Frosty, but kindly

Seattle is currently 1) in the middle of a disgusting heat wave and 2) under a smoky haze stemming from a record number of wildfires in British Columbia.

Hiding from the heat gives me a lot of time to catch up the readings and the writings and the watchings that I committed to reviewing at the dawn of one of the most depressive eras known to modernity, this post-2016 election age.

Building our snow cave.
Lots of shoveling!

The atrocious temperatures also remind me of a pleasanter time, namely February of this year when I finally went snow camping and build a snow cave! Two years ago I signed up for this annual class with The Mountaineers, but uh, stayed out too late partying the night before and missed it. This year I wisely abstained from temptation and made it to Mt Baker armed with a snow shovel and winter camping accoutrements.

Let's just say, making a snow cave big enough for the 4 ladies on your team to sleep in takes HOURS, and involves a lot of shoveling and carting away of extra snow. But it was worth it, because at the end of our 6-hour-long snow-carving ordeal, we got to sleep inside the snow cave we made! It was super cool.

The forecast calls for continued 90+ degree weather in the Northwest. I would give anything to be in that snow cave right now.

Or on any snow-covered mountain, really. I finally got around to reading Into Thin Air and my God, it was horrifying. I didn't know anything about the 1997 accident on Everest or any of the controversy surrounding Jon Krakauer himself, but the book was pretty damn compelling. It also solidified that anything involving Everest is definitely NOT on my bucket list!

The main thing I took away was the awful choices facing people at that altitude, where lack of oxygen, water, food, and visibility: the story of one climber found near death and left to live his last few minutes in a storm because carrying someone that near death would expend unnecessary energy. He then miraculously survives, staggers into camp on his own, with severe frostbite. Everybody assumes he'll die in a few hours and won't be able to make it down to base camp, so they wrap him in blankets to make his last few hours comfortable. And he survives AGAIN, eventually making it to base camp and then home (where I think he had a bunch of amputations due to frostbite). Imagine being a fellow climber and having to look that guy in the eye. I get that those are the realities of survival, but that's just harsh.

Aaaand, in one week I'll be back on Mt Baker, this time to summit.

Eek!