The Day Before the Climb

Today I got to sleep in until 7 am, Yeah!  What a glorious clear morning it was!  Billy and I hung back at the hotel while Jeff, Ben and Derrill went downtown to the Public Market and got the rental mini- van.  Though I was tempted to head into town, I was glad I stayed back to rest, stretch and roll out my legs.  I found that a lexicon Nalgene bottle makes a great substitution for a foam roll to roll on.  We also got to watch a classic Wimbelton final.
When the boys got back with the van, we packed up and ventured to the REI close by Sea-Tac for final supplies.  Off on the I-5 we went, until we stopped in Tacoma for lunch at Panera.  I know, a real local eatery (enter sarcasm here).

We had a beautiful ride through the forested countryside.  There were many glimpses of the mountain on this bluebird day.  We stopped in Elbe and got some home grown cherries at a roadside stand.  They were the absolutely most delicious cherries I have had.  What a steal at $1 a basket.  Seven miles later we rolled into Ashford, our staging ground accommodations at the famous Whitaker Bunkhouse.  We checked in at 2:30 pm.  We preceded to unload the van in our nice and spacious suites.  This area very much reminds me of the Adirondaks...the forests, the climate, the cabins, the lakes and mountains.

At 3 pm we were on the road again into the Park and to Paradise.  The drive was much different than last year as we could see the massive hunk of a mountain peek out at times without cloud obstruction on the way up.  From Ashford it is about 4,000 ft up the windy road mostly in the dense forest with huge trees.  Arriving at the trailhead of Paradise we ran into a jam- packed parking lot.  We had to park down the road and walk back up.  We went to check in with the rangers, but the office closed at 3.  We will just check in tomorrow.  We toured the lodge and the visitor center where we watched a movie on the park and the mountain.  There were some interesting facts, particularly the destructive capabilities the mountain could have if it erupted or had a massive flood.

We loaded back in the van and went back to Elbe for pizza dinner.  We each ordered a whole pizza pie, ate half of it and saved the other half for the trail tomorrow.  We retreated to the bunkhouse for our final gear check which took 1.5 hours.  My final pack weigh in is 63 lbs.  Jeff was the same.  Ben, Derrill and Billy were at 70!  After gear check we hit the hot tub, showered and climbed into bed, where I'm writing this blog.  Tomorrow we rise at 6 am and start our climb...