In those mountains, Doro saw everything he missed about his native Colorado. He had recently moved to the Midwest for work, and though his job took him to Oregon frequently, the Cascades never inspired him the way the Rockies did. “There’s something that’s so striking about mountains that tall,” he told me. “Like there are just big adventures everywhere.”
Doro, who competed in triathlons, found the hike to Capitol Lake easy. “What’s the big deal?” he asked Lord jokingly as they neared the lake.
“No, trust me,” Lord replied, “the last two miles will be difficult.”
Neither Doro nor Lord anticipated how difficult their trek would be — or that the mountain they climbed the next day would be so different from what they imagined.
That was a good read. I've been reading about misadventure in the presidential range of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The book basically goes through how people have died on Mount Washington for hundreds of years. Why did amateurs hike up dangerous mountains in the 19th century? Bragging rights had to be part of it. Social media just meant "Mrs Smith's parlor." While Instagram doesn't show the danger, it does show how positive the outdoors can be. I think that provides a lot of value to people who didn't know what was out there.
It's easy to armchair quarterback the two people here, so I'm going to try not to. I've probably made dumb decisions that weren't fatal. I can still picture working my way across an icy cross sloped ledge with a bad long slide if I'd slid. Shit's dangerous.