Mountains

[Desdichado]

I went hiking as a teenager near the Durango-Silverton railroad; in fact, we rode that halfway down the line, hopped off, walked a day or two to our base camp and then scaled the 4th (or was it 5th?) highest peak in the Continental U.S. That was a mountain.

I think it was this one actually. That description of how they got there sounds about like what we did; we had a base camp somewhere around 11,000, then we hiked up to a high lake (saw some distant mountain goats there) that sounds (and looks like the picture included) like that Crater Lake mentioned in the article, then you just hit the granite and the sleet until you get to the top. We went in July of (I think) 1987 or so, so my memory's a bit hazy on the details of which peak we hit and all that. I'm pretty sure this was the one, though. Looking at the pictures, I'm even more convinced; that's exactly as I remember it.

EDIT: This is the 4th highest in Colorado, but the 7th highest in the lower 48. The guy who told me must have mixed it up. Either that, or my memory has.

 

[barsoomcore]

Grew up in central British Columbia and spent my entire life up until I was 14 in the midst of mountains, snow-covered, tree-covered, logging-company-owned mountains. Mostly we cross-country skied up and down them. There was a 14-kilometre race every year called the Birchleg marathon that I used to enter. Fun.

Then we moved to Calgary. It was the first time I'd ever been east of the Rockies, and the transition to the Canadian prairie is pretty breathtaking. You drive through mountains, around mountains, under mountains, alongside mountains, mountains, mountains, mountains...

And then suddenly, no mountains. You just drive out of the mountains and onto the prairie (not quite, it's not exactly prairie but it's awfully flat). There's no foothills or anything. You look around in confusion at the wide open space on all sides, and then look back and see this mammoth WALL of rock shearing up into the sky behind you.

For miles you drive across the prairie with that shining wall behind you. It's crazy.

We moved into a house from which you could see them far off on the horizon, like the edge of the world.

The Rockies are good.

 

[Krieg]

.../snip/...(although with each passing year and each added pound it becomes more and more unlikely ).../snip/...

There is that as well. lol

 

[Angcuru]

Mountains are nice to look at. Never climbed one though, since I live in NJ as well, and I WANT OUT!!! I want a house with a really big chunk of property with a mountain on it, so I will officially have my own mountain, to be called Angcuru's Big Ol' Goddamn Rock.

Someday....

 

[Impeesa]

Grew up in central British Columbia and spent my entire life up until I was 14 in the midst of mountains, snow-covered, tree-covered, logging-company-owned mountains.

<snip>

The Rockies are good.

Too true. I have some beautiful pictures from Mt Robson Park (here's one and two that I'd previously scanned). Those were taken with a cheap disposable camera when I was in grade 6 or 8.. I took a few weekend trips there with Scouts in my younger days (I say that like I'm old or something). I still have trouble comprehending how I survived a 52 km hike in three days (half of that concentrated on the middle day, and 2 km net vertical) when I was in grade 6. :\

Stunning scenery though.

--Impeesa--

 

[Galethorn]

Both of my parents lived in Boulder, CO, and my mom did a fair bit of backpacking and rock-climbing. Furthermore, my grandfather on my dad's side had a cabin on Mt. Ranier, and worked the mountain as a guide. He is credited with carrying Sherly Temple up on his shoulders. Oh, and the fastest ascent on one of the routes that's still considered foolishly dangerous...and he did the descent at night. Not that it was connected, he was also the president of the university of Colorado for a while, and was an ordinance officer in WW2 (who spent most of his time hunting fruit bats). But, enough about people who are either long dead (Grampa Thieme) or long-middle-aged (my parents).

Anyway, I've spent my entire life living on the highest point on this island (not including vacations, and commuting to school more recently), which amounts to, at most, 500 feet. To be fair, I've repeatedly climbed Capitol Hill in seattle, which is as steep as many mountains, and a couple hundred feet higher than the waterfront. As well, I've gone up some sizable peaks in the Olympics, and I've been through the crater on Mt. Saint Helens in a cessna. Oh, and I've gone up Monte Alban in Oxaca, Mexico (but went most of the way up in a bus).

 

[RangerWickett]

Um . . . guys, I was talking about boobies, not geographic formations. My bad. Y'know, I'd rather read about The Grand Tetons than silly mountains.

. . .

*grin*

 

[Desdichado]

Um . . . guys, I was talking about boobies, not geographic formations. My bad. Y'know, I'd rather read about The Grand Tetons than silly mountains.

So, there's this girl named Blackgap in West Texas, and you only got access to one of her boobs (which she named Stairway?)

 

[diaglo]

Um . . . guys, I was talking about boobies,...

so was i.

 

[Laurel]

For many years the mountains around me were the lower App's in south TN. I lived on a hill that was named mountain, because really who would want to live on Signal Hill yet be surrounded by bigger and better and true mountains. Anyways, living there they didn't seem that special. We took retreats and camping trips into the moutains and walked the trails all the time. It was the weekend thing to do.

Then I moved. To DC. It is a swamp for those who don't know, and if one drives for an hour west Mountains can be seen on the horizon. So currently the mountains around me are less then even hills :-( but at least there is no Kudzu