They will declare: Every journey has been taken.
You shall respond: I have not been to see myself.
They will insist: Everything has been spoken.
You shall reply: I have not had my say.
They will tell you: Everything has been done.
You shall reply: My way is not complete.
You are warned: Any way is long, any way is hard.
Fear not. You are the gate – you, the gatekeeper.
And you shall go through and on . . .
—Alexandros Evangelou Xenopouloudakis, Third Wish
Comments on this entry are closed.
Nice.
In the air it looks like smoke.
On the ground it looks like fog.
The sun comes out and it all goes away.
Making room for another summer day.
In 1991/92, I was a Deputy Sheriff in Hood River County. What an amazing place. Hood River County is a self governed County, the timber payments, Monies received by HRC are staggering.
Hood River is a magical place. Industry is apple and pear orchards, hundreds of thousands of acres , when the trees are in bloom, my god Picasso himself, couldn’t paint such awesomeness. The Fall is the time to vacation their. Ride the steam trains, enjoy the views, the Columbia is a mighty mighty river.
Some days thousands of kiters and sail boards. One of my jobs was river rescue, some days were 15/20rescues a day. With the wind coming up the river the rollers, the waves are often six to eight feet tall.
What’s makes em dangerous is the wave to wave duration, difficult to turn a 30 ft river sled on top of short waves. short duration is not good.
Mountain rescue seemingly weekly in the summer. Hood River is the east side of Mt Hood, a rugged steep sombitch.
The SO teamed up with the local mountaineering club. These men and women were often world class climbers. I was already a climb guide, what I learned from these climbers was staggering.
I was running seven to ten miles a day, lifting daily heavy one day lite but max reps the next. My PT sucked. I was fit/tough, I was not mountain tough, huge difference. The challenge of high altitude incorporated into physical training is major.
I’m embarrassed to say this, but two times on the way out,,,,, right rear on a stokes litter, steep steep almost straight down goat trail, I crashed, I could not finish. I became apart of the problem.
The very next day I was invited to train with some fella’s headed to K2, everyday was spent humping straight up, heavier and heavier loads.
I wasn’t their best mountaineer, but I could carry my own after that. I’d say that 90 % of mountain rescues are directly related to poor conditioning, and over confident amateurs. Casey like to here your thoughts.
Anyway we could not afford to live in, or around Hood River on what my salary was. So I came home to Klamath Falls. I’d been living in a 21 ft camp trailer, sending everything home to pay for our homee in Klamath.
No regrets, just a testament as to just how amazing that area is.
I use to utter the saying “ What Doesn’t Kill me,,,,,Makes me stronger ! The other stunning thing about the area is mountain biking and road riding, kayaking, whitewater rafting, hunting, exploring and fishing the streams and the high mountain lakes.
If you haven’t been go. You won’t regret it.