I can't believe how fast the past three years has flown by! This time last year we were making a trip to Spokane to find a place to live and now we are packing up our boxes and moving again; this time to Denver!!
For this particular moment in time I am a bit sad to leave Spokane. While Spokane is not an ideal place I'd like to raise a family, it was the first place where Reid and I lived together and began our lives as our own family. We also made a great group of friends here and I found a great gymnastics gym where I worked with some awesome people. They will all be missed, but I am ready to move on and begin the next chapter in our lives.
It has been hard, and at times frustrating watching your friends buy houses, start families, and be back at home where you are the most comfortable, but on the flip side I wouldn't change the experience we have had for anything. Moving 24hrs away from family and friends and living on a student budget has helped me grow as an individual and that is what I will take away from this chapter in my life. I'm excited for what is to come :)
This weekend we will be celebrating Reid graduating law school and next Monday it's packing up the truck and hitting the road. Congratulations Reid on making it through school and can't wait to put this moving process behind me.
Mountaineering
Reid is trying to get me into mountaineering because he wants it to be an experience we can enjoy together. Last year we went to Mt Adams for my first summit attempt but were pushed off the mountain by bad weather. Last weekend we set out for attempt number two and ultimately in the end still came up short, but at least not becasue of weather this time.
We actually could not have asked for more perfect weather! The temperature was more than pleasant, the winds were calm, but there was still plenty of snow around. So much in fact that the trail was snowed in 7 miles out from the trailhead. Thankfully, we had a GPS with us and did some backcountry hiking to take a more direct route to the trailhead.
We had a friend along with us for the trip who wanted the experience of shooting pictures on a mountaineering trip. It was great to have him (and I'm sure he captured some amazing photos) but his heavy pack did slow us down a bit. We had to camp earlier than planned so we could still have some sunlight for dinner. We found the pefect camp spot and had a pretty spectacular sunset.
I have a major fear of heights, but did okay up until our camp spot. There was only one part of the hike up where I knew if I looked back behind me my legs would be jello! Knowing this about me, I did not sleep at all the night before the summit attempt just thinking in my mind what I was going to have to hike the next day, and on top of that hiking it in the dark. I tried to rest up as much as I could, but the 1:30am alarm went off and it was time to get up and hike some more. But things did not go to plan after I stepped outside the tent. I went back in forth in my mind, do I or don't I but in the end I let my fears get the best of me. It was not only my fear of heights that made my decision, but also the fact that we would be hiking in the dark, with gear I had never used and I also did not trust myself or the gear for what was to come. So we climbed back in, snuggled back in our sleeping bags and with my mind at ease, I finally was able to get some sleep.
The next day we woke up, made our breakfast, packed up camp and headed back down the mountain. Suprisingly, going down was a lot less scary that I had imagined it to be (another thought going through my mind on summit morning). On I strapped on my crampons because the snow had not softenend up yet and found a new best friend! This was one piece of gear I had never used before but they are awesome. My second best friend I made on the hike out was my ice axe. We stopped at a small slope and Reid taught me how to rescue myself should I slip and slide down the mountain. Not only was the training fun, but I now feel much more confident in my mountaineering skills.
All in all I felt comfortable with my decision and am ready to go back some day and try again. I really do hope to conquer my fear and summit a mountain!
We actually could not have asked for more perfect weather! The temperature was more than pleasant, the winds were calm, but there was still plenty of snow around. So much in fact that the trail was snowed in 7 miles out from the trailhead. Thankfully, we had a GPS with us and did some backcountry hiking to take a more direct route to the trailhead.
We had a friend along with us for the trip who wanted the experience of shooting pictures on a mountaineering trip. It was great to have him (and I'm sure he captured some amazing photos) but his heavy pack did slow us down a bit. We had to camp earlier than planned so we could still have some sunlight for dinner. We found the pefect camp spot and had a pretty spectacular sunset.
I have a major fear of heights, but did okay up until our camp spot. There was only one part of the hike up where I knew if I looked back behind me my legs would be jello! Knowing this about me, I did not sleep at all the night before the summit attempt just thinking in my mind what I was going to have to hike the next day, and on top of that hiking it in the dark. I tried to rest up as much as I could, but the 1:30am alarm went off and it was time to get up and hike some more. But things did not go to plan after I stepped outside the tent. I went back in forth in my mind, do I or don't I but in the end I let my fears get the best of me. It was not only my fear of heights that made my decision, but also the fact that we would be hiking in the dark, with gear I had never used and I also did not trust myself or the gear for what was to come. So we climbed back in, snuggled back in our sleeping bags and with my mind at ease, I finally was able to get some sleep.
The next day we woke up, made our breakfast, packed up camp and headed back down the mountain. Suprisingly, going down was a lot less scary that I had imagined it to be (another thought going through my mind on summit morning). On I strapped on my crampons because the snow had not softenend up yet and found a new best friend! This was one piece of gear I had never used before but they are awesome. My second best friend I made on the hike out was my ice axe. We stopped at a small slope and Reid taught me how to rescue myself should I slip and slide down the mountain. Not only was the training fun, but I now feel much more confident in my mountaineering skills.
All in all I felt comfortable with my decision and am ready to go back some day and try again. I really do hope to conquer my fear and summit a mountain!