Sunday, January 8, 2012

Island Peak - 272 Days to Departure - Arrowhead Mt.



The best gym is the one that is not enclosed in 4 walls, it's the one where a line of treadmills is replaced by a path along a bubbly creek and where instead of going from nowhere to nowhere on stair climber, after few mile of a workout one arrives at a vista with beautiful views.



The best training for a climbing expedition is to go out and hike, and scramble, and have fun while doing so.



Arrowhead Mountain offered both a good workout and an amazing day outside playing in the snow. We worked first, climbing steeply though a forest, and then, when we arrived at the ridge, the fun part started. Still uphill but now in a winter wonderland surrounded by frosted trees we made our way up in the fresh powdery snow.



The sun peeked at us for a brief moment and then soft snowflakes brought back the nice atmosphere of a winter day.

The summit was calm, with just an occasional breeze skimming by. We enjoyed a cup of a hot beverage and the partly clouded views before heading down.



Plunge-stepping in fresh snow and taking a slightly different, more scrambly, route made the descent nearly as interesting as the ascend, and was surely just as good of a workout.

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