In July I finally climbed all the way up Mt. Whitney after figuring out how to overcome a lot of altitude issues and learning to feel comfortable around snow and rock.
It's been an accidental 10 year journey, one that I gave up on a few times, but couldn't let it go and would go back every couple of years or more often (once even twice in a year).
it inspired me to learn things that it turned out I didn't need to know, but am glad I did
- snow skills like "self arrest" which is stopping your slide down a mountain with an ice axe.
- some skiing and winter camping skills
- rock climbing basics
- route finding with a map and gps/compass, and how to travel cross country.
And I got to know the Mt Whitney Main trail really well. I'd been on the lower part many times, I've been to Trail Crest (the hard part of the climb) 3 times. I've been on the lower part of the Mountaineer's route (Different approach than the Main Trail) 3 times which is the best view of Whitney, albeit not the easiest way up it at all (especially that last part, just before the summit, where you're climbing up a very steep pile of rocks with a very long way to fall. I don't think I'm going to do that - I prefer being roped in on such surfaces.)
And I learned the reality of "climb high, sleep low" as it's the one thing that kept me healthy, as I know that my body doesn't do that great with altitude, even if I can climb in it.
So I'm left with Now What? I've fallen in love with Mt Shasta and am getting to know Yosemite, and working on them further seems like a natural, but I hesitate to take on another inadvertent long term project. Shasta is a tough enough mountain that it's possible despite if I keep trying that I might never summit it and I'm not sure I want to deal with that kind of "I'm a failure" disappointment. I think I'm more interested in attainable goals, which is wussing out in a way, but honestly I'm tired of failing, and I want to work on something I at least have a chance at succeeding at.
Mountains offer easily recognizable goals. Get to the top, being the most obvious version among many. And I love climbing even if I struggle physically. But my first love besides horses and dogs is cycling, and I'm thinking i want to do more of that especially mountain biking. And, of course, there's the dog sports obsession. Accidentally, I have three dog sports. Agility is my first love, but one of my dogs really likes Herding (something I never thought I'd do) and the other is partial to Obedience and Rally.
But it's fun to do other things besides dog sports, even though it makes me chronically short on time, so I want to focus on something else but don't know what.
- running? (not very good at it, but I like being able to sort of do it.)
- cycling?
- skiing - yes yes
- hiking?
- climbing?
- kayaking?
- something else? I really miss traveling internationally
One thing I've noticed is that I really like climbing up something and then being able to safely go down much faster. I'm not that patient with hiking in that respect. Once I've climbed something, I'm ready to go down ... fast. Hence my love of cycling, skiing and glissading on snow (way cool). Mt Diablo has a lot of fireroads that are actually too steep for me to bike much of, but I'm happy to push the bike up just so i can go down (weeee.) River kayaking (as opposed to Sea kayaking) has going down rapids but it's a logistical hassle (two cars to shuttle things around), and there is that drowning potential that is a little bothersome, though that should get better with more experience.
So I dither and just have short local adventures. The most recent being crashing down Shell Ridge in Walnut Creek. Ah well, the flesh wounds are healing.
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