring book! I want to find a good fiction novel to read also. Let me know if you have any suggestions. I have been typing for a long time. I still wander sometimes if anyone reads this. I think they do or I hope they do so I will continue to post.
Overall, things are going well. We have settled into our weekly routines and projects and have adventures all of the time. That is my favorite part. The adventure. I think I need to always be doing something that involves alot of adventure...whatever that means. I'm done.
My Birthday was February 16th. It was great! Chef Bob made a cake for me and then I went to dinner with the guys at the China Dragon in Yreka (great chinese food). I received a huge box with different presents from my family. I got several great books, some gloves, and some other camping gear.
Our meeting times with Ray (staff pastor) have been very good lately. He has walked us through how we should address conflict with one another which has helped us alot. He has also just finished his teaching a segment on the authority of Christ. It probably takes us 5 times as long as any other group to make it through one of Ray's teaching segments because we ask so many questions and it always leads to other discussions that are very interesting. I like the flexibility in our classes. We are never in a hurry to finish a section. I came up with a way to record Ray's sessions with us so we can archive the meetings in case someone has to miss one. We use my camera's audio recording function to record the meetings. It works very well.
My study times have not been quite as consistent as they were. I need to make it a higher priority than I have lately. My projects are coming along very well though slow at times. My focus for the past few weeks has been on the new boat trailer, the river trailer and the Gear trailer (see pictures previously posted). I finished the boat trailer tonight except for the drawers. I learned how to use a pneumatic pop rivet gun today to attach the angle iron to the boat trailer. I cut, painted, and screwed plywood to the boat trailer and then glued carpet to the wood. The final touch was the angle iron to trim it on the edges. The last step is to line the drawers with plastic mesh. I need to order this soon. The boat trailer has taken several weeks. The River trailer is a much more simple project basically just modifying some of the shelving and fixing broken lights. The Gear Trailer (as I have named it) is where we store the river and wilderness equipment plus some ropes course equipment. It was a wreck when I started. I am trying to inventory, organize and clean it up. I am currently about 1/2 way finished with this. So those are the main projects and I will not bore you anymore with the little projects. I have been busy.
We scouted out Callahan Summit for snowboarding last week. It is a great run, about 30 minutes away. The view is incredible. The run is easier than the one off of Etna Summit which is good for most of us. I am still trying to to recruit the guys to buy snowboards but they are taking way to long! Matt finally bought some boots last weekend.
I recently read the book The Da Vinci Code. It was a great book. Very fast read. I don't agree with what the book presents but it is still a great novel. I won't give it away for those of you who have not read it.
It seems that the conflict within the house has started to die down. Of course, every time I think this then something happens, maybe it won't this time. We have set up 3 meetings a week to help us communicate better and get to know one another more.
I have decided I need to get into better physical shape. Any of you who have read about my shasta climb know this. I decided to start riding more. I want to go on at least one long bike ride each week (20+ miles) and ride down French Creek and back 3 times per week. That seems like a good start at least. I want to work up to riding up Etna summit road to the top. The days are starting to seem longer so this will be easier to do soon.
Experimental cooking has been an interest of mine lately for some reason? I can make a great breakfast burrito now. I have made Chicken Spagheti, fajitas and my favorite the atomic egg burrito (fried egg, tobasco, fresh cut jalapenos w/ the seeds in a cooked tortilla). Everything has been good so far. I'm not sure how this started.
This last week was the Furman work week. Several guys from last summer brought some of their friends from Furman to do work projects. It was a fun week and major progress was made on several projects (the deck and the split rail fence). We played paintball while they were here and went snowshoeing on Shasta to (I'll post pictures soon). Sledding on Etna Summit to!
Friday night Travis and I drove to Shasta for an Avalanche awareness class followed by a transceiver course on Saturday. We learned a ton of great info about the backcountry for FREE! We camped in the Aerostar and I forgot my ground pad so I slept terribly. It was a fun trip. I won a free avalanche probe ($40 value) by being the fastest person to find the buried transceiver (55 seconds). Several great connections were made this weekend with people at Shasta and Etna. Three of the other guys went to San Francisco to visit Chad Etheridge and Leigh Etheridge (formerly Threadgill). I went for another long bike ride Sunday afternoon (~25 miles). I was lost for a little while but it turned out ok. I realize more and more that we are basically in the center of the universe for Outdoor Adventure. You name it, we can do it in less than a 2 hour drive. I understand why Outdoor magazine featured Etna as the #2 Outdoor Adventure destination in the US. I could definitley live somewhere like this for awhile if the community was a little bigger (just kidding mom, maybe?) It is awesome.
My parents sent me a daily Bible for my birthday. It is the bible in chronological order set up to be read in 1 year. I am reading it every day and hope to finish it by the end of summer. I am in 1st Samuel right now. I need to pick up the pace! I also started reading Bill Johnston's book When Heaven Invades Earth It is about the power of the Holy Spirit manifested outwardly today. It is an inspiring book! I want to find a good fiction novel to read also. Let me know if you have any suggestions. I have been typing for a long time. I still wander sometimes if anyone reads this. I think they do or I hope they do so I will continue to post.
Overall, things are going well. We have settled into our weekly routines and projects and have adventures all of the time. That is my favorite part. The adventure. I think I need to always be doing something that involves alot of adventure...whatever that means. I'm done.
Sunday, March 06, 2005
Sunday, February 27, 2005
My Goals for my time in California
1) Spend 2 hours every day studying on my own
2) Climb Mountains, paddle rivers, hike trails and anything else you can think of outside
3) Develop Community and learn to live with the group (6 guys)
4) Decide what to do next
5) Improve the Ranch practically- through my projects
more specifically...
1) Climb Shasta more than once
2) Bike to the coast (110 miles)
3) Read the entire Bible cover to cover
4) sell things on ebay
5) Read alot of books
6) Learn as much about the Bible as I can
7) Deeper personal Walk with the Lord
8) Study other religions - for reference
9) Define what I believe specifically
10) Write Letters
11) Get in Shape - exercise every day
12) Learn to cook more things
13) Learn to take better pictures (digital)
I will be adding to this every once in awhile...
2) Climb Mountains, paddle rivers, hike trails and anything else you can think of outside
3) Develop Community and learn to live with the group (6 guys)
4) Decide what to do next
5) Improve the Ranch practically- through my projects
more specifically...
1) Climb Shasta more than once
2) Bike to the coast (110 miles)
3) Read the entire Bible cover to cover
4) sell things on ebay
5) Read alot of books
6) Learn as much about the Bible as I can
7) Deeper personal Walk with the Lord
8) Study other religions - for reference
9) Define what I believe specifically
10) Write Letters
11) Get in Shape - exercise every day
12) Learn to cook more things
13) Learn to take better pictures (digital)
I will be adding to this every once in awhile...
Friday, February 18, 2005
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Another Road Trip... Lake Tahoe!
Lake Tahoe. It did not look like this when we were there this past weekend. It was cloudy and rainy. We loaded up the car this weekend for another quick road trip. This time to Lake Tahoe. My friend Andrew had a free place to stay so we met him there. We left the Greanbean at 6am in the volvo (roadtrip machine) headed toward Sacramento on I-5. The trip was uneventful until we were about 45 minutes from Tahoe. It started when we stopped for gas. We were ready to drive off and the car would not shift into drive. It turns out there was a pair of fingernail clippers jamming the gear shift. After about 30 minutes we were able to fish them out and get back on the road. The drive took about 6 and a half hours (400 miles). We scouted out squaw valley resort where we eould be staying and then headed into Tahoe city to see the Lake. It was beautiful even though it was cloudy and a little rainy. After wandering around town for a few hours we returned to Squaw Valley to wait for Andrew. He arrived late due to a flight delay. The next day I woke up early and snowboarded alone for 1/2 the day because the other guys wanted to sleep in. Chris and Matt went along with me to Tahoe.
Squaw Valley ski resort is huge! They have 31 lifts. It took me over an hour to figure out how the place worked. It was fun. The snow was pretty good. After Lunch we all met up and skiied for the rest of the day and went to dinner that night. It was good to see Andrew (from Birmingham). I miss hanging out with my friends in Birmingham. Unfortunately, we had to be back to the Ranch by 1pm the next day for a meeting with Ray so we had to cut our trip short. We left Tahoe at 6am the next day. Andrew and Matthew (his cousin) were going to ski for two more days then head to Las Vegas. They are there as we speak. I am sure they are having a great time. They were going to stay at the Luxor (Egyptian Theme) http://www.luxor.com .
It was a great trip! It seemed longer than it was. I really liked Tahoe City. Jim, I think we should move there for 6 months or so after you graduate (just kidding mom...kind of). It has great hiking, skiing, and mountain biking. Anyway, it is definitely a place I would like to visit again.
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
A pair of Koflaks, crampons and an ice axe...
For those of you who don't know...Koflaks are plastic mountaineering boots, crampons allow you to walk/climb on snow and ice and the ice axe provides balance. These are the 3 key things we rented to climb Mt. Shasta. As I mentioned in the brief Shasta post, I am not sure exactly why people climb mountains when they are not in very good physical shape. It is pure torture with moments of greatness that are far between.
The Adventure began Tuesday afternoon when Travis told us he thought Thursday was the day to climb Shasta. We had been waiting for several weeks for the weather to clear. After many trips to the fifth season and a scouting trip (snowshoeing on Shasta to 10,000ft) we felt we were ready to make a summit bid. That week Dan had put the Aerostar back together from his run in with the Deer on French Creek Road. This was the first test further than the Ranch.
We arrived at the 5th season around 5:30pm Wednesday to pick up our gear for the climb which cost about twice as much $$ as I expected (It was worth it though). Then we headed straight for the Stage Door, a local coffee shop, to eat dinner. We are quickly becoming regulars at the Stage Door to drink Green Tea, play cards, and observe weird people (most of the people around Mt. Shasta are a little different). It's a great place. It has a coffee shop, Theater, stage, and restaurant all in one shop. I think Green Tea is quickly becoming my favorite drink.
The aerostar made it to the parking lot at Bunny Flat (base of Mt. Shasta) around 8:30 pm as planned. We took the seats out of the van and set up our sleeping bags. I packed for the next day. There was only one other vehicle in the parking lot. About 15,000 people climb Shasta per year, only about 300 of them do it in the winter. I think this makes us feel like we are more hardcore than most people.
So the climb began at 3:30 am Thursday morning. We turned on our headlamps and strapped on the snowshoes and began to walk in the dark. It felt kind of strange to hike in the dark. There was no moon so the stars were incredible! Almost immediately I realized the temp was in the upper 20's and I had to many layers of clothes on. I get hot very easily and I hate being hot! So I had to stop several times to peel layers off. Finally, I cooled down. I was struggling early on, I guess due to not being in the greatest shape. I decided the only way I would make it was if I settled into a rhythm and stuck to it even if that meant I was way behind Dan and Travis. So it was 25 steps, rest, 25 steps, rest... literally all of the way up the mountain. I asked the Lord to give me the strength and the mental toughness to make it even though I didn't feel physically up to it.
The route we chose was the same one we scouted the weekend before (Green Butte Ridge). It is a route of medium difficulty. We got up to the Ridge at about 5am where we took our first break to drink water and eat a snack. This is where the first incident happened. I laid my trekking poles down and one of them began to slide. I yelled to Dan below me and he dropped everything and dove for the pole. At this point he and the pole are sliding down a very slippery slope and steep. Fortunately they did not slide to far. When they stopped, Somehow Dan dropped his helmet and it rolled away down the ridge. Also, when he dove he broke his camelback water tank and the water leaked out so we had to share drinking water the rest of the way.
We regrouped and began to hike again. The sun was now rising (see pictures). I am still struggling at this point. We hiked along the ridge for several hours taking breaks every 1 or 2 hours. We seem to be moving slow. At some point we missed a key traverse across the mountain and made the hike much longer and more tiring. I'm not exactly sure where it happened. We push on though. At this point we all think our chances for making the summit are dwindling. Did I say that I am still struggling?
Finally, we make it to Red Banks at the Base of Misery Hill. The summit seems so close! I got a strong second wind here and realized that I probably can make it to the top. I am still in my rhythm at this point and feel good about it. The other guys are beginning to slow down a bit. The time is around 12 noon. 1/4 of the way up misery hill the wind starts to blow. This is no ordinary wind! My guess is that it was blowing somewhere between 60-80 mph and it would gust way above that at times. I wanted to turn around every time the wind would nearly knock me down. I had taken off my shell jacket (that blocks the wind) because I was hot and my gloves (I had the liners on). So This wind chilled me to the bone and it was to strong for me to get out the jacket. So I pushed on a few steps at a time. I constantly sang praise songs in my head. I like to do this on the mountain when I feel weak. I asked the Lord to give me the strength of a Lion and the courage of a tiger to push on when I felt like I had nothing left.
So after what seemed like forever we made it to the top of misery hill. This is the summit. I pulled out my jacket and gloves and tried to warm up. I laid down and went to sleep. It is not over yet. The summit is not the top. The Pinnacle is. We now had to cross a plateau and then climb to the top of the true summit. We were exhausted at this point and had little desire to do this. Now that I am back I am glad we went all the way to the top. The Time is now about 2pm. It is getting late fast and we need to hurry down to get to the car before dark.
We hurry down and make it back to the car by 5:15pm just before dark. Then we loaded the car and drove back to the Ranch.
Overall, The trip was a great adventure. I think it was one of the hardest physical things I have ever done. Much harder than the last time I climbed Shasta (1998). We did make it harder on ourselves than it had to be. I think doing it in one day is to much. Next time I'll do it in 2 days. Like I said at the beginning of this, I am not sure why people torture themselves on purpose to get to the top of a mountain, for some reason I want to do it again though. Click on the link at the right to see my Shasta pictures and to read Travis's account of the climb.
NOTE: For those of you who are wondering. I worked on Saturday and late several days to make up for the day of work I missed.
The Adventure began Tuesday afternoon when Travis told us he thought Thursday was the day to climb Shasta. We had been waiting for several weeks for the weather to clear. After many trips to the fifth season and a scouting trip (snowshoeing on Shasta to 10,000ft) we felt we were ready to make a summit bid. That week Dan had put the Aerostar back together from his run in with the Deer on French Creek Road. This was the first test further than the Ranch.
We arrived at the 5th season around 5:30pm Wednesday to pick up our gear for the climb which cost about twice as much $$ as I expected (It was worth it though). Then we headed straight for the Stage Door, a local coffee shop, to eat dinner. We are quickly becoming regulars at the Stage Door to drink Green Tea, play cards, and observe weird people (most of the people around Mt. Shasta are a little different). It's a great place. It has a coffee shop, Theater, stage, and restaurant all in one shop. I think Green Tea is quickly becoming my favorite drink.
The aerostar made it to the parking lot at Bunny Flat (base of Mt. Shasta) around 8:30 pm as planned. We took the seats out of the van and set up our sleeping bags. I packed for the next day. There was only one other vehicle in the parking lot. About 15,000 people climb Shasta per year, only about 300 of them do it in the winter. I think this makes us feel like we are more hardcore than most people.
So the climb began at 3:30 am Thursday morning. We turned on our headlamps and strapped on the snowshoes and began to walk in the dark. It felt kind of strange to hike in the dark. There was no moon so the stars were incredible! Almost immediately I realized the temp was in the upper 20's and I had to many layers of clothes on. I get hot very easily and I hate being hot! So I had to stop several times to peel layers off. Finally, I cooled down. I was struggling early on, I guess due to not being in the greatest shape. I decided the only way I would make it was if I settled into a rhythm and stuck to it even if that meant I was way behind Dan and Travis. So it was 25 steps, rest, 25 steps, rest... literally all of the way up the mountain. I asked the Lord to give me the strength and the mental toughness to make it even though I didn't feel physically up to it.
The route we chose was the same one we scouted the weekend before (Green Butte Ridge). It is a route of medium difficulty. We got up to the Ridge at about 5am where we took our first break to drink water and eat a snack. This is where the first incident happened. I laid my trekking poles down and one of them began to slide. I yelled to Dan below me and he dropped everything and dove for the pole. At this point he and the pole are sliding down a very slippery slope and steep. Fortunately they did not slide to far. When they stopped, Somehow Dan dropped his helmet and it rolled away down the ridge. Also, when he dove he broke his camelback water tank and the water leaked out so we had to share drinking water the rest of the way.
We regrouped and began to hike again. The sun was now rising (see pictures). I am still struggling at this point. We hiked along the ridge for several hours taking breaks every 1 or 2 hours. We seem to be moving slow. At some point we missed a key traverse across the mountain and made the hike much longer and more tiring. I'm not exactly sure where it happened. We push on though. At this point we all think our chances for making the summit are dwindling. Did I say that I am still struggling?
Finally, we make it to Red Banks at the Base of Misery Hill. The summit seems so close! I got a strong second wind here and realized that I probably can make it to the top. I am still in my rhythm at this point and feel good about it. The other guys are beginning to slow down a bit. The time is around 12 noon. 1/4 of the way up misery hill the wind starts to blow. This is no ordinary wind! My guess is that it was blowing somewhere between 60-80 mph and it would gust way above that at times. I wanted to turn around every time the wind would nearly knock me down. I had taken off my shell jacket (that blocks the wind) because I was hot and my gloves (I had the liners on). So This wind chilled me to the bone and it was to strong for me to get out the jacket. So I pushed on a few steps at a time. I constantly sang praise songs in my head. I like to do this on the mountain when I feel weak. I asked the Lord to give me the strength of a Lion and the courage of a tiger to push on when I felt like I had nothing left.
So after what seemed like forever we made it to the top of misery hill. This is the summit. I pulled out my jacket and gloves and tried to warm up. I laid down and went to sleep. It is not over yet. The summit is not the top. The Pinnacle is. We now had to cross a plateau and then climb to the top of the true summit. We were exhausted at this point and had little desire to do this. Now that I am back I am glad we went all the way to the top. The Time is now about 2pm. It is getting late fast and we need to hurry down to get to the car before dark.
We hurry down and make it back to the car by 5:15pm just before dark. Then we loaded the car and drove back to the Ranch.
Overall, The trip was a great adventure. I think it was one of the hardest physical things I have ever done. Much harder than the last time I climbed Shasta (1998). We did make it harder on ourselves than it had to be. I think doing it in one day is to much. Next time I'll do it in 2 days. Like I said at the beginning of this, I am not sure why people torture themselves on purpose to get to the top of a mountain, for some reason I want to do it again though. Click on the link at the right to see my Shasta pictures and to read Travis's account of the climb.
NOTE: For those of you who are wondering. I worked on Saturday and late several days to make up for the day of work I missed.
Friday, February 11, 2005
Shasta Climb
This is a quick update on our climb yesterday. I will write more later.
We started the hike at 3:30 am Thursday morning after sleeping in the van. I am in average shape at best so I was struggling from the beginning. 25 steps then rest, count to ten, and then do it again. This was my pace up the entire mountain. The fact that I made it to the top is proof that it is more about how hard you can push yourself than how great of shape you are in. I lost all interest near the beginning of the hike in taking pictures (which is unusual for me) because I was struggling so much. So Dan took over and took all of these great pictures. The climb was incredibly exhausting. Probably the most difficult thing physically I have ever done. You can see from the pictures, it was beautiful. The total trip took about 13 hours. I will add the details later...
We started the hike at 3:30 am Thursday morning after sleeping in the van. I am in average shape at best so I was struggling from the beginning. 25 steps then rest, count to ten, and then do it again. This was my pace up the entire mountain. The fact that I made it to the top is proof that it is more about how hard you can push yourself than how great of shape you are in. I lost all interest near the beginning of the hike in taking pictures (which is unusual for me) because I was struggling so much. So Dan took over and took all of these great pictures. The climb was incredibly exhausting. Probably the most difficult thing physically I have ever done. You can see from the pictures, it was beautiful. The total trip took about 13 hours. I will add the details later...
Action shot of me hiking up the ridge. One of my favorite pictures. Most of these pictures were taken by Dan because I was to tired to care about taking pictures. At least I had the camera. We filled about half of a 1 gig memory card. We shot a few videos to. Email me to get the videos. Click the Harris's photos link to the right to see more of my Shasta pictures.
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