The "It Is Really Gonna Happen This Time" First Annual Mt. Hood Circumambulatory Hike of September 2003
After hiking 32 miles in 3 days on the trails surrounding Mt. Hood in September 2002, we have determined that we should, and will, forge forward with the Mt. Hood Circumambulatory Hike. It will happen during the first 5 or 6 days of good weather forecast after Labor Day weekend of 2003.
The Less and Less Likely Ain't Gonna
Happen First Annual Mt. Hood
Circumambulatory Hike of September 2002
First we must address an issue that was bound to come up sooner or later, so here goes...
It has been resolved that The Agency (hereinafter referred to as 'The
Agency'), has
the authority, and indeed the duty, to determine who shall and who shall
not
be invited to participate in 'Hutteball Hikers' group activities. There is no
desire to
cause acrimony amongst those involved, in particular amongst those counting
themselves as part of The Committee (hereinafter referred to as 'The
Committee'),
and there is certainly no intent to suggest that the powers of 'The
Committee' are
in any way diminished, even if they actually are, but each one of us must recognize and accept the fact
that
some matters simply transcend the scope and authority of 'The Committee'.
Accordingly, 'The Agency' has determined that it is appropriate and would
clearly be
a 'good thing' to invite Rick Kelley, who some of you will remember from our
Mt. Si hike of October, 2001, to join us on the proposed Mt. Hood
Circumambulatory
Hike of September 2002 2003.
Any opposing opinions will be completely ignored - thus is the firm but benevolent authority of 'The Agency'. And as we all know, The Powers (hereinafter not referred to as anything) is/are somewhat disinclined to address such lower-level squabbles, and prefer that such squabbles be resolved by those involved, namely the members of 'The Committee' and 'The Agency'. Enough, hopefully, said...
Hey, who exactly is this Rick Kelley guy anyhow, and why should we have anything to do with him?
Richard A. Kelley has been personally known to us since sometime way back in 1977 or so. He attended Bellevue Community College with Sue, and worked with David at Providence Heights Convention Center. The 3 of us then hung around at the UW taking lots of higher mathematics classes until they got sick and tired of us and gave us diplomas. Rick and his wife Laura have owned a total of 3 ranches over the past 20 or so years, most recently having just bought Kelley Ranch Version 3.0 outside of Yelm last November. It should be noted that if the Hutteball Hikers ever attempt a circumambulatory hike of Mt. Rainier, this ranch would make a splendid base camp from which to mount our attack. Also, and more to the point, Rick typically carries a full size sofa with him when he hikes - here he is in the forest in the Alpine Lakes area:
He is usually quite happy to share his sofa with his hiking companions. Clearly, this should be reason enough to invite him to join us. But there's more... If you carefully examine the image, you will notice that he is actually surrounded by fairies and magic fairy hiking dust! Legend has it that this is some sort of bear defense mechanism, and those sharing the trail with Rick are somehow protected from predatory bear behavior. This could be of more than passing interest in the Mt. Hood area.
Bring On The Mountain
Having dispensed with this potentially provocative issue, we can move on to
the First Annual Mt. Hood Circumambulatory Hike of
September 2002 2003,
itself.
A number of web links are listed below, and these should serve as a good starting point for us all. Take a look and see what you think. Right now, we're thinking of 5 days and 4 nights, starting at Timberline Lodge and stumbling around the mountain in a clock-wise direction.
A brief word of warning to those who might be inclined to take this whole thing
too lightly:
Sue and David will do this hike by themselves if it comes to that. Do you want the
weight of this on your shoulders? This is
more of a threat than a promise, whatever that means...
http://www.trails.com/explore/tcatalog_trail.asp?TrailID=HGW217-007
http://www.users.qwest.net/~jereden/c:/mw%20documents/web%20page/Mt.Hood/Mt%20Hood%20Index.htm
http://www.wilderness.net/nwps/wild_view.cfm?wname=Mount%20Hood
http://www.rippingale.com/family/hood98/
http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/2003/mthood.html
http://www.portlandrunner.com/toc.htm
http://www.portlandrunner.com/Why.htm Frank - this is for you...
Sling-Light Camp Chair
Lastly, we will discuss the Sling-Light Camp Chair. We first encountered the Sling-Light Camp Chair during a Thanksgiving, 2001, visit with David's cousin in Sequim. Lengthy test-sits made it abundantly clear that these 1 lb. wonders are the way to posterior pleasure after a long day on the trail.
We can think of only 5 bad points:
1 - they are freeking expensive
2 - no arm rests
3 - poor lateral support during periods of high lateral acceleration
4 - Rick might be less inclined to pack the sofa
5 - they are freeking expensive
But on balance, we endorse the Sling-Light Camp Chair, and make this offer: If you all chip in and buy chairs for David and Sue, we will carry your Sling-Light Camp Chairs for you - no time or distance limit. Too late - we already bought our Sling-Lights.
http://www.slinglight.com (the babe is not an option, guys)
http://www.boundarywaterscatalog.com/browse.cfm/4,231,1,14,0.html
http://www.boundarywaterscatalog.com/browse.cfm/4,232,1,14,0.html
A real-life testimonial from a happy Sling-Lighter: