|18AUG17 Hood River, Oregon 13:41|

People change, grow, and adapt to their current situations and surroundings. Life is just one giant puzzle, but none of the pieces ever seam to fit; when they finally do you are in control with total happiness and understanding.

Over the years I’ve watched myself grow and learn; picking up useful skills such as patience and respect. I’ve learned that life yet only temporary has so much potential and meaning. The value for ones well being and respect for their passion is something we take for granted. Not everyone is perfect and yet we will all hit rough patches but in the end you gain so much more as an individual and the sun will shine again only to be brighter than before.

|07MAY07|

I was a dreamer with great ambition, energy, and motivation. Prior to this I thought I might not become anything more than a dreamer, however, dreams will become a reality eventually so long as you keep a positive attitude and your head up.
Before I knew it I was at 32,000ft on a commercial jet liner bound for Portland, Oregon. I gave up a lot to make the journey, and yet made on impulse little did I know how much I was about to gain for my life. I found a job working on a trail crew that works on the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) 2650 Miles from Mexico to Canada. I was to be working in the Cascade Mountains in Oregon and Washington in some of the most remarkable pristine locations this region has to offer. Little did I know this was not going to be the case and in the 3.5 months to fallow I experienced what was almost considered to be a joke in my eyes, even though this was not what I was looking for nor had any intentions of doing I still gained some light on my life’s situation, but this was gained through personal endeavors more so than the programs.

When I arrived shortly after I realized I had been sold and my respect for Amanda whom does the recruitment for the academy dropped greatly. This was not what I wanted nor was looking for. I had my own stresses in life and they kept piling on more because what they specialized in was leadership and communication skill building. This was not an area in which I needed or wanted to improve in. Our team ended up getting sent down to Crestline in southern California. The town seamed nice at first, just a small mountain town. Only shortly after we would learn it wasn’t what it was cracked up to be. Our forest service house was up the road about 3 miles from a section of town heavily involved with meth. We would see drug deals performed at the end of our driveway on our days off. The thought of the house getting robbed was always in the back of my mind creating an even more stressful environment. We would work our asses off in cold and hot conditions, as well as burned zones. If you ask me California sucks and I would never recommend it for a vacation. There are few locations in California I would ever consider returning to.

After surviving 6 weeks in California our team came back up to Trout Lake, Washington finally we would be seeing green again and bodies of crystal water glistening under the sun light. We came back up for a week off, a week of fun, but I only had one thing on my mind locked into my sights; Mt Adams at 12,276FT. High mountains are the silent teachers they infect my mind and have an indescribable lure to them. When I see them my eyes glue like magnets fixed on their majestic beauty the cotton candy wisps of clouds blowing off the summit, and just like a kid at a fair they pull me to them; the want, need, and desire to climb them. Man is not the greatest on earth, mountains will teach you that. My long term goal is to climb the 7 summits, 7 mountains, 7 continents, to climb the tallest mountain on each continent, but it’s more than just a climb and a goal. It’s about going to the place; places you have never been that few are willing to go. A remote and desolate location surrounded by peace and beauty hundreds of miles from the nearest road. It’s not about adrenalin; it’s about Respect, Patience, Endurance, Life, and most of all Love. Knowing and understanding that life is only temporary and that it may be taken from you in an instant. So I live my life to the fullest potential while I can do something I have a strong passion for. It doesn’t matter what car you drive or where you live and what job you have so long as you are happy and do what you love.

For conditioning in southern California I would work an 8 hour day with my pack on containing 25-35 pounds. I would do whatever I could to stay in shape and train my self. I would bush whack and scramble up loose rock and sluf to the tops of no less than 20 peaks in the 6 weeks we where in so cal. I hadn’t slept in a bed since 08MAY07 and to take it one step further I hadn’t so much as used a tent in about 8 weeks, just camping out under the stars.

Summer Summit week was all fun and games for the returning teams but my focus was on Mt Adams. Organizing gear and preparing so I could drop any weight I could maximizing performance and ability to make a 2 day assault on the mountain.

|The Beginning of Addiction for the Mountains Mystifying Lure|
To be placed X miles from a big mountain; gravity goes out the window there is some great unknown force that draws, pulling me closer and closer until finally I find myself at the base of the wise professor ready to give my all and find my inner self to educate me.

18JUL07

Just 2 days before I would leave to make an assault on Mt Adams.
I went to the Mt Adams Ranger station to obtain information and check the weather status. The mountain was currently engulfed in clouds and storming, although I did not need a weather report to tell me this just by looking at the mountain, I was looking for a potential window on which I would be allowed to set foot on top of her. The forecast showed a potential window to make the summit sometime on SAT 21JUL07. The rangers discouraged me to make an assault on the mountain but essentially left it up to my better judgment.

19JUL07

I stopped into the local climbing shop to check the forecast yet again; the weather called for continued storming, however, still showed a possible window for Saturday Morning. For the rest of the day I organized gear and my thoughts.

nice...