Our Plan: For our annual PNW trip, Justin, Ann, and I would Climb Challenger via Big Beaver. I had tried twice from the Hannigan side, and had been skunked by the weather both times. My buddies John and Tom had actually tried THREE times and had not made it.\u00a0 We swore that we would never try it again unless we had five days and a perfect weather forecast. And, surely, Big Beaver was the ticket. This would be a new route and new mountain for all three of us, so adding the route finding aspect to this trip would make it more “epic.”<\/p>\n
Our Reality: COVID-19 made travel to Seattle unsafe for Ann. This was such a disappointment, especially after she had already missed a shot at Everest for the same reason.<\/p>\n
Our New Plan: Invite another amazing friend to join us: Teresa (AKA T$). IMG has a rigorous infection prevention protocol that I approve of. This could be done safely.<\/p>\n
T$’s Answer: She was IN and super psyched to climb with us!<\/p>\n
T$’s Reality: Injured in a hit-and-run car wreck some weeks before. Carrying a heavy pack for $50 miles, with thousands of feet of vert gain and loss would have been a mistake.<\/p>\n
Our Synthesis: Bring a second IMG guide to help share the load. Forrest fit the bill, and was eager to climb for the first time in the Pickets, too. We had five days. The forecast was perfect except for that pesky fourth day which looked like rain… no worries, that should be on our way down, anyhow. THIS WAS HAPPENING.<\/p>\n
A video synopsis of the first day:<\/p>\n