White River VI

Mt. Hood, Ore.

White River V

Mt. Hood, Ore.

A new hood

Mt. Hood, Ore.

Bryce smiles

Mt. Hood, Ore.

Palmer party

Mt. Hood, Ore.

Chris on Palmer

Mt. Hood, Ore.

White River IV

Mt. Hood, Ore.

White River III

Mt. Hood, Ore.

White River II

Mt. Hood, Ore.

Jack on Palmer

Mt. Hood, Ore.

A blowy morning

Mt. Hood, Ore.

White River I

Mt. Hood,  Ore.

We want a pitcher

Milwaukee, Ore.

Spider house

Portland, Ore.

We still have Halloween decorations up at our house (this isn't our house). I'm beginning to think of it as a protest against Christmas decorations getting put up earlier every year.

A bridge in Arches

Arches National Park, Utah

No name, or anonymous

Portland, Ore.

Berndog, motorcycle

Butte, Mont.

A blizzard on I-90

North Dakota

Frank Lloyd's fans

Oak Park, Ill.

Lean wit it

Montana

Bus stop hand

Chicago, Ill.

Camas vs. Coeur d'Alene football

Camas, Wash.

Hockinson vs. Columbia River soccer

Hockinson, Wash.

Kings Way vs. La Center soccer

Vancouver, Wash.

Mountain View vs. Peninsula football

Vancouver, Wash.

The long way to Chicago, VIII

Oak Park, Ill.

Chicago, Ill.

The long way to Chicago, VII

Oak Park, Ill.

The long way to Chicago, VI

Somewhere

The long way to Chicago, V

Dillon, Mont.

The long way to Chicago, IV

Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, Mont.

The long way to Chicago, III

Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, Mont.

The long way to Chicago, II

Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, Mont.

The long way to Chicago, I

Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, Mont.

Jacob's new route on Beacon Rock

Beacon Rock State Park, Wash.

Stikine (Epilogue)

Epilogue

After returning to Petersburg two days earlier than planned, Shawn and Quentin were able to secure earlier tickets from Alaska Airlines for little or no cost. I was not so fortunate, but it wasn't difficult to acknowledge my extra free time in Southeast Alaska as the gift it was. I went for a solo salt-water skinny dip, and was able to spend an afternoon talking with Dieter Klose, the man who knows the Thumb better than any person. His simple living room has a picture-window view of the Stikine Icecap when its clear out, and the oceanic tides when its not. We talked about the value of ideas, and he told me about his life as if we had known each other for years.

That feeling of connection is powerful and it is positive. I absolutely felt it after a year in Ketchikan. I felt it after many tent-bound days with Shawn and Quentin, and the feeling is lodged permanently inside me after a long morning scratching my way nearly to the top of the Thumb and very nearly getting spit off in the process. The feeling was immediate and deep when I listened to Dieter.

We didn't get to the top of the Thumb, but the conquering mentality has never been why I climbed. I climb because of how it connects me to places, people, and to myself, and for that, this trip was a true success.

Stikine XI

XI

After excavating and building a series of rappel stations to the curving snow ridge, trying not to slide down the slope now above its logical melting point, and falling into the bergschrund, I returned to my skis to find my ski boots filled with water. Shawn called Wally in Petersburg to schedule a pickup ASAP. He said he'd try to get to us. Thanks Wally.

The helicopter took longer than anticipated because Wally's regular route to the Thumb was too cloudy. Shawn and Quentin volunteered to go on the second flight out, and made sure to have enough food and shelter in case Wally couldn't return for them that day. We flew out over the Baird Glacier, the emergency escape route by foot and air, and I was thankful to be on the helicopter instead of the maze of deep blue crevasses and gravelly moraines below.

When Wally returned to the hangar after his second trip to get Shawn and Quentin, his face was sullen as he told me he had to leave my partners on the icecap. The weather finally closed. The potential of the situation was too real not to believe, until Shawn and Quentin burst through the doors laden with backpacks. Thanks Wally.