Stay on Offense Climb Mountains

Attacking Adversity

Go Hiking In The Snow

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When the season changes and it snows or the snow just hasn’t melted off the mountain yet you need to know how to handle it. It mainly comes down to gear and staying away from areas that are avalanche prone. So this piece is for those that have never hiked in the snow before.

Snow Gear

It can be dangerous if you so not have the right gear. First of all you need hiking boots. This should be obvious, but unfortunately it is not. I see people in tennis shoes all the time, yes, even in the snow. A friend of mine climbed to Camp Muir on Rainier in his Gucci boots. Yes, that happened!

Then you need some kind of traction device for your boots. There are three. First Yaktrax, which are the minimum necessary. They consist of rubber and wire and are the least expensive. You pull them over your boots. The next choice is Microspikes. These are similar to Yaktrax but have tiny spikes which give you much better traction and they las much longer than Yaktrax. Finally, you could get a set of crampons but that is probably not necessary unless you are climbing a mountain like Rainier.

Be sure to dress in layers so that you can peel them off. It is easy to overdress, get wet from sweat and then get cold quick.

So there you have it. All you need to enjoy the snow. However, some of you might decide to cut corners or just forget to bring something.

Quick Story

I climb Mt Si every week from March through May. There is usually still snow and ice on the mountain in March, but it is not an avalanche area and pretty safe. That is why I stay with it for three months until the snow melts elsewhere.

Last year I headed out the door with what I thought was all my gear, but I had forgotten my Microsipkes. I did not realize I didn’t have them until I reached the trailhead. So do I just go home or see how far I can go. The snow was not significant so I thought I would give it a shot. Going up was pretty easy. Keep that in mind. I knew this already, but it was so easy going up. Once I started down I felt pretty smug. I had gotten to the top without any traction. Then suddenly, I slipped, my feet went out from under me and I went down. As I always do (yes I have fallen before), I laid there for a few minutes to see if I had broken anything. As it turned out I broke a rib. So the moral to the story is make sure you have a check list of items to bring with you ad use it.

Life and Going Hiking In The Snow

So it is pretty easy to apply this to life. If you do not have the right tools to do a job then it either won’t get done as quickly, as well, or it will end in disaster. Be prepared! As Jocko Willink says, “One is none and two is one.” I take two head lamps on every hike, because I begin hiking before sunrise and don’t want to run out of batteries in the middle of a dark mountain.

It is also a good example of preparation matching the challenge. If you are going hiking in the snow then you need to be more prepared than when it is dry ground. There are gradients of preparation too. If it is raining you have to demonstrate more caution when negotiating slippery areas. So keep all this mind when you face challenges and of course go hiking!

Go Hiking – Experience A Burner

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When your quads and calf muscles are talking to you every step, you know you are experiencing a “burner.” I saw this reference when reading a trail report. After researching name Google had no idea where it came from, but I think it is perfect word for describing climbing a mountain that is extremely steep.

This term is once again something that parallels life. We all have challenges to meet, but when something takes all of your focus and effort then that something can be called a burner.

Dirty Harry’s Peak is a Burner

Recently I climbed Dirty Harry’s Peak here in the northwestern United States. It is named for an infamous logger. Obviously if this mountain qualifies as a burner then that means it is very hard by definition.

There are two things that make Dirty Harry’s Peak stand out. First and foremost are the last two miles. It is a little over four and a half miles to the top which is no so bad, but those last two miles are straight up. Two miles is a long way to be going straight up. The second standout for this mountain is the top itself. Even when you reach the top you are surrounded by trees. You can see little views, but that’s it until you step out onto the peak itself. Really it is a cliff. The trail ends. One more step and you’re gone. Even at the peak the view is not a 360, but it is just fine.

Being Unemployed is a Burner

At the beginning of the 2008 recession I was unemployed. At the time I was in my sixties so pretty young, right? Still, getting a job in your sixties is harder than when you are younger. The first thing you have to do is dye your hair. Nobody will even listen if they see a gray haired person walk in the room. I applied to hundreds of companies, did tons of interviews, and came up with nothing. Then I would get a job that lasted maybe three months. This went on for some time. It took me four years to find a reasonably stable job.

This is a personal example of a burner in life. It takes all of you to meet the challenge. You need to have a positive outlook and be adaptable. If you do this then you can look back and say, “that was a real burner.”

Bookish Weapons Three and Four

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There are so many great books to read and from each one I have a favorite Idea. In “Solving For Happiness, by Mo Gawdat includes many bookish weapons so I am going to go e you two here. They are powerful.

First, let’s look at what you control and what you don’t control in life. That would be nice to know wouldn’t it. Then you could forget about later and focus on the former.

Solve for Happy, review by Bill Montgomery

Solve for Happy, review by Bill Montgomery

You Don’t Control Anything, Except

Gawdat says that, “Between Black Swans and butterfly effects, nothing is under your control,” He says the only thing under your control is your actions and your attitude.

So think about that for a minute. Nothing is under your control! For some of you this is a scary thought and you will give yourself all sots of reasons why it isn’t true. Maybe you’re right, but give this some consideration. I think it is a serious weapon to have in your arsenal. It helps you focus on your attitude and your actions. Remember, nothing happens until you take action.

This morning I was climbing a mountain, as usual and I was able to get some fantastic photos. If I had not taken the action to get myself out of bed at 1:30 AM and off to the mountain there would be no outside adventure or photos.

The Interrogation – Bookish Weapon Number Three

This is really a weapon that could stand alone, but You are getting this as a bonus today. The interrogation is to be used when things are not looking so good and your mind is churning out the “what if” questions. So instead of those, ask yourself these:

What is the worst thing that can happen?
So what?
How likely is it?
Is there anything I can do now to improve this scenario?
Can I recover?
What will happen if I do nothing?
What is the best case scenario?

This is a solid way to access any potential adversity!

Bookish Weapon Number Two

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We have all said we were committed to something. Maybe it was to get up earlier, lose weight or even more serious, stay married to someone. Keeping commitments is another story, even the ones that are more formalized like marriage. Things get in the way, like our feelings. We just don’t feel like it. We are tired so we don’t want to get up. We just get too hungry to stay on that diet. Maybe we fell out of love so ow we don’t want to be in the marriage. Bookish weapon number two is real commitment.

Real Commitment

In his great book “The Spartan Way,” Joe DeSena gives the best explanation of real commitment I have ever read when he tells the story of Japanese Tendai Monks that in order to become a monk must walk around a mountain 200 times. A higher order has to walk it 1000 times. They have been doing this for a thousand years and the monks would carry a knife with them. If they didn’t make it they would kill themselves. There were 450 monks that attempted this and only 45 did it. The rest died. That is real commitment!

Joe says, “Commitment means that you will do what you said you were going to do, even when you don’t feel like doing it. Anything less is pointless.”

What could you accomplish if you grasped this concept and made it a part of your identity so that when you made a commitment it was in stone? I bet you would not make them so lightly. You would give them serious thought, but once you committed it would happen.

The Daily Grind

Now that you understand what real commitment is all about you can apply it every day. If you say you will meet someone at a certain time, you will be there at that time. It is a commitment. If you say you are going to put in eight hours on the job, you do it. You don’t spend half of the time scrolling Instagram.

If you decide you are going to lose weight you do it. Simple! If you decide you will exercise every day, you do it. Simple! However, as you probably already know it might be simple, but it is not easy. As Jerzy Gregory says, “Hard choices, easy life. Easy choices, hard life.”

Go Hiking-It Teaches You About Life

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There are so many things about hiking that are lessons in life. There is the preparation, the physical conditioning, having a destination, new trails and old trails, and false summits, just to name a few.

Today however I want to discuss something that is ever present on a mountain. People ask you if there are a lot of them or not. They sort of worry about them, but when you go hiking you are gong to find them in abundance. I am talking about switchbacks.

Switchbacks And Life

Whenever I go hiking there are trees which are beautiful, rocks that sometimes beat you up, sky to look at along with the occasional sunrise, and then there are switchbacks. Switchbacks are like life in so many ways so I thought I would shake that branch and see what falls out.

You have heard of switchbacks, right? A switchback is the name given to the trail when it goes in one direction and then “switches” back in the other direction. I guess that is the first characteristic of a switchback. It goes one way and then another. Does that ever happen in life? Of course it does.

Direction In Life And When You Go Hiking

It is important to know your destination when you go hiking. Switchbacks might take you in different directions, but you always know your destination and you trust the path you’re on in life. Sometimes life, just like a switchback takes you in one direction for a long time and you wonder if it will ever come to an end. Then it goes in another direction. Wait, you were getting used to this and had almost mastered it and now it is switching on you. What I have realized is that changing direction is ok as long as you keep the end in mind. Switchbacks have a purpose and that is to make the hike easier. Yes, that’s right. Instead of going straight up the mountain you switch back and forth. Oh, and switchbacks change vertically too.

What if it is steep! A steep switchback is really tough, but then sometimes switchbacks are flat (for a short time) and yes, sometimes they go down for a bit. But a steep switchback, just like a tough stretch in life makes you stronger. Pretty soon you look forward to the challenge as you do when you become more competent in life.

Here’s to switchbacks and all their glory! Now, go hiking!

Go On An Expedition and Go Hiking

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Go Hiking and Make It An Adventure

When you go hiking sometimes you can make it an adventure of a lifetime. The picture above was taken in the Yukon after climbing Goat Mountain. Goat Mountain got its name because there are lots of goats. You could see the tuffs of goat hair on the bushes. We floated 100 miles down the Tatshenshini River from Dalton Post (in the Yukon) to Dry Bay in Alaska. It took five days.

You can expect to see as many Eagles as you do Seagulls in coastal cities along in the lower forty-eight. Bears are abundant too. One swam out to our raft or as close as he could get before we paddled away. Then there are the mosquitoes.

Do You Know Your Mosquito Types When You Go Hiking

In most areas of North America the is one size mosquito, but in Alaska and the Yukon there are two. One is almost as large as a 747. You can see those coming and because they are heavy, they are also slow so batting them away is easy.

The second type of mosquito is very small, almost invisible and extremely fast. Hitting them is next to impossible. Repellent is your best offense. Sometimes combining offense with defense makes sense so wear a mosquito net.

Why do I send so much time taking about bugs? Well, in this case I am allergic to these critters. They make me swell up like a puffer fish. During this particular trip I got about 25 bites even after taking all the precautions.

Bushwhacking Is Not Like Going Hiking

Discussing bugs reminds me of our bushwhacking adventure. Beginning at the camp, our guide asked who would like a little adventure. I raised my hand of course and with a couple others we followed him into the bush. No trail. You step over things and climb over other things. After a a half hour of this I noticed what specks on my pants and shirt so I asked about it. The guide said they were “just” worms common to the area.

You Don’t Have to Go Hiking to Enjoy Lake Alsek

One of the most interesting and beautiful sites during this trip was Lake Alsek. It is surrounded by glaciers which deposit icebergs into it. They come in all shapes and sizes. Some of the icebergs are small and some are giants. When the sun shines on them it creates contrast of shadow and sparkle. Of course there is no current in the lake so you row through and around the icebergs. Having the opportunity to see these creations was worth the cost of the trip by itself.