In less than a week I will be in mid spring. And 3 months away from anything resembling winter. Typically seasons don’t work like that, but this year they are making an exception. I am incredibly excited for my extra summer and especially for the extra daylight I will be getting this year. I am however a little bummed to miss so much winter.
I’ve still got so many things to do before I am ready spend 3 months hiking abroad, but I put all of that off for one final summit in Oregon. Nick had a couple of interviews down in southern Oregon and we both had a mountain in southern Oregon that we had yet to climb. Mount McLaughlin is a hike and not even very long one. Leaving the parking lot in early afternoon we were treated to sunshine and surprisingly little wind. As we got above tree line the season began to change. It was no longer calm and it was no longer autumn. We reached the summit at sunset and at 9,495 ft we had found winter.
The winds were strong and the clouds were thick. As we lost light we took on the tricky task of finding a flat protected place to set up the tent. With a fair amount of work we had a solid place to call home for the night.
Waking up the next morning it was nice and toasty in my sleeping bag, and I had no interest in leaving its warmth for the frigid surroundings. This is one and of my favorite feelings and one of the things I love about winter.
When we finally braved the mountain weather we were attacked by 40+ mph winds zero visibility. We were in the middle of the cloud and it was great. The temperature were still well below freezing, but it didn’t matter we were glad to be up there.
When we reached the trail head we had this to deal with:
Changing a flat tire while it is raining and snowing couldn’t put a damper on this trip. It was all part of the fun.
Dustdevil 