Diamond Peak, briefly.
Leslie, Wendy, and I on the summit of Diamond Peak
In case you were curious about the location, date, or elevation...
If you’ve been following along, you may remember that this is part of a set (not currently as pregnant as the first belly shot [and will never be again, thank goodness] and nowhere near as chiseled as the second). And, yes, those are thunderheads behind me. About 12 minutes after this photo was taken, I mumbled something like, “F&*#!” as I skittered down a snowfield, on the way off the ridge.
Ground squirrel asking for peanuts, in vain
Isn’t Leslie’s gaiter nicely in focus? This little guy liked her gaiter straps. He stood up for us, wondering how much chocolate he’d find in our packs if he gave all three of us patellar puncture wounds.
Summit Lake (mosquito heaven) and the ridge to the south, our exit route
We walked up on the snow, and you can see our tracks. This is my third time on the mountain in July, and the first time I’ve ever encountered snow on the walk in. We brought ice axes to glissade down the eastern side, but it’s steep, so we ridgewalked back down. I couldn’t have asked for a better pair of hiking buddies (tough, good conversationalists, not whiney, appreciative, good chocolate), but maybe next time Chris will join us to offer just enough testosterone to push me off the eastern slopes.
Boot-skiing down the southern snowfields
Still, we boot-skied down hundreds of feet of the southern side of Diamond Peak. Fun!
I don’t know what it is about this mountain, but I can’t think of a better way to spend my four-year Stroke-iversary.
Why was the elevation lower when you were pregnant? A recent orogeny? Looks like a fun trip!
Only made it to the south summit in May 2005. Ridge was corniced and too scary for a waddler on snowshoes. Or a recent orogeny.