I felt like a little kid on Christmas Eve. I was so excited to get started. We set the alarm for 4 a.m. and I was awake before it even went off. The stars were glorious as we got ready to begin our hike. We hiked in through the darkness for nearly two hours. It was a little creepy not being able to see more than 5 feet ahead of myself, as that was as much as my head lamp would alluminate clearly. The trail offers no "warm up" area. You hit the trail and it immediately begins at a 40 degree angle. I was determined to make Jason proud of me so I led and set the pace. We burned up this section!
We made it out past tree line just as the sky was starting to get light. The sun wouldn't make it over the hill for almost another hour. You can see Chicken Out Ridge looming large in the background.
The dramatic angles never ceased to amaze me. Hiking up this loose shale was a chore.
But you know I totally looked good doing it!! I'm sorry but when you're fabulous you have to own it!
Here's a good shot of the first Class III scramble up to Chicken Out. This part is nearly a complete vertical climb. Jason told me just head for the middle notch, so that's what I did.
There's me rockin it out!
At this point I was thinking, "Huh this isn't so bad and actually really fun."
Then I looked on the other side and saw what was waiting for me. Jason got ahead of me at this point to show me how to cross the first point of exposure, a wall you have to climb across with only a small crack for a foot hold. I did that with no trouble. Then he said, "Ok just head up, and don't look down." I climbed about 5 feet up and found myself straddling the mountain with a couple thousand feet drop on both sides. I froze. Everything went deadly quiet and for a second I couldn't catch my breath as the gravity of what I was doing came closing in on me. But I wasn't going down that easy. I shook the fear and regained control. I heard Jason say, "You can do this Victoria." And I just did it.
I worked that ridge like a farm ox! Hell Yeah!!
We got a shot of the two of us just after crossing the snow bridge to end Chicken Out Ridge. Oh there would be no chickening out today! See the peak at the left? Yep that was the goal and nothing was going to stop us!
The last 800 vertical feet was wicked! The terrain was so loose every step you took was cut in half because the rock would carry you back down. But I was feeling so amazing after all I had just done, that this part was just, for lack of a better word, fun!
Check out the angle on this beast! So you go up, then up, and just when you think you're done with up, you guessed it, you go up some more! See the little group ahead of us they started a solid hour and a half before us and summited only 10 minutes ahead of us. Oh except for the little guy sitting. That was our little European friend we met. Very nice chap!
Here's a good shot of the first Class III scramble up to Chicken Out. This part is nearly a complete vertical climb. Jason told me just head for the middle notch, so that's what I did.There's me rockin it out!At this point I was thinking, "Huh this isn't so bad and actually really fun."Then I looked on the other side and saw what was waiting for me. Jason got ahead of me at this point to show me how to cross the first point of exposure, a wall you have to climb across with only a small crack for a foot hold. I did that with no trouble. Then he said, "Ok just head up, and don't look down." I climbed about 5 feet up and found myself straddling the mountain with a couple thousand feet drop on both sides. I froze. Everything went deadly quiet and for a second I couldn't catch my breath as the gravity of what I was doing came closing in on me. But I wasn't going down that easy. I shook the fear and regained control. I heard Jason say, "You can do this Victoria." And I just did it.
I worked that ridge like a farm ox! Hell Yeah!!
We got a shot of the two of us just after crossing the snow bridge to end Chicken Out Ridge. Oh there would be no chickening out today! See the peak at the left? Yep that was the goal and nothing was going to stop us!The last 800 vertical feet was wicked! The terrain was so loose every step you took was cut in half because the rock would carry you back down. But I was feeling so amazing after all I had just done, that this part was just, for lack of a better word, fun!Check out the angle on this beast! So you go up, then up, and just when you think you're done with up, you guessed it, you go up some more! See the little group ahead of us they started a solid hour and a half before us and summited only 10 minutes ahead of us. Oh except for the little guy sitting. That was our little European friend we met. Very nice chap!
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