Tackling the Big One

Elevation 14,411: Part 1

On my ‘bucket list’ or ‘life to do list’, or whatever you want to call it, the eighth item scrawled on my scrape of paper is “Climb Mt. Rainer”. At 14,411 feet, it is not necessarily the easiest thing to have on such a list.

I’m sure many people have proclaimed climbing a mountain as something to be done before the coffin lid slams shut or the urn stopper is corked, but they may not care about which mountain. Any mountain will do. For me too, I’d be interested in climbing a few different mountains, including Mt. Fuji and Mt. Kilimanjaro, neither of which are technical climbs. You basically hike to the top; not easy, but not technical.

But those mountains aren’t bucket listed, they are just things to do if the opportunity were to present itself. Not Mt. Rainer, it’s both technical and hard, and it’s the only mountain on my list.

Tackling this big one may be particular to only those that grew up in Washington State. Mt. Rainer towers above us at all times. It’s something we’ve hiked on, camped on, road tripped on, explored, photographed, built igloos and shelters on, had snowball fights on, sledded on, and generally became one with nature on. There is something ingrained deeply within us to try, not to conquer – that would be impossible, but to at least tame, if only for a brief moment, the big one that is never far from our minds.

I’ll be climbing Mt. Rainer in 2009 and as that fateful trip draws nearer, I’ll be talking about it some more. Stay tuned. (Not completed yet!)

For anyone that is considering climbing a mountain and needs convincing, have a listen:

http://www.theonion.com/content/radio_news/area_man_goaded_into_0

The Wordle Version