March 03rd, 2017

I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart, who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience, who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward, who do what has to be done, again and again. Marge Piercy

Morning y'all,
It's another beautiful, cold morning up top. The high yesterday reached 26 degrees. The overnight low was 13 degrees, recorded after observation yesterday morning. It was 15 degrees and clear at 7am observation. The mountain received no new precipitation and there is no snow remaining up top. The trails have a few little slick spots, but to my surprise, traction is not necessary to reach the summit. I expected to need some after Wednesday's rain followed by cold overnight temperatures, but it didn't get truly cold until about 3am. Get out and enjoy these beautiful conditions!

I had a couple of tough hikes yesterday. First off, Grace and I hauled some gear (mostly books!) off the mountain, so that I'd have a great selection of summer reading at Crag Camp. With no true winter this year, I only used Microspikes once and have hardly used a full backpack. I am too used to running around with my little UD  pack, a full load of books really whipped me! On the plus side, we got out early and got to see the mountain waking up in that early morning light I typically miss while blogging and drinking coffee. We picked up our friend Scott at the airport, bought some groceries for our last weekend up top, and headed back up to Alum around 5pm. I bought a lot of essentials and even more luxury items, so it was a heavy load. I'll be making homemade mountain top donuts this weekend, so there were a few things for us to pick up in town. It was the heaviest load I've carried since working at Galehead hut this Fall, but it brought all the same sweetnesses as those packs. There was a little doubt and frustration at the beginning, followed by the absurd realization that this is my life. It's too good to ever get down on myself. We had a break at Alum Cave, then moseyed on in the darkness. It was a beautiful night to be out, with the stars jumping out like spotlights when we turned off our headlamps. I'll miss these long, strange days.