It was Memorial Day, 1968, when I (Wayne) climbed my first mountain (see photo below); it was Mt. St. Helens, and I was 12 years old at the time. I told myself afterward, that I will never climb a mountain like that again… This was proven to be untrue, when I climbed St. Helens again a few years later.
When I was in college, I remember believing that I will be climbing mountains again some day. Two plus years after graduating from college, I was at work, when I saw a brochure on a bulletin board about an upcoming climbing class that would be held in the Spring of 1982. I signed up for the class and subsequently attended all of the lectures and field trips. After completing the class, a group of us climbed Mt. Rainier.
In late 1988 I was making plans to climb Mt. Cook in New Zealand. However, I decided not to do the climb after I became aware of a [safety] checklist item failure (see note 2). In 1990, it was apparent to me that the checklist item failure was still an issue. Although I did some climbs in 1990, I decided not to do any mountain climbing in 1991, 1992 and much of 1993 (see paragraph below that begins with “On 25 Sept. 1993”) because of the aforementioned checklist item failure.
As recorded in Wayne’s Journal or personal calendar for 1993, I saw some interesting things happen during the ’93 calendar year. It was apparent to me that my decision to pause my mountaineering endeavors over a period of time, created opportunities for me to perform other work that was meaningful to me.
In May of ’93, I attended the Pac-10 Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Berkeley, CA, with my dad (Vermont). During the first week of June I attended the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in New Orleans, LA. And 2 weeks later I attended the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which were held in Eugene, OR.
Near the end of June, a neighbor of mine, plus a new acquaintance, and I decided to go on a day hike on a trail (Sunrise Mine Trail) that I had previously hiked.
During the month of July, my personal calendar was not very full. Nevertheless, I distinctly remember having a phone conversation with Giles S. during the 2nd week (in July) [see Notes 3 and 5]; during the phone call, I explained a related conversation I previously had with a person who was a year ahead of me in High School. The aforementioned conversation is explained in Note 4. My personal calendar showed that, shortly after the aforementioned phone conversation, I hiked to Wagon Wheel lake on 10-July-1993. Wagon Wheel lake trail is steep, hence, it is a nice conditioner hike (see photo of 1993_Events_RevF below). Near the end of July I spent a few days salmon fishing in Alaska (see aforementioned "1993 Events" photo).
During the month of August, some friends of mine and I went salmon fishing at Sekiu, Washington (see Sekiu_20_August_1993 photo below).
During the month of September, I hiked part of the Elwha River with Andy (see aforementioned “1993 Events” photo). I also hiked to Mildred Lakes (see “1993 Events” photo and Mildred_Lakes_11_Sept_1993 photo below). I also took a trip to fish for salmon on the North Jetty at the mouth of the Columbia R. (see Jetty_Fishing_Trip_1993 photo).
On 25 Sept. 1993 I attended the University of Washington vs. E. Carolina Football Game at Husky Stadium. This turned out to be a key event for me because during the game, it became obvious to me that the ~1000 days of non-climbing due to a safety checklist failure was nearly over for me (see UW_vs_EC_Football_1993 photo & game ticket photo). A short time after the end of the game, I was driving toward Mt. Adams to climb it via the South Spur Route (see Mt Adams climb via the South Spur Route - 1993 photo; also see the Mt_Adams_1993_x photos). See Note 6 for related information.
Note 1: “The Sport of Mountaineering" web page can be viewed by selecting Sitemap->The Sport of Mountaineering from menu bar at top.
Note 2: The "New Zealand" web page can be viewed by selecting Sitemap->NewZealand from menu bar at top.
Note 3: The “My Photos of Olympics TV coverage for Track and Field - 1992" web page can be viewed by selecting Sitemap->The Sport of Track & Field (T & F)->My Photos of Olympics TV coverage for Track and Field - 1992 from menu bar at top.
Note 4: The “My Photos of Prefontaine Classic - 1991" web page can be viewed by selecting Sitemap->The Sport of Track & Field (T & F)->My Photos of Prefontaine Classic - 1991 from menu bar at top.
Note 5: After the painful tragedy that occurred on the World’s 2nd tallest stage in the middle of the 2nd week of July ’93, it was obvious to me that, when I stopped climbing in ’91, ’92 and ’93, the pause was based upon observed reason [safety checklist failure (see note 2)].
Note 6: Part 2 of this set of pics can be viewed by selecting Sitemap->My Mountaineering Photos (Part 2) from menu bar at top.
References:
1. “St. Joseph’s Indian School 1993 calendar", by St. Joseph’s Indian School, Tipi Press, Chamberlain, South Dakota, published 1992
