RRC Archives

Wow, first you have to be able to chew your own arm off then this......
I'm not sure if I'm cut out for this sport.

http://www.foxnews.net/story/0,2933,89902,00.html

That's sad.

Sir, are you mucking with my little head again?

Reason #82 I don't mountaineer. I try to explain to people how much more safe I feel dangling from a couple of fingertips 70' feet off the ground than standing on some mountain ridge. (Reason #1 that I don't mountaineer is all that hiking up hill with a heavy pack)

Hey! I almost got caught in one of those dandy storms we've been having recently on top of an exposed ridge off Tunnel Ridge Road. All the trees had died from forest fires a few years ago and the undergrowth was horrendous. When I saw the clouds coming and heard the thunder directly overhead I was about two miles from my car with a loaded pack. I was running through hip deep briars and fallen pines with all my climbing gear praying fervently that I would not get struck by lightning.

Never doubt the power of prayer. I made it back ot the car without even getting wet, even though a terrible downpour had soaked everything around me. That's the most scared I've been in the woods in a very long time.

I was out in the Rawah Wilderness in North Central Colorado last summer hiking up Clarke Peak. We were well above tree line and were unable to get back down prior to the afternoon storms. When they rolled in, the lightening was striking all around but fortunately, none of us were hit. It was close enough the hair on the back of my neck was standing up and you could hear the cracking in the air. No doubt, prayers were being said during that hour long storm.

Even with this, I do love the mountaineering! Check out the latest picture in the photo album under "other climbs"; that's a group of us on the flanks of Kilimanjaro. Awesome trip that was!