Back on Mt. Hood. It’s a week later and the snow is still the deepest I’ve seen in years.
Giddy, we pack up our gear in the parking lot. This time we come more prepared: a light-weight shovel, pocket knife, matches, extra warm clothing, food. At least closer to the 10 essentials than last venture.
This visit we get the benefit of following a large group’s tracks along White River. Until we see them double back toward us. It’s the end of their expedition – but ours is just beginning.
We seek to see what’s beyond where we turned back last time. What’s beyond a narrow canyon, around the corner from that cornice hill we saw last week.
Curiosity pushes our snowshoes over the river’s snow bridge – an opening to the small stream below reveals the layers of snowstorms over this past week and beyond.
We pass over the cornice hill diagonally and through the steep, narrow canyon where we take one step, slide back, another and slip before digging steps with our snowshoes. We end up in an open snow field, the wind pushing snow over the surface.
Euphoria – we’re right on that place where fear, excitement and curiosity meet. Where the mountain has its own weather system, this one coming off the summit. It’s snowing hard now, the sky darkening. We’re in danger zone but taking calculated risks, checking in with each other to gauge for hairs-on-your-neck fear, instinct-for-danger fear.
We press on over the open field, following a ridge until we get to the rim of a larger river. We’ve come as far as we could without changing direction to head into further into avalanche territory. We did what we set out to do – go higher than before – and we did it. One of the best snow seasons ever!!