The school administration asked me to disassociate this outdoor group from the school. The father of one student was senior minister at Westminster Presbyterian Church and offered one of their meetings rooms for our group. This resolved any future conflict with the school.
The first summer after Big Foot was formed, I wanted to gain further outdoor skills and applied for a Colorado Outward Bound instructor leadership course. I was admitted and, en-route to Colorado's San Juan Mountains, met my cousin in the Grand Tetons for some hiking and a climb of Teewinot. The 25 day course included rock climbing, mountaineering, orienteering, team management and a three-day solo. Unexpected additions to the course were three gang leaders from the Los Angeles area who were trying to develop rehabilitation programs. These three fellows had never been outside the city, never camped in a tent, never hiked very far and were hilarious during our four person, three day cross-country orienteering test.
Big Foot made many outings over the following three years. Several of the member's mountaineering skills improved and we successfully climbed Mt. Hood, Mt. St Helens, Mt. Adams, Three Sister's - North, Middle & South, Mt. Washington and two attempts of Mt. Jefferson. We camped in the snow, built snow-caves and learned survival skills (I took a survival class at OMSI). Multiple weekend and holiday trips were made to Smith Rock State Park where we hiked down and camped by the river. At that time, Smith Rock was not a developed State Park with a parking lot, maintained trails and solid bridges. It had very few climbers. Sometimes an outdoor group from Portland State University or Oregon State University camped and climbed, but we were often alone. (Wait a minute! What happened to that daughter brought home from India? Answer - she camped with us at Smith Rocks.)
Our basic equipment came from the new REI store in Seattle or Oregon Mountain Community in Portland. We made all of our rock climbing gear - harnesses, ladders, anchors and slings from webbing and climbed in our hiking boots. One or two members had climbing helmets.
Two Smith Rock outings stand out in my mind:
We set camp above Burma Road on a beautiful, sunny weekend. Several college climbing groups camped down by the river. Two of our girls left camp in the evening and hiked up the road with my dog to watch the sunset. Near dark, while they were gone, we heard a loud noise echoing through the canyons like a rock slide. It grew dark and the girls hadn't returned. A couple students hiked up the road and I hiked down to the river campsites to search of the girls. After asking around, I met the Portland State group leader and learned that the girls were in their camp, in shock with bloody hands and face, wrapped in sleeping bags. Someone drove up behind the girls and shot at them and my dog with a shotgun. We took the girls to the hospital in Redmond where X-Rays showed pieces of shot in their hands and neck. The nurses took care of their wounds and I filed a report with the police in Redmond and Portland, but the shooter was never found.
Springtime at Smith Rock. Our Adams High School member was graduating and wanted to do a major ascent. He asked me to climb Monkey's Face. Of course, I could. We left camp early next morning with lunch, carabiners, two 150' ropes and webbing ladders for the 40 minute hike to the base. I had never done this difficult a rock climb. Except for constantly having my hand between the rock and carabiner while stepping into the ladder which hung from bolts in the rock, it went okay for a climb that took about 7 hours. Repelling down from the top using the two ropes tied together, holding on with bruised and bloody hands was a little daunting.
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Monkeys Face - Smith Rocks State Park |
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And this, Agent Nicole, is the key. It's choice'
'Choice?'
'We choose our thoughts. We choose our perceptions. We choose our attitudes. We may not think so. We may not believe it, but we do. I absolutely know we do. I've seen enough evidence, time after time, tragedy after tragedy. Triumph after triumph. It's about choice.'
'Like choice of schools? Or dinner?'
'Clothes, hairstyles, friends. Yes. It starts there. Life is choice. All day, everyday. Who we talk to, where we sit, what we say, how we say it. And our lives become defined by our choices. It's as simple and as complex as that. And as powerful.
Conversation between Chief Inspector Gamache and Agent Nicole - Louise Penny, Still Life