Mt. Baker
Its been a crazy summer for a lot of people in the climbing community this summer. I'd like to send out my best wishes and respects to the memory of Craig Luebben, who died in a climbing accident this week, and his wife and daughter who are left behind. He was training for AMGA alpine exam in the North Cascades when a chunk of ice he was climbing over collapsed on the bergshrund underneath Mt. Torment. I've never met Craig, but he was a beloved person in the climbing community and he will be missed dearly. He was supposed to be my instructor on an upcoming guide's course in Colorado and even through the brief email I received from him describing the course, I could tell how much passion he had for climbing.
Lily and George on our two day crevasse rescue course on Mt. Baker.
I've just returned from an alpine ice course I taught for the American Alpine Institute on the north side of Mt. Baker. The two guys on my trip were especially awesome and despite the torrential downpour managed to keep spirits high and we climbed the Roman Moustache route which consisted of a number of pitches of alpine ice. I'd driven strait from the Phish show at the Gorge to make it for the 7 am rendezvous last Saturday, where I saw my brother (congrats Matthew for your first Phish show!) and some of my best friends on earth. In addition to seeing an incredible show I left the venue and received a message from my best childhood friend telling me he just got engaged to his long standing girlfriend, so woo-hoo to Jeff and Ruby!
Chandler painting Andy before the Phish show
Darren getting pumped for the best rock and roll on earth
Russ, Chandler and Andy hanging at the Gorge. Russ had the flag dress custom made for the Phish show and other places I'm. Sure. You have no idea how many comments he got. Apparently patriotism is still in style.
As everyone knows, there are sometimes too many things to possible describe in words, and as writers have known since the beginning of time, words can never replace experience. How can I describe the way the clouds whipped the summint of Baker, the cumulous clouds seemed like a magic surfboard could just ride them into the white yonder. They morphed from shape to shape and the sun came and went like a flitting spotlight. At times we were enveloped like the inside of a ping-pong ball, sometimes we were in this giant clear fishbowl looking out on the world from up high. The Coleman glacier's crevasses could've fit average houses inside of them, and despite my years of climbing I still get a mighty pit in my stomach when I step over those great dark holes in the ground.
I've spent a lot of time in the mountains at this point and I take many things for granted that used to make me so excited. It was exciting seeing the guys on the trip being so enamored by simple things like camping out up high on a big mountain, and smelling the flowers on the hike out. The high alpine environment is devoid of plant life and when you eventually descend the smells of the mountain flowers are overwhelming. It feels like I've never been able to smell until that moment, and then it becomes normal again.
Ice cragging on the Coleman Glacier
We walked out the long road from Mt. Baker in a downpour. It gave example to why we call this area the Pacific Northwet. I ran ahead to get the car and shorten the trip for the guys. Running through the rain and green forest all alone I felt incredibly grateful to be alive and to have the simple ability to feel the mist and smell the thick woods. In light of the recent deaths of friends this summer, life is feeling even more precious now. When people pass away all of the things that seem like problems become inconsequential in comparison to the big picture: just being alive and living well each day. I think that each of us strives to be as good as we can be; to ourselves, our families and friends, and the world. I'm no closer to the answer of what a good life consists of, than I was when I became aware of my desire to live one. I do know that to act from the good intentions of the heart seems to be the best gesture I can make.
I wonder if my pondering really mean much. Whether or not, its nice to spend a little time reflecting. Life seems to be going at its usual crazy pace, with only a few rest days between now and my trip to Pakistan where I'm going this fall to teach climbing to porters in the Karakoram, a few AMGA courses sprinkled in between and hopefully some quality time with the friends and family. Maybe even some time to stick my head in the clouds and feel the wind on my face.
What else is there, really? The seasons come and go, time goes on and life continues despite us. It feels good to just appreciate the basic things now and again; the laugh of good company, the crisp air of morning, and the summits that I am lucky enough to visit. Sometimes the sun shines bright and then there is the hard rain. May it rain where you want it to, thats what a read on a sticker one time, and how true those words are....