This hike took place February 21, 2009 on Saturday, the day before Jolly Mountain.
What a wild Hike it was this weekend, I really felt like I was living a mountain dream. It was brilliant fun, just absolute fun! What hieghts of joy, what hieghts of endurance, and what a beautiful world! Also betrayal was another part of it. I betrayed me friend Mark for not going to his birthday party… I sorta made it sound like I was going, and I did’nt go, my irresponsibility takes me to places that sometimes I should’nt. On thursday I was sick with fever and on Friday had a head ache all day and it was amazing I got something planned for Saturday which I recovered just in time. It was then I was supposed to go to a birthday party from Saturday to Sunday, but the temptation of two hikes got to me. In all honesty I do feel bad. Wether it was worth it I cannot say. Gimpilator came to my house real early and we left off around 6:15 a.m. and with almost perfect weather. On the way there I took a few photos and did’nt have time to take photo’s of Mount Pilchuck which was slightly glowing from sunrise and looked much more beautiful than when I normally see it. In a way it felt strange being back in the mountains, but I enjoyed it all the way.
The parking spot was Deer Creek were they gate off the Mountain Loop Highway and was a wee bit icy. There was no true trail to the summit we would be heading to, and we acually had wanted to top off two summits, Bald and Longs Peak. We put snowshoes on though the woods. As we were going, I kept becoming thirsty, and I don’t know what it is about my sickness, but I could never get enough water, I always felt the need for it.
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| Sun shining through the Woods |
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Even in the woods I started tiring easy, probably due to the pace and snowshoes. We got to the road which was nice, exept after a while it gave me blisters, which caused some trouble for the day after. Thank goodness I mentioned my feet hurting and Adam (Gimpilator) was nice to help me put on some duck tape for my fee which helped a bit. Looking up the snowy mountains around we had a change in plan, this was’nt exactly what Adam thought it would be, and was interesting we did what I thought we were going up without being told. We took off our snowshoes and started to get steeper up a snow shoot, and I could really start to feel that the action was on the edge of the horizon.
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| Acual Summit of Long Mountain |
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| North Face of Devils Thumb |
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Later we brought out our crampons which I had never used, but was pretty sure I knew what it was like which I did. Adam decided it would be too dangerous for avalanches to go back down this way, so we would have to find another way down. It gradually got steeper and we got into some woods a little with a angle of atleast 45 degrees and I started to become nervous. I could’nt take photos at this part due to the exposure of it. It once again got even more steep and became something that was like acually climbing and that it was sorta like living a mountain dream, it’s so incredible to acually be doing it. In a sesne you feel more alive, but at the same time I was very dizzy and exhausted and became a rather hard endorance. I felt extremly ambishous which is why I kept going even to the point were both me and Adam were a bit scared of the intenseness. At the end I even said “That was one hell of a climb” which exuse my language because almost never do I say stuff like that, but it was difficult, scary, but absolute fun! We had to treverse across the mountain towards the north because it just got to steep, Adam says it got to 60 degrees of steepness. Going back down a little was a bit worrysome and had a bit of dejavu from Cascade Pass because of the look of it (exept you know, without Johnasburg looming above ya, that place gives you the feel of big mountains and was the scariest day of my life!). Adam kicked in some steps and I had to eat while climbing down, because if I did’nt, I would’nt have enough energy. We also went over some rock over a min cliff which was a little worrysome.
Later We went though some friendlier woods which was a relief and we ascended again, and it was very difficult once again, not nearly as steep thank goodness, but it literally changed my definition of endurance, and changed the meaning of what it meant to climb mountains, and that it’s not just a thing you stop when your tired, or even exhausted, but you endure until you feel like all feeling is sucked away from you, fortunatly on this hike I still had some left and of coarse still having fun. I took off my crampons due to them falling off because my boot was’nt exactly the crampon kind of boot, but I guess good enough. The summit ridge felt like something I see in climbing photo’s with a slight corness feeling, but had some poderish snow. Seeing the summit I had a vision in my head of climbing to the top and cheering out in joy! The main ridge seemed a bit too dangerous, and that perhaps we should traverse the north face bit which we did. I started getting mini cramps as we were going around and the snow was getting a bit deeper, but I was not ready to give up. We finally got another view of the summit from a diffrent side, not only was it too steep, but a bit icy, and the ridge was a big cornice, much too dangerous. Adam made the right choice and when we were about 100 feet from the summit, we decided that was as far as we go. It was’nt that we could’nt, which we could, but it would have been outright dangrous and irresponsible and would be risking death, and as Adam says “Better to live another day to hike than to summit”. Even though I had summit fever, I was’nt dissapointed, and infact I felt accomplished that I did my best and got this far. I had to eat in a tree well to regain my stregnth, and when I could finally look without being too dizzy, I could see I was serounded by intense beauty, and Three Fingers looking like a giant, and to think I summited that bad/ good looking mountain, when I mean bad, I mean steep.
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| Very Summit of Three Fingers |
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| Sloan with Mount Dickerman |
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I took a few shots ans we hurried down because the weather was starting to change and it was getting late, much later than what was planned. It was interesting to think Adam originally said perhaps Cougar Mountain, which I sorta turned down as he said that and he came up with a much better one! Although I never did cougar, or Tiger (Kitty Mountain) but I was sure that we were going to do something better than that. As we continued to get off the ridge, I remember having bad cramps on the way down from a down climb which involved kick steps and Adam had me do some stretches.
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| The Summit Ridge (Well the Easy Part) |
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After this I felt better and going down was a breeze compared to going up. We talked alot about all kinds of things on the way down… or atleast I think we did, I was so tired I can’t even remember. We glassaded a little bit and got back down to the road. Looking back I was wondering about tommorows next adventure, and oh boy it was! Came back to the car with just enough water to make it home, although it was one of those it’s good to be back. Once again another extreme hike, and boy did this one take it’s toll on Jolly Mountain!
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