It was a pretty long day. I got home from work, packed, tried to walk Maisie, drove down to Portland (after stopping at work for maps to Oleg’s, and back home for my ice axe) and getting stopped on the freeway with a headlight out, I got to Oleg's.
I had about a 20 minute nap on Oleg’s couch while he went and picked up his girlfriend and her friend, then we drove off to the trailhead.
We brought a variety of gear, from snowshoes, which we needed, to pickets, ice screws, and second tools, which we also needed.
We hit the trail just after 3:00 AM. Took about 90 minutes to get to the Tilly Jane ski hut, where we took 15 minutes. I'd never been there before; it's bigger than I imagined. Then another hour to the stone hut, and another break.
While we sat there, we noticed whole fields of red lights off to the north, blinking on and off almost, but not perfectly, in sync. I was thinking that it was some sort of Christmas light display, which didn't make any sense, but could not begin to guess what else could be causing it. There were a couple of different fields of lights doing this far off in the distance, probably across the Columbia river from where we were.
Eventually the light came up enough that we figured out what we were seeing was wind farms, with a light on the top of each turbine. As so often happens, you go from "what the HELL could that be - it makes no sense" to "oh, okay, of course, it's obvious."
Obligatory shot of morning light, with obligatory cloud seas.
Oleg hiking in.
Your humble scribe posing for the camera.
Oleg at the high point.
Watched the sun come up as we hiked; got to our high point around 11:00, and turned around because of the ice. Oleg was okay with it, but I just wasn't comfortable with the steepness.
This plaque is affixed to a rock along the route.
We stopped for lunch at the Cooper Spur hut. Oleg, with Adams and St Helens in the background.
ON the hike out, we passed a large rock with a plaque affixed to it: "In memory of Pat Haythorn." I've seen plaques like this elsewhere; there are a few near Source Lake near Alpental, and another on a crag in Leavenworth, and a few other spots. it seems to me like a nice way to connect people with those who came before.
I don't know who Pat Haythorn was, and a cursory Googling of her name didn't bring up anything, but I guess that's maybe part of the point. Her friends know who she was, and I know she was someone who felt at home enough up here that her friends and family wanted her memorialized here in this isolated place that only climbers, and not casual day hikers, would come across.
Back to the car right at 3:00 PM. We drove back to his place, and I got back into my Hyundai, and headed home up I-5 to a dog who was far more interested in walking than I was.
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