Climb For Kids - Ruth Mountain 2009
Last Saturday, Climb For Kids hosted its first climbing event of 2009. Ruth Mountain is supposed to be a easy beginner climb, but when we had to park our car a mile away from the trailhead due to avalanche debris, we knew we were in for something interesting. A leisurely 4 mile approach to Hannegan Pass became a 5.5 mile ankle twisting trek through debris fields as large as city blocks, with downed old growth trees dotting the landscape. A trip to the pass that usually takes 2 or 3 hours, now took us 4.5 hours.
Accompanying us on the trip, were Kevin MacDonald, Brenda Rodgers, Peter Wall, Rhianne Josie, and yours truly. It was cloudy and overcast most of the day, unfortunately; however, a certain someone decided it would be appropriate to say hi to us. Knowing she was along for the trip really lifted my spirits.
Anyway, the long, difficult approach took its toll on the team. Both Brenda and Rhianne are new to mountaineering, so this exaggerated trip was especially challenging. We were all pretty tired as left Hannegan Pass and headed up the base of Ruth Mountain. Brenda decided that this wasn't the right time for her to summit, so she and I stayed behind to work on climbing techniques. Rhianne stole my camera and headed up to the summit behind Kevin and Peter.
After a uneventful summit, they headed back down the mountain to face the dreaded debris fields again. 12 hours after we left the campsite, we had returned to our car extremely tired. We all had fun on the climb and we learned a great deal about mountaineering. On top of all that, we raised over $5,000 for Climb For Kids and had fun doing it.
I am looking forward to the next event, Mt. Daniel (?) to be held on July 11. You see, the road to Ruth Mountain will be closed from June 22nd thru the end of August to repair the destruction caused by all the avalanches - thus, the July 11th event will need to be modified. So, we were pretty much the last people able to climb the mountain this summer. Yeehaw! You should join Michelle and crew on their quest to conquer another fun mountain.
You can see all the photos from the trip up on Flickr.