[pct-l] Stimulating Discussion

[Bighummel at aol.com (Bighummel@aol.com)]

It's a bit quiet on the list recently so how about relating your;

1) Funniest occurence on the trail:  did someone put a rock into your pack or 
did someone fall face first due to some funny thing or . . .

2) Greatest / scariest adventure on the trail: going over Forester in a white 
out storm or crossing Evolution Creek and almost being swept to your death, 
etc.


For me;

1) A humming bird found the blue color of my Kelty Tioga to be just a bit too 
fun and was buzzing around behind it as I was walking at 3.5 mph down the 
trail . . .  when around he came to check out my nose, staying just an inch away 
. . . it flustered and surprized me so much that I completely lost my footing 
and went spralling off of the trail onto the side and sending all sorts of 
gear shooting off in every direction.  Paul, my hiking partner, could not contain 
himself and laughed so hard that he cried and had to sit down.

2) Going alone across Forester in a white out storm and crossing the ice 
chute with a long handled ice axe and instep crampons.  Then across to the 2 or 3 
short switchbacks on the other side, which were covered in ice.  I then sat my 
pack down and pulled out a rope and tied one end to the top rail of my pack 
and the other to my belt.  I started climbing up the 15 foot vertical wall of 
ice, clearing out hand and footholds that someone else had cut and been mostly 
iced over.  The wind coming over the pass was horizontal and streaming snow 
like a shot gun.  When I reached the top the wind tried to push me back over and 
down the chute but the ice axe had a firm hold and I pulled myself over and 
rolled down onto the north side a bit.  I pulled my pack up and then discovered 
the sign at the pass visible down through the clear ice below me.   

Yee haa!!

Strider