It is summer and training has begun.  Or at least the calendar says its summer; the weather is saying something altogether different.  But the one really nice weekend we did have Jeff and his posse headed out to climb a mountain in preparation for the big one in July.  Another go at Mt. Shasta.   

After last year’s debacle you would think they wouldn’t have it in them to try again but some people never learn.  So after a night of camping in a house at Elk Lake they headed up South Sister.  Armed with the ingredients for martinis including the shaker (where did they get the ice to shake with?), boxes of wine, and freeze dried dinner, their packs were filled to capacity.  One lesson Jeff appears to have learned is to put his pack on a few times before the Shasta event.  I think last year he mowed the lawn with it on one time before the main event.  This venture out is at least the second time he has had it on this year so progress is being made.

This was the original weekend they intended to climb Mt. Shasta hoping for a little more snow and less gravel to hike through.  I guess a change of plan was in order since Shasta reported a record number of mountain rescues, 4 people choppered off with serious injuries (falling beach ball sized chunks of ice and 2000′ long slides down smooth snow).  Good call, DQ.  While the weather appeared to be perfect down here up on top of South Sister the wind was blowing very hard.  Enough that Nancy didn’t make it to the top and Nancy always makes it to the top.  Between no sleep for a few days and the wind she called it a day and went back to camp.  The others did make it and I understand it was epic.  On a scale of 1 to 10 it was a 10.  They could see south all the way to Mt. Shasta and north to Canada or was that Washington?  At any rate they are jazzed to take on Shasta at the end of July.