Today was predicted to be one of the first nice days in three weeks or more, but it wouldn't have mattered. I was determined to go hiking somewhere...anywhere. I had three potential destinations picked out, each one a bit further north. I was prepared to go beyond the downpour.
Under the circumstances, I was happy to take the closest of the three options: climbing Big Odyssey, a mountain in Thompson Pass. I invited Tim to come with me, and gave Scout a break by bringing her, too. There's not really much to tell as far as a story goes. We climbed about 1,850 feet to 4,500 feet uneventfully. With no breeze on the way up, we were constantly annoyed by little flies. As for the rest, I'll let some photos do the work.
We kept seeing this pink flower. I was sure I should know it, but couldn't place it exactly. I just flipped through a couple of my books, but still no i.d. If you know what it is, please let me know.
We climbed up and down a number of these scree slopes. It's not the easiest stuff to hike up, but at least they were all stable.
We started hiking about 9:00. There had been a heavy fog hanging in Valdez, but by the time we go to the top of Thompson Pass, we were mostly above it. A few wisps would blow in and out occasionally.
Nearly two-and-a-half hours after we left, we made it to the summit. Tim and Scout beat me there by a few minutes, but that's okay. It wasn't a race.
I made it to the summit cairn, too.
We found a reasonably soft spot of tundra to park our butts on for a snack and to take in the views. We contemplated the next peak over, discussing the best route up. It wasn't meant to be today, however. Maybe another time.
The glaciers across the valley from the top of Big Odyssey.
Leave it to Tim to find a snow field on our way down. He claimed it was Scout's fault, but I think it's unfair to blame an innocent who can't defend herself. I started down the snow, but it was unreasonably slippery, and just past where Tim is in this photo, it dropped off more steeply. I decided I was safer in the rocks to the left.
There was more, way more, than one cliff scramble going both up and down the mountain. I enjoyed practicing my mountain goat skills. Tim snapped this picture and said he was going to post it with a comment about my leading the way along the cliffs. I'm disappointed he didn't catch me while I was clinging to the rocks with just my toes and finger tips.
I think this might be the first time I've submitted a mountain, even if it was just a little one. There needs to be more in my future.
