The Brothers - South Face, November 2001
This is the second of two trips out to the South Brother. On the first trip, Chris and I embarked for the Lena Lakes trailhead (near Hamma Hamma River) on a soggy Spring Friday evening in 1999. After what seemed like an interminable drive across Bainbridge Island, we arrived at our destination. The next day we hiked through the Valley of Silent Men, past lower Lena Lake, to a camping area far up in the valley. We cooked dinner, talked of ATM switches and routing hardware and had a good laugh at how frivolous it all seems out in here in the wilderness.
Summit day was unfortunately another misty day. I'm not sure why exactly we decided to go for the summit, but the going was extremely slow in all the fresh snow. As I approached the summit, all I could see was white. I could not tell where the mountain ended and sky began. I hung out long enough to choke a granola bar down my throat. I was soaked and cold and had no interest in lingering. I descended a few paces seeking shelter in an alcove and waited for Chris to tag the summit. We glissaded down with our shovels in record time, packed up headed out. We reached the car just as it got dark thankfully catching the last Bremerton - Seattle ferry run of the night (after a very confusing navigation screw up, might I add) and collapsed into a real bed a few short hours before having to wake up for work. (more...)
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