South Side Route
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I had a great time talking with Brett on the way back down the mountain ("If you don't ski down I'll walk down with you," he'd said earlier, "because the walk out is where the best shit gets said.") Brett was right. The walk out, talking about climbing and life and all my feelings about this climb and John and Mt. Shasta and ending up the season on a high note was greatly cathartic. I really hope to climb with Brett - not to mention talk to him - many more times in the future.
Jeff H. tele'd down from the top of the Palmer Lift. Brett and I still somehow managed to beat the kid back down to Timberline Lodge by an hour. As such, we got back before checkout time and were able to shower (we were off the mountain by 9.45am). Jeff H. wasn't so fortunate, and as a result, neither were the rest of our olfactory organs, the truth be told. The photo above shows a storm variously blowing in and out, over and under, Mt. Hood. Or, conversely, it's what is called in the Pacific Northwest: "Partly Cloudy." This was a great climb and a great time. It brought a lot of things full circle for me. I will take many of the things I experienced and learned this year forward with me through the mountains and through life. I brought a lot to Mt. Hood. I left a lot there as well. Thanks Brett and the Jeffs. Thanks Em and Bruce. Thanks Ruth. Thanks to the Miksits and Hiemstra families. Thanks to the many friends I've made over the last two months.
Namaste John. Thanks for reading. See you next time. |
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