sli74
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LONG TRIP REPORT ALERT
The wheels began turning last year in August as I sat at the top of Disappointment Cleaver and watched 2 of my Rainier trip teammates head upward and I contemplated my decision to allow them to proceed faster without me . . . in the hours that followed, I made another decision . . . that I would return and attempt the summit again soon. Talking my boyfriend into going with me was not nearly as difficult as I initially anticipated and so when the permit application time rolled around in March 2006, I got our ball rolling. The plan was for Brian and I to attempt the summit at my own very SLOW pace with either a camp at Muir or at the Flats.
At the very last minute I remembered that Frodo had offered to have us join him last October on Rainier and I had turned him down not wanting to drag him down with my pace. He had INSISTED that any pace at all would be fine and I had still felt uncomfortable going with anyone other than Brian who I knew cared neither about my pace nor very much about some summit. However, I couldn’t remember if Frodo had ever actually gone on that Rainier trip so after a couple of emails and figuring out that he had cancelled the Rainier trip in October, Brian and I decided to extend an invite to Frodo to join us with a VERY CLEAR and UPFRONT understanding that my pace is painfully slow and that he’d have to adjust to my pace with warmer clothes and lots of patience.
Soon our team of two grew to a team of 3 as Frodo decided to join us. I took care of the permits and the planning and the keeping up-to-date on the conditions, etc. Brian and I began setting aside weekends to train for the upcoming climb. We had been downhill skiing with ASC season passes and so planned one final weekend of skiing before the training hikes and mountaineering classes started. Unfortunately, that final day of fun on the slopes turned into a disaster. I took a VERY bad fall on the slopes when I hit a patch of ice and had my right leg “snap” backwards over the boot, which failed to release from the binding. Fighting waves of nausea and intense pain, I was finally taken down the mountain by ski patrol on a sled with a concerned Brian in tow.
The weeks that followed were frustrating to say the least as I wondered if this last minute ski injury was going to hinder my Rainier attempt for the year. But after 3 weeks of hobbling around and staying home on the weekends and practically driving Brian crazy with my need to get out of the apartment, we pushed the limits of my pain and went on a few flat but LONG hikes on the AT in Conn and Mass . . . those hikes were good for my spirit but did little else for my physical shape which was already dismal from a winter spent downhill skiing. But as my leg healed, I began to feel as though I still had it in me to give Rainier a try. We practiced our knots and read “Freedom of the Hills” and got generally excited about our upcoming trip.
Also, for those of you that know me, you know I can’t just do a simple trip like Rainier . . . so to add to the adventure, Rainier was planned as a final hurrah to a 2 week vacation which included driving cross-country in my car, a “stop” for 5 days with Brian’s parents in Colorado, a possible attempt of Pikes Peak while visiting his parents, driving to Paradise and a trip up Rainier and a manic drive back to attend a rehearsal dinner back home in Mass for a wedding in which I was a bridesmaid. So, needless to say, the excitement was at a maximum as Brian and I set out to drive to Colorado on June 22 at 8 pm . . . I won’t bore you with the details of the rest of our vacation except to say that we hit up the super difficult climbs of the state highpoints in Missouri and Kansas . . . wow . . . exhausting !!!!
While at his parents, we got another snag in our plans as I caught a cold and had to cancel our acclimatizing hike of Pikes Peak so as to conserve my energies for Rainier. His parents made sure to pamper us and treat us to great food and it was tough to leave Colorado but we were both very excited about meeting Frodo in Washington.
The wheels began turning last year in August as I sat at the top of Disappointment Cleaver and watched 2 of my Rainier trip teammates head upward and I contemplated my decision to allow them to proceed faster without me . . . in the hours that followed, I made another decision . . . that I would return and attempt the summit again soon. Talking my boyfriend into going with me was not nearly as difficult as I initially anticipated and so when the permit application time rolled around in March 2006, I got our ball rolling. The plan was for Brian and I to attempt the summit at my own very SLOW pace with either a camp at Muir or at the Flats.
At the very last minute I remembered that Frodo had offered to have us join him last October on Rainier and I had turned him down not wanting to drag him down with my pace. He had INSISTED that any pace at all would be fine and I had still felt uncomfortable going with anyone other than Brian who I knew cared neither about my pace nor very much about some summit. However, I couldn’t remember if Frodo had ever actually gone on that Rainier trip so after a couple of emails and figuring out that he had cancelled the Rainier trip in October, Brian and I decided to extend an invite to Frodo to join us with a VERY CLEAR and UPFRONT understanding that my pace is painfully slow and that he’d have to adjust to my pace with warmer clothes and lots of patience.
Soon our team of two grew to a team of 3 as Frodo decided to join us. I took care of the permits and the planning and the keeping up-to-date on the conditions, etc. Brian and I began setting aside weekends to train for the upcoming climb. We had been downhill skiing with ASC season passes and so planned one final weekend of skiing before the training hikes and mountaineering classes started. Unfortunately, that final day of fun on the slopes turned into a disaster. I took a VERY bad fall on the slopes when I hit a patch of ice and had my right leg “snap” backwards over the boot, which failed to release from the binding. Fighting waves of nausea and intense pain, I was finally taken down the mountain by ski patrol on a sled with a concerned Brian in tow.
The weeks that followed were frustrating to say the least as I wondered if this last minute ski injury was going to hinder my Rainier attempt for the year. But after 3 weeks of hobbling around and staying home on the weekends and practically driving Brian crazy with my need to get out of the apartment, we pushed the limits of my pain and went on a few flat but LONG hikes on the AT in Conn and Mass . . . those hikes were good for my spirit but did little else for my physical shape which was already dismal from a winter spent downhill skiing. But as my leg healed, I began to feel as though I still had it in me to give Rainier a try. We practiced our knots and read “Freedom of the Hills” and got generally excited about our upcoming trip.
Also, for those of you that know me, you know I can’t just do a simple trip like Rainier . . . so to add to the adventure, Rainier was planned as a final hurrah to a 2 week vacation which included driving cross-country in my car, a “stop” for 5 days with Brian’s parents in Colorado, a possible attempt of Pikes Peak while visiting his parents, driving to Paradise and a trip up Rainier and a manic drive back to attend a rehearsal dinner back home in Mass for a wedding in which I was a bridesmaid. So, needless to say, the excitement was at a maximum as Brian and I set out to drive to Colorado on June 22 at 8 pm . . . I won’t bore you with the details of the rest of our vacation except to say that we hit up the super difficult climbs of the state highpoints in Missouri and Kansas . . . wow . . . exhausting !!!!
While at his parents, we got another snag in our plans as I caught a cold and had to cancel our acclimatizing hike of Pikes Peak so as to conserve my energies for Rainier. His parents made sure to pamper us and treat us to great food and it was tough to leave Colorado but we were both very excited about meeting Frodo in Washington.
