Final burst delivers euphoria, exhaustion
The shadow of Mt. Adams hangs in the distance in this morning photo looking west from the “Lunch Counter.”
David Bulen has a ton of energy at start of the hike. The 12-mile round trip brought windburn, blisters, vistas and a deep sense of accomplishment.
Emily Peterson, 21, TDHS class of 2017, makes her way to the Lunch Counter on Mount Adams on Tuesday.
Ready to pique/Aug. 19, 2020
David Bulen and Emily Peterson are likely near the top of Mount Adams right now, Aug. 19 at 1 p.m.
It’s quite a comeback for Peterson, 21, TDHS class of 2017.
She’s just seven months out on a fractured tibia and fibula that called for four screws and a titanium plate in her right leg just below the knee. A nice 8-inch S-scar runs down the outside of her knee.
Doc said expect pain and arthritis.
David Bulen loads up his pack on before heading down the road to summit Mt. Adams.
Having planned to hike the Pacific Crest Trail - Mexico to Canada - those dreams were dashed when she hit a mogul too fast on Mount Ashland in January. All of her forward energy pushed into her knee for a crushing split-second break when her ski stuck in the snow.
“It was like the whole world changed when I wrecked,” she said. She went two months on crutches and recovered here in The Dalles. She got to spend a lot of quality time with me and Peggy, my wife. Her leg in a passive motion machine - moving her knee up and down on electric motors to keep the scar tissue at bay and the blood flowing to the injury.
Here is a view of Emily’s repaired right knee after surgery in January.
And no sooner had we returned her to Ashland and the pandemic broke out, cancelled classes.
Brutal for a kid that had just turned 21 and has a penchant for rock climbing, slack-lining and most things involving risk and social interaction.
She’s hands on.
So when she arrived on Monday, Aug. 17, to climb Adams at 12,276 feet with friend David, well, it gave me hope - that we can all fall and get back up, maybe a little stronger.
Rocks provide windbreaks for tents on the South Climb Trail on Mt. Adam’s as wind and cold temperatures can take their toll on hikers.
They made it to the “lunch counter” on Adams on Tuesday afternoon after a five-hour hike- with about half of the 6,700 feet of elevation gain behind them.
They were at 9,304 feet, Emily said. Just three other hikers were there as well.
“It was pretty good the whole way up,” David said of the trail, noting they only lost it for a few minutes in one spot. “No altitude sickness at all,” they said. They traversed their first glacier and said the wildflowers were out.
They made camp behind a windbreak of rocks last night, with temperatures expected to drop into the low 30s.
The two both noticed some blisters coming on from the boots and crampons they rented in Portland for $27.
“We’re going to wake up at 6 a.m. and go up,” Emily said yesterday. “It’s supposed to take 3 hours to get up there and 4 to 6 hours to walk back.”
It’s noon now and I am awaiting a call from them and new photos, hopefully video, if the signal is strong enough.
This will be their third peak in the last week. The two Southern Oregon University students knocked out Mt. Mcloughlin and Mt. Thielsen near Crater Lake last week. And they plan on climbing South Sister on the way back to Ashland.
Mt. Shasta is their final mountain to conquer in the early part of next week.
David said a hiker on Mt. Adams had just climbed Shasta earlier in the week.
“He said it was bad conditions right now, a lot of rockfall and sliding,” David said. “It doesn’t sound dangerous, but it does sound miserable.”
Notes:
This post will be updated at the conclusion of their climb.
This story is a completely self-absorbed endeavor. My daughter, Emily, is a fascinating person - and I can’t help but swell with pride when I see what she has accomplished. I asked her the other night what has been the hardest thing she had done. She said it was the Rock ‘N’ Roll half-marathon in Portland in 2016. We both trained for it for two months. In the weeks leading up to the run, she fell during track and broke her elbow, and the week before the race she contracted an insane stomach flu. She had only recovered a few days before making the run. We both finished but it was late. And we missed Portugal. the Man, the headliner at the end of the race. But, man, has this kid taught me some lessons about determination.
