We've been back a week now since the hike to Mendel, which is one of the most beautiful, rare and terrifying places I've been. OK, I haven't been around very much. It's really not that bad.
But, for the unprepared or the beginner in the outdoors, it is dangerous. Even Michele Hinatsu, who I think is a wonderful backpacker, navigator and all-around outdoor enthusiast, fell at the glacier because a rock shifted underneath her.
Michele hikes with Peter Stekel. They are a dynamic duo, laughing, talking and enjoying the mountains. They were a true pleasure to be around, and I learned a lot from both of them about boulder scrambling and finding my way without a trail.
Yes, it's hard to believe I've been hiking the Sierra for so many years without really venturing very far off trail.
As a trail pounder, I'm still moving pretty well for my age. As a boulder scrambler, I'm a tentative snail. I'd like to say I faced true, harrowing times up there, but really I just followed Peter, Michele and photographer Mark Crosse, my long-time friend, colleague and backpacking buddy.
This was truely an eye-opening adventure, at once humbling and exhilarating. It has to be the pinnacle of my hiking experiences in the Sierra. I'll tell you more in later blogs about the thrilling search for ice mummies.
And yet, as Crosse says, we're not going back there again. Agreed, Mark. It was a terrible thrill that I am so pleased to have completed. Now, let's not do that again.
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