Unbound Exposure: November 2009

Friday evening was slipping by, and we were languidly moving around the house. I’m not sure whose idea it was, but we were not complacent to waste the weekend away. We decided to hike in that night and climb South Sister at sunrise. Hastily we gathered the necessities, packed our bags and headed up Century Drive. We arrived at the parking area sometime after ten. Despite fatigue from the working week, we were eager for the adventure at hand. Packs loaded, headlamps on, we entered into the Three Sister’s Wilderness under a waning moon’s light.

It had been several years since I first went up this mountain. I knew about five minutes in that my excitement had taken us out of the parking lot on the wrong trail; I chose not to mention my observation because I was confident we could re-route along the way. The elevation gain was a little slower on this route, but I was alright with that. After sometime of fighting through mosquito pockets, I mentioned the snafu to Devin. He took it in stride, as he always does, and just agreed “we’d get there”.

Our capacity to adapt to changing scenarios together is one of my favorite things about our adventures. Devin takes my erratic detours in stride and smiles back at me. We both have this inherent faith that we will find our way, and we don’t care how far off path we are at times. Even when we seem lost, we know we are always on our journey and it doesn’t matter.

An hour overdue, we arrived at Wickiup plains and started to work our way back towards our planned base camp. Out of the forest, we were able to hike without our lamps. As we peered around adjusting to the darkness, we were overcome with harmony. This experience enlivened us for our final push to camp. We crawled tired and anxious into our sleeping bags.

We awoke to our alarm with just under four hours of sleep. Was it really that time? I knew Devin would be the disciplined one on this day and quickly shut my eyes. I did not want to crawl out of bed. Devin finally woke me again. He was out of the tent and reared to go. I gave City a snuggle as he looked up to question why we were waking already. At just over six months old, this was going to be a monumental day for him. Quickly, we ate some bars, drank fluids and looked up at the mountain before us. There was already one group hiking up with headlamps. We had to get going to beat the heat of the day later on.

We started out swiftly and made good progress. Tired and sore, we were not as fit as we would have liked to have been. The dawn was beautiful though, and we slowly rose above the surrounding viewpoints. The elevation gain set in rapidly and I felt myself begin to struggle. I realized this was not the easy climb I recalled in my memory. I was being pressed to look inside and find the strength to advance.

The need to look inward if one wants to proceed, is why I love pushing myself outdoors. Even in times of lethargy, the mountains prod us to ensue our journey. While we may begin the venture to bare witness to the sheer beauty before us, it becomes gratifying to reflect internally also. How grateful I felt to be sharing this moment with Devin and City dog.

Step by step, breath by breath, we made our way up South Sister shortly after sunrise. We circumnavigated the rim and embraced the moment. City even took a few glimpses over the edge. It was after this moment that he finally gained respect for cliffs and ridges. We had all made it up this mountain as those before us and those to follow; we felt richer for having done so.

We made our way back down the scree fields and many groups were now fighting to make it up before the oncoming heat got the best of them. I watched their faces in admiration as they pushed through more challenges than we had faced. The mountains lure many to them, and I believe we all find what we came seeking. Lower and lower we made our way, seeing scores of people en route. People from all walks of life. Those striving to pull through; those succumbing to the realization that this was not their day to achieve the goal they had set out for.

As we made our way down the final decent towards the vehicle, we surveyed our experience. We were exhausted, sore, in pain, yet blissful. City was at our side smiling. This was our first iconic passage together, and we knew it was just the beginning.