Wednesday, April 13, 2016

1st Wedding Anniversary!



It’s already been a year since we climbed to the summit of Mt. Hood, and were married by and in the presence of other climbers!  Some of our climbing friends couldn’t make it, that year, so soon after that climb, we decided that we’d just have to do it, again, and our 1st anniversary seemed like an appropriate time to do such a climb.  So, I reserved the date on the climb schedule (with the wilderness restrictions, and restrictions that the Mazamas, our local climbing organization, have, we can’t have 2 climbs happening at the same time on the same side of the mountain), and hoped that there would be a weather window for the climb.  And. . . there *was* a weather window.  It was predicted to be warmer than last year, so we had to do the climb at night, rather than during the day, as we had last year, but it turned out that the snow conditions and weather were absolutely perfect!  We had more than the 12 people, maximum, who were interested in the climb and could go that day, so a couple people decided to do climbs on their own, and meet us for the celebration.  Here is our celebration photo with everyone who could join:
Photo people, in strict left to right:
Mark Fowler, Dyanne Foster, Jean Hillebrand, Gary Riggs, Lynne Pedersen, Rita Hansen, Moriel Arango, Leora Gregory, Jason Vosburgh, Jay Avery, David Carrier (solo climber), Jonathan Myers, Karen Vernier (solo climber), and Amad Doratotaj.  The photo was taken by another Mazama organization member, Aaron Mendelson, who just happened to also be on the summit at the same time.

Mark, Dyanne, Jean, Gary, and Karen had all joined us last year for the wedding, which was performed by Karen.

Since most of the climb was at night, the pictures were primarily taken at the summit.   Jay stood just at the top of the crux of the climb, and took photos of everyone as they emerged from the narrow chute of the western Pearly Gate.  One that I particularly enjoyed was this one:
This picture happens to be of me (followed by a couple of team members), but that’s not why I like it – it’s because you can see all the way down the mountain, to the sun just kissing the western edge of the White River canyon, below.

On the summit, Rita took this really sweet picture of Jay and me:
 
And Jason caught us doing what we tend to do a lot, especially while on a mountain:
Gary is looking on. . .

The temperature was nice and cool, the sun was shining, the skies were clear, there wasn’t much wind to speak of, and snow was such that it made for an easy and safe ascent.  Everyone made it up to the top, and home, safely – a perfect climb, and a perfect gift for our 1st Wedding Anniversary!  People are already suggesting that this be an annual event – but, as always, that will depend upon the weather!!!

May you all have wonderful experiences to mark occasions of importance to you!

leora