Mount Baker Redux
The last week or so I’ve enjoyed finding old boxes of photos and negatives and getting a few select shots up on my flickr account. This one was from August of 1999, right before Ian was born. I remember this climb as a Particularly Poignant Pivotal Moment, because it was precisely half-way on the way down the Roman Wall when my previously rather high level of risk-tolerance plummeted, and my knees began to shake just a bit. The sun, the snow, the cold – it all was telling me I was nuts and to get home as soon as possible to my wife and soon-to-be arrive son.
So I did.
Arriving back at the tents, I sat down on on a rock, closed my eyes, and tipped over, completely asleep. There really wasn’t that much danger to us that day – the weather was fine, the snow was in good shape – but the realization of familial responsibility was so physically draining that it shook me up a bit.
Seven years later, my tolerance level isn’t quite where it was before I was married. My outdoor-epic-withdrawl levels are now exponentially higher however, and as I look forward to finally finishing school and having my weekends back, my knees are beginning to shake again – just a bit – and in such a good way.
Maija Neilson Says:
I love you Seth. You really are the coolest person I know.Kaijsa Neilson Says:
Ditto, mo. We have the greatest brother. You should write a book, boy.