31 August - 2 September 2001:
No Myth
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Brett following the Grey Spiked Road out. Talus for 1500' steep feet, down and down and down. As a package, I think I hurt more on this climb than any other I've managed so far. It took us longer to get down than to get up (for the fact-inclined: with storm and bivination included, we got in and out in 47:45 hours total - if it hadn't been for the rain and the necessary bivies, I think we could have done it in about 16-20 hrs. round-trip).
On the other hand, and it's a cleaner, softer one that coincidentally less frequently flips the bird to unsuspecting passers-by, Eldorado has just about everything, and the beauty of the mountain, when you can see it, is something to behold. The climbing was engaging, the bivies were only slightly medieval, and the partnership was, as it has been in the past, superb. In particular, Brett's suggestions, planning and decision-making almost certainly affected our positive outcome, for which I am grateful. We shall return. And hey, thanks. Trip sponsors: Friends in High Places, Not-A-Down-Bag, duct tape, The Sundays: "Reading Writing & Arithmetic," Mother Nature, The Cascades Marmot and Pika Jug Band, Sun Country Airlines, Mikey doing Chris Smither doing Rollie Salley's "Killing the Blues" - incessantly, Marlboro, equal parts patience and pacing, copious seam sealing, prune hands, Michael Penn: "March," intestinal flu, Wild Things EP jacket, Seattle's Best, Scrumblers Unanimous, Fine Foods Northwest Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans, Vitamin I, The Need to Get Up and Go. |
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