inspriations

In time, the rigors and trials of city life lead oneself to search deeper to find meaning. Often this search leads us to nature, in who's environs one can both renew a connection with the natural rhythms of the world as well tests ones own medal. It was on one of these such forays that I found my self engaged in this past weekend with friends both old and new.

Our destination was the wilds of the Southern Cascades to climb the slopes of a mysterious volcano, named for John Q Adams (also know as Paddo or Klickitat by the natives). With little other information to go on about the mountain and a bleak weather forecast, our party set off into the unknown to confirm and test our own personal limits.

The journey from Seattle was long, but made pleasant by the company of such fine people. We passed the time with stories of our deeds and singing the songs of our youth. As darkness fell, we knew we would not be able to reach our intended destination, and were forced to bivouac near a small town in a very bucolic setting. After an excellent meal at an indigenous eatery, I was ready for bed. The five star amenities of nearby Paradise Plunge State Park offered an excellent nights sleep deep in pristine wilderness and greeted us in the morning with the calls of exotic and unknown fauna...

After a spartan breakfast and an arduous approach, we arrive at the trailhead ready to tackle our objective, despite a light pattering of hail on our hoods. As we headed off into the woods, the anticipation of the adventure that awaited made us giddy. The mountain was kind enough to grace our hike to base camp with the splendid and hospitable weather that the Northwest is famous for. Upon reaching our spacious bivouac for the 1st night, we set up camp and set right to work in preparing for the next days adventures, making sure to eat nutritiously as well as hydrating. After several hours of laboring, we turned in for the night, dreams of high summits and perfect weather filled our heads.

After a fitful nights sleep, we awoke to to what every climber dreams of - an amazing purple and red sunrise with perfectly clear sky and air so still, you could feel the flutter of passing butterflies. We quickly departed camp and made our way through the snow and rock of the lower mountain to arrive at the crux of the climb, a steep headwall of snow and ice. Our party began to make slow but steady progress up the intimidating slope in delightful conditions. After a pleasant, yet strenuous exertion, we reached our first objective of the climb, a false summit that obscured the actual top of the mountain. Our hopes of a successful climb were dashed as we crested the ridge to find the true summit obscured in a bank of clouds. Prudence being the better part of valor, we opted to cut our climb short and head for the safety of lower ground.

Our return trip down the headwall was made quickly as we mastered the art of glissading, where one either slides down the slope on ones backside, or balances precariuosly on the heals of ones feet and glides down upright like a skier. This somewhat undignified form of descending proved to both very effective and and invigorating endeavor indeed! Our descent back to our camp was made more difficult by light cloud cover, but we confidently navigated to our destination. After quickly packing up, we made the return trip back to the car with little incident on an exceptionally marked trail.

As I reflect back on the weekends adventures, i am once again filled with a sense of wonder and awe in nature and the power it can have. I am also reminded of my own limits and shortcomings as well as made more confident in my own strengths and abilities. i am thankful for sharing that adventure with such great people who have such similar yet diverging views of life and from who i have and will continue to learn much from and be inspired by.