I've been so bad with journaling so this is an attempt to catch up a little. This is going to be a long entry so feel free to read on but I won't be offended if you just look at the pictures. :)
There are some advantages to being the YW president. Not only am I able to get to know some great youth, I get to participate in things I normally wouldn't have. The end of June (24-26) was Dance Festival. Along with going to the practices, I volunteered to help at the actual festival. One day I worked a few hours in the girls changing tent during the dress rehearsal. The next day I helped during the lunch time. At that time, Sis. Cook, 1st counselor in the YW General Presidency was there and I was able to get a picture with her and hear her speak. Watching the festival was amazing. There were seven different stakes there with over 2,000 youth and it was fantastic.
There are some advantages to being the YW president. Not only am I able to get to know some great youth, I get to participate in things I normally wouldn't have. The end of June (24-26) was Dance Festival. Along with going to the practices, I volunteered to help at the actual festival. One day I worked a few hours in the girls changing tent during the dress rehearsal. The next day I helped during the lunch time. At that time, Sis. Cook, 1st counselor in the YW General Presidency was there and I was able to get a picture with her and hear her speak. Watching the festival was amazing. There were seven different stakes there with over 2,000 youth and it was fantastic.
July 9-10 I took part in climbing Mt. Adams. There were a total of 11 youth and nine adults. My pack weighed 40 lbs. The water is what made it so heavy. I was carrying 5 liters, 2 liters for the climb up, 2 for the summit and one for coming back down. The climb started out fairly gentle on a dirt path with some melting patches of snow. It was a warm day, the weather was beautiful and it didn't take too long to get hot, sweaty and thirsty. We left as a group around 1:15 and soon after that you could tell who was going to struggle. I had to stop twice at the beginning to apply moleskin to an already forming blister. Not a good sign. We had to rent our boots, cramp-ons and pickax so we all were wearing shoes we weren't used to. But after puting on the moleskin and using duct tape, we were on our way again.
The climb up to the lunch counter(where we were going to be spending the night) was hard. We didn't have very long with the dirt paths before it became all snow. Because of all the snow, we basically went straight up the mountain rather than a gradual accent with switchbacks. I didn't like to stop very often because I didn't like how I felt once I had to get going again, so I tried to rest as little as possible and took it at a gentle pace. There were a few places where I'd take 20 steps and rest for 5 seconds then take 20 more and rest again and only once did I have to take my pack off.
By 7:30 I finally made it to the lunch counter where the first section of our group was already starting to set up camp. I had been in the middle of the pack and the girl I was sharing a tent with was clear at the back. It was another hour before she showed up with someone else carrying her pack.
We put on warmer clothes, it was cooling down very quickly, set up our tents and climbed inside to warm up and get ready for the next day. I hardly slept that night. Soon after putting on my warm pants, I discovered I had forgotten to put sunscreen on the small portion of my exposed legs and I got sunburned. The ground was extremely hard, I had no pillow, my muscles were starting to feel the strain of the climb and the minute I laid down, it was as if I got an instant cold and I couldn't breath out of my nose anymore.
We put on warmer clothes, it was cooling down very quickly, set up our tents and climbed inside to warm up and get ready for the next day. I hardly slept that night. Soon after putting on my warm pants, I discovered I had forgotten to put sunscreen on the small portion of my exposed legs and I got sunburned. The ground was extremely hard, I had no pillow, my muscles were starting to feel the strain of the climb and the minute I laid down, it was as if I got an instant cold and I couldn't breath out of my nose anymore.
(the view from the lunch counter, looking up to the first summit. The very top summit is beyond that)
Around 7am people were starting to stir and I was feeling restless so I started to get ready for phase two of the climb. It was quickly obvious to me that I might not make it all the way to the top. I had no energy and wasn't feeling very well (two of the youth had gotten altitude sickness the night before). It turned out that four youth stayed behind. We all got our cramp-ons on, pick axes in hand and our small back packs on with only water and a bit of food and we were off. The second part was much harder than the first. Because I was so weak, it was much slower going. There was a time I got real worried that I was going to be sick. I soon caught up with a group that had to stop and re-adjust their cramp-ons and they fell in behind me and offered encouraging words and chatted the rest of the way up. I kept telling myself, just another step, deep breath, sip of water, keep going and eventually we got to the first summit. From there you could glissade back down the mountain or continue up to the top. There was just no way I had enough energy to climb another two hours to the top and then get back down. The Granges, who had been behind me, decided to keep going while I waited for the last two, who were way behind me, to get to where I was.
(At the first summit, just over 11,000 feet)
(Looking down at the climbers from the top of the first summit)
(Mt Hood in the distance)
(Looking up from the first summit to the top of Mt. Adams)
Once Haley and Linda finally reached the first summit where I was, they had a quick rest and then we took our cramp-ons off and prepared to slide down the mountain. I was thinking this was going to be the best part but I was totally wrong. I let Linda go first, then Haley, thinking that Haley could go between the adults in case anything happened to her, one of us could help. So they take off down the hill and I sit down on the slide and start off. Immediatley I notice that it's not going to be as fun as I thought. The pants I was wearing weren't your regular ski pants, they were extremely slippery and I found myself going way too fast and out of control. I was using the pickax and my heels to slow me down but it wasn't much help. One of the times I managed to stop myself I actually got up and walked over to the side to rest and figure out how I was going to get down. My arm was killing my from breaking and I had absolutely no friction to help slow me down. One hiker passing on his way up gave a few suggestions. I could make my own slide that might not be as slippery, I could sit on my back pack and use that as some resistance or I could hike back down. His buddy suggested I take my pants off, which I replied that I might as well, my butt was already frozen. Well, the thought of making my own slide scared me, I couldn't use my pack because we had put all the cramp-ons in it and I could easily maim myself with them, and it would take hours for me to hike back down. So I climbed back onto the slide and eventually made it to the bottom. I did a lot of praying and shed a few tears during that ride. My pants were so slippery that when I got to the bottom where everyone else had stopped and gotten up, I continued sliding another 30 or so feet, extending the slide.
I make it back to the lunch counter where everyone is breaking camp. We get our packs loaded and start heading back down the mountain. The snow was very soft so it didn't hurt the knees coming down. In several spots there were slides that we would go down on. These were much easier to slide down on, they weren't as steep. There was at one point a split in directions; either go down and to the right or go to the right first, then down. I chose to go to the right first because it was the most traveled path There were only two other people in my group who went that direction. As I was walking behind Jay, my foot slipped off the path and I started sliding down the hill, heading right for trees and rocks. There was a little part of a tree sticking out of the snow that my foot caught and stopped me. To the right of me was a slide that I could go down, if I could work my way over there, then all would be well. So I started inching my way over. I would dig my heels into the snow and scoot over. At one point, the snow gave out and I started sliding down again. There were two rocks sticking out of the snow that were able to stop me again. By this time I was so freaked out that I actually said a few choice words. I hear, "Sister Ward, are you ok?" One of my Laurels was standing up above me on the path I had just slipped from. I apologized for my language and she laughed and mentioned that considering my situation, she totally understood. I managed to get my ice-axe detached from my pack and used that to help me get the rest of the way over to the slide. For the remainder of the hike down, we all stuck together more closely.
I wouldn't say it was fun but definitely an experience that I will never forget. I ended up with a huge weeping blister on my heel, despite the moleskin. My boots were so full of water that nothing would have helped prevent blisters. The underside of my nose got so burned it blistered and for days felt like dry crusty boogers were stuck to it because of the scabs it formed. My neck, shoulders and back were so sore that I ended up going in for a massage (darn). I now have the ugliest tan line from the sunburn and hopefully by next summer it will be gone.
I make it back to the lunch counter where everyone is breaking camp. We get our packs loaded and start heading back down the mountain. The snow was very soft so it didn't hurt the knees coming down. In several spots there were slides that we would go down on. These were much easier to slide down on, they weren't as steep. There was at one point a split in directions; either go down and to the right or go to the right first, then down. I chose to go to the right first because it was the most traveled path There were only two other people in my group who went that direction. As I was walking behind Jay, my foot slipped off the path and I started sliding down the hill, heading right for trees and rocks. There was a little part of a tree sticking out of the snow that my foot caught and stopped me. To the right of me was a slide that I could go down, if I could work my way over there, then all would be well. So I started inching my way over. I would dig my heels into the snow and scoot over. At one point, the snow gave out and I started sliding down again. There were two rocks sticking out of the snow that were able to stop me again. By this time I was so freaked out that I actually said a few choice words. I hear, "Sister Ward, are you ok?" One of my Laurels was standing up above me on the path I had just slipped from. I apologized for my language and she laughed and mentioned that considering my situation, she totally understood. I managed to get my ice-axe detached from my pack and used that to help me get the rest of the way over to the slide. For the remainder of the hike down, we all stuck together more closely.
I wouldn't say it was fun but definitely an experience that I will never forget. I ended up with a huge weeping blister on my heel, despite the moleskin. My boots were so full of water that nothing would have helped prevent blisters. The underside of my nose got so burned it blistered and for days felt like dry crusty boogers were stuck to it because of the scabs it formed. My neck, shoulders and back were so sore that I ended up going in for a massage (darn). I now have the ugliest tan line from the sunburn and hopefully by next summer it will be gone.
