Mountaineering is many things...

I read that...in a book.

I'm gonna meet my buddy in Washington state this weekend. He likes me.

He and I have been making plans to do a climb out there for some time now. We might do Mt. Hood because people die on it and that's risky and macho and cool. Right? Yeah, that's what I think too. I ain't quite feeling the cool-ness yet. I feel the risky part though. But, since he's into this stuff and I have a weakness for saying yes to things that jeopardize me, I said yes.

He sent me a book on Mountaineering. It's like 500+ pages. It's titled "somethin' somethin' Mountaineering". He told me to pay close attention to the portion on self-arrest. Unfortunately, this has nothing to do with fur-lined handcuffs and everything to do with stopping your body as it propels down the face of a mountain. So, even though my life is crazy busy with work wanting a big piece o' me and my grandmother going to heaven, I feel the pressure to educate myself about this self arrest stuff. The pressure largely stems from my unwillingness to die.

Consequently, I have diligently stuck to this this nightly ritual where I take the mountaineering book upstairs and spend some quality time with it.

Here's how the last few nights have gone for me:

11:00 pm Take book upstairs, lay in bed in guest room

11:01 pm *reading* "Mountaineering is many things...."

11:02 pm "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"

The Next day was a bit different...

11:00 pm Take book upstairs, lay in bed in guest room

11:01 pm *reading* "Mountaineering is many things. It is climbing, panoramic views and..."

11:02 pm "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"

So, I'm not very prepared. And I fly out Friday morning.

I slept with the book though. Ah, just because you sleep with something doesn't mean you know it any better. I think many of us can attest to that.

So...

Anybody know how to climb a mountain?

I'll take some nice pics for you folks though.

* Maybe from the base. *

Did I also mention I'm really really tired?

I'm sure it'll be fun....somehow.

Bye.

But hopefully not for good...