Mount Rainier

Papa Foxtrot climbed 14,410 feet to the summit of Mount Rainier in mid July. He had been training for the climb during the spring with a 50 pound jug of water on his back. He climbed stairs, hills, ski mountains, and other local peaks. The team of 12 climbers (4 of them being ladies and half the climbers were over the age of 55) left for the top on July 17th and came down on the 20th. They cooked, slept, and pooped on glaciers. Papa Foxtrot even celebrated our three year wedding anniversary at 14,410ft. The group left for the final ascent at 12:00am on July 19th. When he came down, after a long embrace, I asked him, as he was still heavy breathing, 'how was it?' He said 'hard!, there was NOTHING easy about it.' Last week I asked him if he would do it again. He of course said yes. I thought it was something I wanted to do, but when I saw the photos, I KNEW it was something I wanted to do.

 Summit morning

 At the apex

on the way down

The last morning on the mountain

 the gear

 hero shot

the group of climbers

just one of the many hazards

So, here is the 7,894,621st reason why papa foxtrot is so dang awesome. And maybe because I am married to him, my cool factor went up a bit.