A funny way of winding down...

It seems to me that my view of relaxation has become slightly skewed. With classes over, its time for me to get out and recharge a bit. This time around, I'm packing my bags and headed to Seattle. Ahh, Seattle. Pikes fish market, Coffee, and Indy Rockers.

But no, i'm not packing my tight jeans and my rain jacket for a week of sitting in the city sipping coffee. Up on my life to-do list is climb mount rainier. I leave tomorrow for what could be one of the biggest and scariest challenges yet.

Mt Rainier is a massive 14,000' volcano popping up from sea level. It brings with it a whole host of challenges including avalanches, rock slides, crevasses, and extremely unpredictable weather. Its stretching me out already in my plans to be flexible. The weather has been bad for the past 2 weeks and the chances of a safe climb are looking slimmer and slimmer. The mountain will still be there, and we're going safety first. So, just in case, i'm bringing a plethora of toys to help me make the most of my romp in the cascades. a couple options up for grabs are ice climbing on mt baker, or maybe a peak in the northern cascades (Dome Peak?)

And so, i've got my bags packed. Ice axes, snowshoes, avi gear, boots, rock gear, crampons, and all sorts of winter camping gear. Special thanks to Steve B. and Phil P. for helping outfit me for this this adventure, and to Jeff and Shane for getting stoked and making this dream a reality. I'll try to keep the blog-o-sphere up to date as the story unfolds!

Peace.

Mike