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I apologize in advance for a long ramble, but I feel the urge to talk about this because of so many misconceptions I've read about the Mt Hood climbers here in the last week...things like they were just irresponsible thrill seekers, or rich white boys, negligent hikers, etc. I really feel for those guys. There is nothing scarier and more bleak than what they have gone through. No one can imagine how badly they suffered for such an extended period of time. However, I'm not starting this thread to debate that. We've already been there and done that. I'm just going to try and give you a better picture of what it's all about when you climb/hike in the mountains.
Climbing mountains is not at all a "rich white boys" thing, nor is it simply a "thrill seekers" thing done by irresponsible people. These guys were seasoned hikers who loved the outdoors. They knew what they were doing, but sometimes shit just happens, and yes, they MIGHT have taken one too many chances that they should not have. We don't know that yet, though. Anyway, I'm gonna try and share just what happens when someone goes up a mountain....just in case you've never walked up one and would like to understand more what's involved. If you're not at all interested in the outdoors, this might bore you to death. In fact, it might bore you anyway!
When you hear someone talk about "mountain climbing", many of you are probably picturing someone using ice ladders, ropes, and other technical gear to climb up sheer faces of rock and ice. Unless you're climbing Everest or K2, it's not usually like that. As far as I know, it isn't like that for Mt Hood either.
Most "mountain climbing", including the climbs up Mt Hood, are not the kind of mountain climbing that involves technical experience such as using any kind of technical equipment, other than normal traction aids if you hike in winter. Most mountain climbers are just plain old hikers who happen to hike uphill. Many of you, as long as you're in excellent aerobic shape, could hike up many mountains, even to the top of Mt Hood as long as you had someone guiding you and preparing you for emergency. However, there are plenty of shorter climbs to enjoy all across the USA, which are much less complicated and that you could easily do on your own, and hence you, too, would be mountain climbers...or hikers...similar to the men who hiked up Mt Hood. All you need to do is go to a local "trail head" along a highway near a mountain, and start up the trail, but keep reading first...
If you hike on mountain trails, the people you're going to meet on the trail are some of the coolest people around, many of them really liberal minded and almost all of them environmental advocates. It only makes sense that if you love hiking mountains, or hiking anywhere for that matter, that you're going to a strong advocate for the environment yourself.
I hike up mountains in the Adirondacks whenever I get a chance, mostly with my wife, including during the winter, using either snowshoes (with built in crampons for traction) or ice crampons when the trail gets steeper, icier, or when it gets packed like concrete. If you take the proper precautions, it's a pretty safe sport. It's almost always on established trails, and you should never leave the trail. In winter when the trails are well packed, there's nothing more fun than strapping on a pair of 10-point crampons to your boots and walking up and down the slope with ease, like a cat with sharp claws, other than the usual huffing and puffing you're gonna do. With mountaineering crampons on, you will not slip. Most times we use snowshoes, though (aluminum Tubbs w/built in traction). In lots of ways, hiking is easier in winter. There are no bugs, and the air is much cleaner in winter so you can see farther when you're on top. The trails in winter...which in summer are eroded, rocky and uneven....are leveled over in a pillowy white trail. Working your way up through a winter wonderland with snow clinging to all the trees is almost magical to experience. The landscape up high in winter is incredibly beautiful. The only time it's hard in winter to walk in the woods on snowshoes is when you're breaking trail after a fresh deep snowfall. Most of the trails are well used enough that it's best to wait a day or so after a fresh snowfall for the snow to get packed by other hikers or for it to simply settle on its own. Don't get me wrong...summer hiking is wonderful, too, and a lot less complicated....and safer of course.
Most of the time, people hike up mountains on established trails, which makes getting lost pretty hard...unless you leave the trail or unless you end up hiking back after dark without a headlamp.
I can sort of relate to what happened to the Mt Hood climbers. One time in winter around 12 years ago, my family and another family once ran into near catastrophic weather conditions above treeline on a high peak in the Adirondacks. It was not snowing that day, and only flurries were forecast. Our group got separated into two groups, the adults in one and our teenage kids in the other, and becoming separated almost caused a tragic outcome. As soon as we got above the complete shelter of tree line, the wind coming across the open summit was around 75 mph, creating a total whiteout and windchills around 50 below zero or worse. You could hardly stand up, let alone move, and the ice pellets shot into any exposed skin on our faces like bullets. Frostbite would come very quickly out there. There is nothing you can do under those conditions out in the open. You can't see, you can barely go anywhere without risking walking right off a slope or cliff, and if you're separated, that's asking for disaster because people start looking for the other people and then someone invariably gets lost. You just can't imagine how cold, painful, and scary it is to be trying to find your teenage kids somewhere between treeline and the summit, thinking how they could only survive for a very short period of time or that they might have walked over one of the cliffs in the whiteout. We were very lucky and found them after a half hour of panic-stricken searching, thinking they might be goners. The weird thing is that, although it was a total whiteout, it wasn't actually snowing in the sky. The whiteout blizzard we experienced was simply caused by the hurricane force winds blowing across the summit that day. At the base of the mountain the winds were only at 20 to 25 mph, but the direction of the wind that day took it though a pass and created a severe wind tunnel on the way up and it got magnified ferociously as it went over the top. We learned a serious lesson that day that you should never get separated, especially in winter.
So why do people hike up mountains? It's not just because it's "there". Part of it is just being in the woods. Part of it is being with your close friends or family out there in Mother Nature. Part of it is the satisfaction of making it to the top of the mountain, whether it's just a 1 hour hike up or whether it's several hours up. The biggest reward is at the top...the incredible view you'll get. If the weather is nice, you will not want to come down. A big fringe benefit is that regularly hiking up mountain trails will get you into shape like no other kind of exercise will, and it is not boring. Another huge benefit is that it's something your kids will like doing with you, even if they're in those teenage years when kids often don't like hanging with Mom and Dad. It's a real bonding experience. Hiking/climbing up mountains is something that people of all ages, young and old, can do.
Most times I'm a "fair weather" hiker, meaning I hike up mountains mostly when it's clear out, summer or winter. We pick our days. Of course, the clearer the weather, the better the visibility and the more enjoyable the view will be, along with everything else.
You don't have to be in perfect shape to climb a mountain, but it does pay to be in decent aerobic shape. If it's your first time, pick a small one to climb, something that takes maybe an hour to get up...and go slowly, even slower than you feel like when you first start up the trail. If you try to go too fast at first, you'll burn yourself out and you'll hate it. Half the battle is mental and the more you do it, the easier it becomes. Do your first one in the late spring or summer. Make sure you buy a basic hiking book so you know what to wear and how to plan it. The best things in life are free, and hiking mountains, or hiking in general, is one of those things you can do that costs nothing more than buying good hiking boots and a few layers of synthetic clothing. In summer, all you basically need are good hiking boots and enough water. Try it and you'll better understand what motivates people to climb mountains. You'll see why those Mt Hood guys loved doing what they did, once you get on a trail. You'll see things that you won't possibly see otherwise.
No matter what size mountain you decide to climb, big or small, summer or winter, there is always an element of danger no matter how many precautions you take. But you know what? Sometimes ya just gotta live a tiny bit dangerously....not stupid dangerous, but you know what I mean....like going in the woods even knowing that there's a 1 in a 1000 chance you might slip and sprain an ankle or something along that line. If you're cautious, injuries are rare.
If you're interested in anything to do with hiking basic mountains (not rock climbing or anything involving technical gear), feel free to ask me, even if it's just a question about what to wear.
One last thing I want to say is that I think the reason this Mt Hood story got so much constant coverage is because all of America, including the media, was just in the mood for a happy ending to a story like this one, especially after considering how dismal everything else has been going, what with the awful war and all. We were all pulling for those guys on Mt Hood. Good news is something we all could have used.
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