Matterhorn Peak

This past weekend my roommates (Brad and Logan) and I managed to make it up to Matterhorn Peak in the Northern Sierras for a nontechnical climb. We took off Friday evening after work and made it to our first night’s campsite by around midnight. We shared our site with Summit Steve (a guy we randomly met at the Homestead after climbing at Mission Cliffs one night) as both Steve’s group and ours was going to climb the peak on Saturday/Sunday (most people hike part way and camp, then summit the next day and hike out). Saturday morning, we awoke and headed into Bridgeport, CA to grab our wilderness passes at 8:00 AM sharp, so we could camp out in the middle of nowhere without being arrested. We then proceeded to have some breakfast at the local restaurant, rent a bear container from Ken’s Sporting Goods, and head out for our adventure.

We determined we should take the most common route, Horse Trail, from Twin Lakes (about 15 minutes from Bridgeport). We camped at a small lake just beyond the fork in the stream, above a moderately-sized boulder field (see photos). After that point, we really had a “choose your own adventure” path, as it became difficult to conclude which trail was actually the appropriate one. Regardless, we could see the ever-so-distant Matterhorn Peak, so we trudged onward, trying not to fall victim to rockslide or Brad’s lack of a tan.

I could go into excruciating detail, specifically about the part where Brad and I thought we were going to die coming back down on a 70% grade with no protection while Logan strolled it like Japhy Ryder, but I won’t.

However, I’ll leave you with this commentary, excerpted by Logan from The Dharma Bums:

Jack Kerouac @ 12,000 ft. About 100 ft from the summit he didn’t reach: “Oh what a life this is, why do we have to be born in the first place, and only so we can have our poor gentle flesh laid out to such impossible horrors and huge mountains and rock and empty space”

… suddenly I hear a beautiful broken yodel of a strange musical and mystical intensity in the wind, and looked up, and it was Japhy standing on top of Matterhorn Peak letting out his triumphant mountain-conquering Buddha Mountain Smashing song of joy.

Attached are a few pics for your enjoyment, and of course I solicit comments or spam.

-TW

Elkhart High School – Class of 2002 (Senior Video)

It’s now been over six years since our high school graduation. Thus, the time has finally come to upload our senior class video to YouTube. So, here you have it. Elkhart High School: Class of 2002. Elkhart, KS.