Ben conquers Mount Adams... twice

Since we moved here Ben has really wanted to climb Mt. Hood. It's a beautiful mountain near our home and can be seen on the hills around us on a clear day. He was scheduled to hike it in June, but the plans fell through and he and my brother in law Darren were left wondering what to do instead. Fortunately Ben had heard of Mt. Adams, another mountain in Washington that was a great climb.

So on Saturday June 14th Ben and Darren hiked Mt. Adams. It was about 6,000 vertical feet up in 6 miles- a pretty steep climb. Since there was still snow they took their skis and snowboard and after summiting rode the snow down.

Getting ready. Since he had to carry his ski boots and pulls, plus gear, his pack weighed about 45-50 pounds. It was really heavy.

On the way up

The Summit!

Mt. Rainier in the background

 I think Ben is such a stud and this picture just proves it (and Darren is pretty cool too I guess :) )

Just a funny juxtaposition: the morning Ben hiked this I took the kids yard sale-ing and then we went to get ice cream. Ben and I are complete opposites but I think that's why we're so interesting to each other. He summits mountains and I shop.

Anyway, Ben had another opportunity in August to hike Mt. Adams. Since he can't say no to adventurous fun, there he was summiting again with two friends from our ward, Jason Gough and Tom Clark. This time he didn't take his skis and he said it was "easy" compared to last time. In his words, he got "worked" when he carried up his skis but "it was worth it because the powder was so beautiful". Oh how I love Ben.  To see another image from this trip, click here.

With Tom

With Jason

Summiting again!

After the descent.