Screw you George Vernon Hudson

Being in theatre always means that Daylight Savings and the Fall-Back falls smack in the middle of a show weekend. So this year I, of course, I had a late show Saturday night and didn't get to bed until late then had to get up crazy early to get to Johnny's by 7:30 (which, of course was 6:30 by my clock). It was by far the hardest morning I had to get going. To add to this morning of crazy schedules I only had a max of 4 hours to spend on the trail. 4 hours of course being the recommended time needed which meant there was no time to slack. Good thing we kicked that trail in the butt.

I'm not going to pretend that it wasn't a challenge, it definitely was. But it was a heck of a lot easier than it would have been four weeks ago. I'm still the slowest of the three of us, and that will probably continue throughout our adventure. I started from the laziest place and are several steps behind catching up. However slow I may be though, I'm still getting to the tops of our hikes. And this one was the best.

As Joe has outlined, the trail was extremely highly populated with a wide range of people. From the dudes in baggy jeans and new shiny stylish shoes to hardcore trekkers with crampons and ice axes. As we approached the top more and more people started turning around due to the ice. I would be a liar if I said I didn't get off on the fact that I was hauling my fat-butt up that mountain and much better equipped people with nicer gear were turning around. I loved it so much that the last mile through the worst of the ice and snow was the easiest for me. I got a second wind and became a hiking machine. So much so that when we crested and were overlooking the valley and I-90 below us it was like I had topped Mt Everest, it was awesome. It was also about this time I realized I was never going to make it to work on time.

We were at the top, 4 miles up and I had to be on the road in less than an hour and a half. It was going to be tough. The down was really where the differences between myself and the boys came out. They were like sprinting mountain goats racing down the mountain. I was more like a wounded farm goat tumbling ass-over-tea kettle. The cascade of day hikers clamoring up as I got closer to the bottom didn't help. It was a constant flow of people starting as we were ending. And Mt. Si may be the most hiked trail in the state but it's still just a mountain trail, only wide enough for one so passing was a challenge. As I predicted, I was late to work and had to rush through my set-up. But that didn't matter, we took an awesome step in our training and next week will be even easier.

Cheers,
Sean