1st Training Hike: Angel's Rest Feb 21, 2010

We did our very first training hike this past Sunday (2/21/10). It took place at Angel's Rest in the Columbia Gorge, OR which covered a relatively short distance of about 4 miles and roughly 1500' of elevation gain.

Altogether, about 30 Reach The Summit participants met up in a parking lot of a nearby grocery store at 7:45am to car-pool to the trail head. I was really looking forward to meeting the fellow climbers I will be training with for the next several months.

We couldn't have asked for better weather to kick off our training. CAVU (Clear And Visibility Unlimited) and the temperature was in the 30s in the morning but it warmed up to probably 60s. I knew it couldn't be this way on all of our hikes but I'd take all we could get!

We will be meeting up for a training hike almost every weekend around Portland, OR. All along the Columbia Gorge, there are numerous hiking trails of varying difficulties that are often associated with gorgeous waterfalls. We will be also hitting some of the trails in the Coastal Range as well as in Mt. Hood National Forest. Qualified mountaineering professionals will be providing us with hands-on training on mountain safety and proper alpine climbing techniques.

There were about 10 or so volunteer Training Hike Leaders and Assistants, of whom many of them were participating climbers themselves in the past. They had been training since November to be ready for our training and were trained in first aid. There were also a couple of medical professionals, just in case.

In the grocery store's parking lot, we split up into three groups: the fast group, the intermediate group, and the "endurance" group. I wanted to be in the intermediate group but, by the time I got there, there were way too many people in it so I chose to be in the fast group, knowing that I could always slip back into another group if necessary. (More on that little later..) One of our Training Hike Leaders, Eva, gave us a quick show-n-tell on how to select a backpack for those who had not gotten one yet and good tips on how to pack. Jennifer, the head of Reach The Summit program, nervously added that we were not to get too close the edge of the cliff when we got there. (...uh... sure, Jennifer..., right...) Now, we were all ready to go!!

Once we got to and gathered around the trail head, we set off for the hike. My group went first. Within no more than 10 minutes into the hike, I realized that I was waaaaaaaayyyy toooooo out of shape. I thought my heart was going to burst out of my rib cage by the time we took a small break about 15 minutes into the hike for a "gear check" where each of us took off a layer or two of clothings. This fact was accentuated by the fact that the rest of the people in my group were hiking as if it was just a saunter around a park. Something was definitely not right here.. Then, I realized why.. Most of them were carrying relatively light packs, while my pack weighed about 30lbs (The night before, I added some water containers to bring it up to this weight for training purpose.) Something to think about for the next hike..

After about 35 minutes into the hike, to my amazement, it got much easier all of sudden. It was as if the slope of the trail just disappeared. (No, I didn't dump the water..) Is this what they call a "zone"?? But then, now that I think about it, it's entirely possible that was a flat part of the trail.. Just before we got to the top of Angel's rest, we took another 10 minutes break. All along the trail, the gorgeous view of the Columbia Gorge would come into view from time to time. The visibility was truly amazing - it had to be at least 100 miles of clear view. When we reached the top, the "gorge wind" was so strong that we had to go over the leeward side of the ridge to take another break. From there, the top part of Mt. Adams was clearly visible. Awesome!!! Can't wait to climb it!!!!!

No hiking is complete without some proper beverage afterwards. The training supervisor directed us to one of the bar/restaurant types nearby for an optional "non-Reach The Summit" extra curricular activities, where we behaved accordingly..

This weekend, we will be doing it again around Multnomah Falls/Wahkeena Falls which are arguably some of the Portland's most scenic.. Stay tuned!!!