January 3, 2009
It was another cold morning as we prepared for the hike.
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Everyone from our January 1st hike was there: Cath, Steve (Unfrozen Caveman), Larisa, Andy (Mountain Drew), Mary Ellen (MEB) and myself. We also had Rachel and Karen. I hadn't yet had the opportunity of hiking with either of them, but I was looking forward to it.
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Caveman and Rachel
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Larisa and Cath
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Caveman, Rachel, and MEB
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Up we went to the wilderness boundary.
"We're leaving the city," I joked.
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We took the Engine Hill Bushwhack. It would save a little mileage plus a couple stream crossings.
I was near the back of the group. I believe Larisa led the bushwhack most (if not all) of the way. She said she hadn't done that before, but she did a great job.
For a video clip of part of the bushwhack click here.
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This will be Karen's 44th winter 4,000 footer. Just 4 to go. Go Karen!
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Drew managed to dodge my camera most of the day, but I caught him at this river crossing.
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Larisa at the same river crossing.
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I didn't take a lot of pictures today. It was too cold. My camera 'froze up' several times. I had to keep my batteries in my glove to keep them warm. It was warmer than Thursday. Cath's thermometer read 0° when we reached Davis Path, but with the extremely high winds, it felt a lot colder. We reached the spur trail for the summit. We dropped our packs and bundled up. On the very tip of this mountain we would have full exposure to the wind. Below, one person in our group (I'm not sure who) nears the summit.
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I could not believe the force of the wind. One by one we made the short dash to tag the 4003' summit. The wind was blowing us all over the place. I tried to take a video clip while standing but I couldn't do it. I sat down to take a clip. With the wind still blowing me around, this was the best I could come up with. Click here.
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This was a new winter peak for me, #24 - halfway! Woo-hoo! And #3 for this winter.
Needless to say, we didn't stick around for a summit shot of the group. We got down the spur trail as quick as we could. We regrouped, had a snack, and began the journey back.
Below, Larisa pushes her way through a blowdown.
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We retraced our steps all the way back to the parking lot playing '1-2-3 red light' along the way. Red light - someone has to layer up or layer down. Green light - we're already to go. Great hike everyone! Karen, congrats on bagging Isolation. Good luck in getting your remaining four.
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