Another Marathon Day

by Angela Helmrich

...But this time we were going to be "smarter" by sleeping in until 4:00 a.m. Aftera casual drive, with the traditional stop at the Sisters Bakery, we startedat the Devils Lake Campground (and the snow level) at about 10:30. Witha few detours we finally found our way up to the Table. It was another gorgeous, hot day! Only, this time we had to earn all the turns. It was slow going and everyone seemed to find their own routes. We rejoined near the Lewis Glacier and then "stormed" the summit. Jon demonstratedto us that skis are not a summit promoting item. He literally ran for the summit and reached it 15 minutes ahead of the rest of us who stubbornly "skinned up" and skied all the way. He proudly took pictures of us crossing the crater, also 15 minutes apart. We each were a little pixel on the photograph. By exactly 6:56 p.m. we all had reached the summit (turn around time was 7:00). Then we ballet danced on the pointy summit rock for 4 minutes andenjoyed the awesome view. Clouds were pushing against the mountain from the west but the view east was endless. To the north we saw all the major peaks reaching out of the pacific cloud cover. To the South we saw all manner of lakes and the majestic rim of Crater Lake. It was a great moment!
And then the stubborn skiers got to demonstrate their climbing philosophy: climb for the turns!And turns we made. We put on the skis on flat ground in the crater and then simply skied over the edge towards the south. What a feeling... now we know what hang gliding must feel like! And again, the snow was perfect and the sun was setting! On the edge of Lewis Glacier we rejoined Doug and Rod who demonstrated yet another climbing philosophy: climb for thepure enjoyment and take time for meadow lounging. And that they did. The skiing was superb all the way down to the Table where we entered very mystical looking fog banks and skied across deep sun cups while Mt. Bachelor was glowing at us in all shades of pink. The rest of the way back to the carswe stumbled down in the dark. After a midnight dinner in Bend we arrivedin Corvallis at 4:00 a.m. on Sunday. Some of us are still not sure how we got home. And all of Sunday was motionless. We did it again... Another great great sunset climb!

Participants: Rod Harney, Angela Helmrich, Don Lacer, Doug McGuire,and Jon Sears

Mt. Bachelor glows in the sunset

Photos by Angla Helmrich and Jon Sears