UP, UP and Away!

When I was growing up in my comfortable, suburban, Jewish house in Atlanta, I was never exposed very much to the outdoor adventures of hiking, camping, hunting or fishing.  Our outdoor actiivities were more of the baseball, football, basketball, and bicycle riding variety.  Sure, we walked an awful lot...other than bike riding, it was the best way to get around.  If we wanted to go somewhere for fun, it was usually walk, bike or take the bus!  But hike for fun?  Other than moseying around the woods near our house foraging for wild blackberries, there was not much hiking!  Camping?  I think the only time I slept outdoors was the one year I went to sleep away camp.  Hunting?  Not on your life - that would mean I had to kill something.  Fishing?  Except for the few times on vacation, not so much, until I owned a boat a few years ago.

So, the rugged outdoor gene was not prevalent in our family.  Which begs the question....how did my daughter and son become such hiking and camping aficionados?  When Lisa was about 15 years old, she announced that she wanted to go on an Outward Bound Survival Course in Colorado.  Wait a minute...isn't that where they send juvenile delinquents as punishment?  But she went and hiked, camped, climbed her first 14,000 foot peak and survived!  Not only did she survive, but became enamored with the great outdoors.  After college, she moved to Aspen and continued her love affair with the mountains...A year in Africa ensued including a climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro.. and she moved back to Colorado and completed her goal of climbing all fifty-four 14,000 ft. Peaks in Colorado.  I won't even get into the 100 mile bike rides, half marathons and other assorted outdoor adventures.

AND she convinced her brother to also go on an Outward Bound Trip.  I think he was the only 15 year old on that Survival Course that wasn't ordered there by a Juvenile Court.  He told me it was one of the hardest things he ever did but that he was glad he did and found out just how far he could push himself.  And if that wasn't enough, when he graduated from college, he did a sea kayaking Outward Bound in Puget Sound.  Now, he has introduced my grandson to camping and hiking!

It is not enough that they love these endeavors, but somehow feel it is their responsibility to suck old Dad into the adventures.  Mom has also done numerous short hikes to picturesque spots in Colorado, but Lisa has always pushed me to do more!

 It started a few years back when Lisa suggested that we ride our Bikes from Boca Raton to Key West...its only a couple of hundred mile!  So, we started out early one morning and got to the beach just as the sun began peeking over the eastern horizon.  I knew that Lisa was a much faster cycler so I told her that I would always be on the road closest to the ocean as we pedaled south.  Before the first hour was over, Lisa was out of sight...I continued to pedal past Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, and Fort Lauderdale Beach and still no sign of Lisa.  Now, this was before everybody had a cell phone, but even though I had one tucked into my backpack, I never checked it knowing that Lisa didn't have one. So, I continued on finally arriving in South Beach in Miami around noon.  It was then, sitting on the corner of US1 and Lincoln Road that I wearily sat down and found my cell phone deep in the backpack.  Lisa had left me 26 messages and she and Connie were going from hospital to hospital looking for me!  Oops!  So, they met me in South Beach, read me the riot act, had lunch and we continued our journey.  Well, we never made it to Key West.  Halfway through the second day we arrived in Key Largo, had lunch at the pool of the Marriott resort and I decided we had gone far enough.  Connie and Brad met us with the car's bike rack and we played in The Keys for a couple of days and drove home.

A few years later, Lisa talked me into climbing Mt. Princeton in Colorado.  A 14,000+ peak that she described as "easy."  We left from our comfy Hotel in Snowmass about 4:30 in the morning and arrived at the trail head before there were many cars in the lot.  Since I had been in Colorado for a few days and had even taken a few short hikes, I was somewhat acclimated to the altitude and the first part of the hike was pretty easy as it was mostly on a road.  I remember that I thought we were approaching the summit only to find out that there are many false summits before you actually can see the highest peak.  We travailed on switch backs and into a nasty boulder field.  By this time we had been hiking for some time and, of course, Lisa had gone off and left me again!  As I was struggling to summit and was about 200 feet from pay dirt, Lisa came running down the mountain to inform me that she had been waiting for over an hour at the top and she was headed back down because of the approaching clouds.  Clouds?  I don't see any friggin' clouds...but she was adamant, so I headed back down with her without actually reaching the summit.  Twelve hours round trip on the trail...and a feeling of futility!

There were other attempts over the years...we went to hike Quandry Peak, another 14er, but after Lisa got us on the wrong trail for some time and I suffered back spasms, we aborted that climb.  There was the hike up Humboldt Peak, another14er where we got caught in a 2 hour hail storm and had to retreat.  We have had many successful smaller hikes to delightful places like Hanging Lake and

American Lake near Aspen, the Ute in Aspen, up Vail Mountain and many trips up and down Mt. Sanitas in Boulder, but my attempts of completing a major hike up a mountain had been futile.

 

So, when Lisa suggested we climb Mt. Washington in New Hampshire, I was certainly intrigued by the idea.  Our friends have a house on Lake Winnipesauke and had invited us for a long weekend, and I agreed that one day could be taken to attempt this climb.  Mt. Washington is the highest point in the Northeast US and is reputed to have the worse weather of any spot in the Continental United States.  To prepare myself, I undertook a regiment of 5 to 10 mile daily walks...until my back went out again, a mere 3 weeks before the climb.  But not to disappoint Lisa or myself, I rested and iced for 2 weeks and declared myself fit for the climb.  We woke at 4:30 on a beautiful Saturday morning to drive the one and a half hours to Mt. Washington.  Lisa had done the research and decided on the Jewell Path...a bit longer than other trails, but "gentler."  And it started at the Cog Railway station....so, if needed, I could always ride the Cog back down the mountain!  The beginning of the hike was beautiful...lush foliage and some of the most spectacular mushrooms I've ever seen.  It took me about 15 minutes to lose the long sleeve shirt and was sweat-soaked soon thereafter.  The weather was terrific and all of the clothes I was hauling in my backpack were totally unnecessary.  I trudged along pretty well and Lisa would get ahead of me and then, "surprise," she actually waited for the old man!  Once we reached above tree line and the terrain became all boulders, I really slowed down and Lisa became somewhat frustrated with me. But like the EverReady bunny, I just kept going and going and going (damn, am I ever going to get there - I've seen the top for over an hour!).  One last push and SUCCESS!  I FINALLY reached the summit with Lisa!  No, it wasn't a 14er, but our altitude gain was just as great as the altitude gain on many 14ers.  Yes, we took the Cog back down the mountain, but the feeling of reaching the summit was all I was hoping for!

So, in talking about the various adventures that Lisa has gotten me into, I have been asked if I ever considered that she is trying to kill me.  Nah, I don't think so, she only wants me to share in experiences that are most important to her......and for that, I am grateful!!  Let's do another one!!!

And The Journey continues..........