March 26th, 2002 - So Karen, a fellow climber, led Chad and I up Tiger moutain this evening. We started going up the Cable Line, which is VERY steep and slippery. Once again it was pointed out to me how woefully out of shape I am. But we made it to the top in an hour and 21 minutes. Not too shabby. Then it was time to break out the headlamps and start back down. I'll tell you that a steep slippery trail in the dark is not my idea of a whole lot of fun. I only fell once, so I'm pretty proud of that. My knee wasn't so happy with me, but it'll live to fight another day. Thanks Karen for your leadership tonight!
March 9th, 2002 - WOW!! Is it March already?? YIKES! Well, we had our first official training climb today on rattlesnake Ledge. I'm not sure how many of us actually showed up, but there must have been nearly 30 of us! It was fun getting to meet a bunch more of the people I'll be training and climbing with over the next few months. We were led by Fireman Mark Anderson, one of our official trainers. I thought he should have been carrying a hose up the trail just to make it a little more challenging for him, but alas he just had his pack. Thanks Mark for a great time! The trail was snowy and icy in spots. I only fell on my Hurlbut once on the way down, which I was thankful for . . . I took a few pictures and you can find them on my pictures page. I really love the view from Rattlesnake, and have actually been considering a move to the North Bend area since I've been spending so much time there hiking and skiing this year. It would be awesome to wake up and look out the window and see Mount Si every morning. Someday right? We made the top of Rattlesnake in about an hour, not too bad of a clip. Mark played climbers trivia at the top and gave away some waterproof matches and a survival blanket. I know Daniela won the matches, but I'm sorry, I didn't catch the name of the person that won the blanket. (e-mail me and I'll post your name.)