Geoff and Melody: May 2007

Thursday, May 24, 2007

College Rainier Days

Back in college at Seattle Pacific University I did a lot of mountaineering. Sadly, I haven't done too much since then. And then was in the early 90s!

Now my Dad is going to turn 60 in just two weeks. He also did a lot of mountaineering, but it was more like the late 60s for him!

To celebrate his birthday we've organized a group to climb Mount Rainier, AKA "The Mountain", again. We'll be going up the Emmons/Winthrop route on the eastern side. It starts at the White River Campground to Glacier Basin where we'll stay the first night, then up to Camp Schurman at about 9000 feet the second night. We'll get a very early start and then up to the top (14,410) and back to Camp Schurman. Instead of pushing it all the way down, we'll give ourselves another night at Camp Schurman and then back down the rest of the way the next morning.

Dad climbed this way once, and via the Paradise/Camp Muir to Emmons route the first time. I climbed twice, with one summit, both times via the Paradise route. I'm really looking forward to seeing a different part of the peak. This route starts at Paradise, then up to Camp Muir via the Muir snowfields. Most parties camp there, but both times I went we continued on across the Cowlitz glacier to the Ingraham flats on the Ingraham glacier. This put us ahead of the guided groups and over 3/4 of the parties on the peak wich makes for a much nicer day two. The first time we moved out up the rocks of the Disappointment Cleaver to the Emmons glacier and the summit, the second time was earlier in the summer and we were able to go straight up the Ingraham glacier and curve right to the Emmons above the Cleaver. Much nicer. Sadly the weather turned on us and we found ourselves in white out conditions despite it being a beautiful day and one of our guys had numb hands so we turned back. The weather of course cleared and was beautiful on the way down!

Below are pictures I scanned in from those trips. It will be fun to compare to the pictures I hope to have of the attempt at the end of June!

Just above Paradise, ready to go all the way!

The trail up to Muir is very interesting and beautiful.

Mount Adams off in the distance from the Muir snowfields.

At Camp Muir with the Snowfields below. Days not done yet!

The Ingraham Flats - a great place to camp.

One of the more interesting aspects of camping on the Flats - don't stray too far at night! This cravase could eat a house and it was only a litte ways from our camp. In fact, you can see its end just over my friend's heads in the picture above.

This was looking over the way to the right, you can see a bit of the path there...

Why bother with a tent when you can get a great night's rest under the stars! I'm reading the classic guide by Fred Becky that my then girlfriend (a beauty named Melody!) had given me. She said maybe it would end up on "our" bookcase some day and it did!

Dawn and we've already climbed up the Cleaver by the light of our headlamps. A brutal and tedious climb. The coming of the dawn was a welcome sight.

On the way up!

The Summit! I got sick at about 13500 or so, didn't drink enough water either. I didn't have much energy up top, but started to feel better as we started down. Still, the summit is the summit and I made it!!

I'm pretty sure this was on the way down when I started feeling much better.

At the top of the cleaver, a long way to go down still!

Looking down through Cadaver Gap. Somewhere way down there is Paradise and the end of the trip...

My team (Scott, Jim and Trevor) for climb two. Does it look like it would turn into a white out on top the next day?!

Roping up on the Cowlitz glacier on the way to Cathedral Gap and the Ingraham glacier

Familar digs on the Flats. Amazing sunny weather.

Looking south to Little Tahoma Peak.

Looking up the mountain from just below camp. You can see the faint path on the right of the shadow as it zig-zags directly up the Ingraham glacier. Compare to the picture above as I came down the mountain and you can see how it was possible to avoid the cleaver this time and stay on the glacier. The difference between about a month of climbing season - earlier means less cravasses. You can see some slight plums of snow kicking off the top from the wind we'd run into the next day.

After dawn we took a break at a big bergschrund. We had to kick steps up through this to keep going. It was the most technical part of this climb, and it was about an hour latter that we had to turn back due to the white out and a team members numb-cold hands. It is always smarter to turn back than to go to far...

Taking a break after we got down a ways and out of the wind and white out. Disappointed not to summit again, but still having a great climb. Note the old school wood ice axe I used in those days. It was my Moms! I finally retired it a few years ago and now have a more modern one for this next climb. It is displayed on the wall proudly. Hanging from it just over my elbow you can see my old school helmet that I used - it was Dads. I just replaced that a month ago for the new trip.

Looking through Cadaver Gap, this time with much less cravasses than the picutre from the first climb.

Heading down the Ingraham glacier. No sign of the winds above...

Camp far below on the flats, the path is a practical highway coming up the glacier.

Taking a break. Sunburn on Trevor was pretty bad and is a reminder that the sun off the snow can be killer.

Back at camp. Trevor wearing a scarf to protect his face from further burns...

So, no pictures of cute kids or any recent updates. Quite the opposite as the pictures are all from over 15 years ago! But it is fun to remember those climbs and to look forward to the climb at the end of June. Also, Dustin is such a climber already that it is fun for him to see pictures of his Dad climbing mountains. He is looking forward to doing these climbs himself (maybe even with me and William someday?).

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Please Remember Our Soldiers

A young paralegal that I knew at Fort Richardson was killed on Thursday by an IED while on a mission. Two other Soldiers were also killed and an attorney I know who was with them was injured, but will be ok. She was the only survivor from the vehicle.

Few of you are aware that any Soldiers died. It is hardly news anymore. In fact, two other Soldiers also died on Thursday making the total five killed. Of course, that does not include the injured, such as my friend who was hurt, but lived.

SPC Coty Phelps was a nice kid from Arizona. He was born in June 1986. Fort Richardson and 4th Brigade (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division was his first assignment after finishing Basic and AIT. He was a paratrooper who always seemed to be in a good mood and who was fun to talk to when he'd bring paperwork to my office or when I'd see him around post. It is hard to believe he is gone. I can't imagine how hard his death is going to be for the members of the legal team from 4th Brigade.

I hope that anyone who reads this will take a moment and think about the Soldiers and Marines who are facing danger and who are injured and killed in this war, as well as their families and close friends who do feel the hardship back home in the loss of those they love. SPC Phelps had two brothers and a sister as well as his dad and step-mom who will surely miss him greatly. My prayers are with them and with the JAG team of 4th Brigade.

Thank you.

Geoff

Ok already, another post!!!

Melody promised more than one person that I'd update the blog today, and I certainly don't want to make her out to be a liar! So, here is the update...

The Twins are getting big. I mean really big. There are actually outfits that we never got around to using because they are now too big for them. Nearly 6 months old and they are showing more and more personality. The cooing is more common and I could almost swear that Eleanor says hi. She even waved when she said it (well, sort of... she often just flails her arms in a waving motion...) William doesn't talk as often, but he's got a short, deep growl at times. You'd have to hear it to understand. It usually happens when he is hungry and is accompanied by a dive towards Melody's chest.

Just yesterday William was rolling over on his back, then back on his tummy, then back on his back again. It was funny. He thereby moves around in a small areas with aplumb. Eleanor can also turn, but chooses not to as much. She has other talents like talking more often after all! With their tiny hands holding tight onto my thumbs, they both enjoy standing up and trying to figure out the next step to try to walk. That is usually when Melody tells me to stop and try to teach them to crawl first! Ok, I may be jumping the gun a bit there.... When we change Eleanor she likes to do half stomach crunches and try to see what we are doing. She can't quite get up, but she does try!

Any day now Melody and I have got to admit that they are growing up and we'll be moving to rice cereal. Today, Eleanor held a sippy cup of formula and actually drank some. This is a big deal as she has refused a bottle for a while now which means that I can't help her when she is hungry (I can't babysit for any length of time anymore for instance). Also, they are growing so fast that they are eating a lot, and often. Making for not as much sleep as Melody really needs....

Megan and Dustin finished up with soccer. They had a lot of fun and learned a lot about team work and listening to their coaches. And Melody and I has so much fun watching them. Now they are in swim lessons. Dustin is too fearless with water - he'll jump right in. He needs to learn some skills before he does something dangerous! Megan is better as the basic skills than Dustin, but he was the one who jumped off the diving board (wearing a life jacket) and loved it. They are going to continue to take lessons in hopes of time in swiming pools this summer and next year.

We have had a lot of fun on bike ride walks where Megan and Dustin ride and we walk with the twins in their chariott. Our kids love to ride their bikes. Also, Dustin has gone crazy and convinced Melody (with my suprised telephonic aproval) to get him a small skateboard. And he actually is pretty good at it. They love to play outside and climb a small tree we have and jump about . Dustin wants to climb mountains so much that we have to be careful that he doesn't tie a rope to himsel when he is trying to climb his tree. Megan is getting very good at her alphabet and can recognize simple words like "and" and "mom" and "dad". She is very ready for kindgergarten next year.

Since the last post we had a great Spring Break visit from Grammie and Papa (my folks) who came to see us and Great Grandpa DeWeese. We got to have some nice time and walks and spent Easter with them. We all had fun seeing the kids participate in the church's egg hunt at a little park right by the Sound. Beautiful sunny day to Celebrate Life!

We'll be moving this summer. Off to Charlottesville, VA for the JAG advance course (also known as the graduate course). For a year I'll be a student again and will get an LLM in military law. I am looking forward to it. It should be a great time for the kids (and for me to be with the kids). We've already got a house saved to rent. It is a four bedroom and has a big backyard with a huge play set that the kids will love.

Ok, what you really want are pictures. So here they come....