Climb Every Mountain

Every time I talk about climbing Mt Adams, the reflex description that wants to jump out of my mouth is, "It was really fun!" While fun might not be the best adjective to describe it, it was an amazing adventure and exhilarating experience.
After being outfitted by Mrs Bystrom, we strapped on our packs and headed off. This our preclimbing picture. We marched happily along. This is my reaction to finding out that we were going little more than one mile an hour. There were many times in that day and the next that we realized that speed was fast.
We climbed to the Lunch Counter at 9,000 ft where we set up camp, cooked dinner, and climbed into our warm and cozy tent. At 9,000 ft with no other lights around, the stars were brilliant.
The next day, we climbed the false summit and then all the way to the summit, took pictures and started the trek back down.
On the way down the glacier, we did momentarily loose our trail (a.k.a. "get lost"), but God sent us two angels(we're convinced those two men were angels) to point out the path again. As throughout the whole trip, by God's grace, we got back to the car before dark and made it safely home. We've never slept so well as we did that night.
So if you're looking for something fun, this wouldn't be my first recommendation. But if you're looking for an adventure, for breathtaking viewpoints, for camaraderie, and for an absolutely indescribable night sky, mountain climbing might be your new favorite past time. (to see more pictures in Kait's web albums, copy and paste these addresses into the ___?___ bar at the top of your screen: http://picasaweb.google.com/kaitlyn.reay/MtAdamsHike08# or http://picasaweb.google.com/kaitlyn.reay/MtAdamS08#)