The chorus for Jane's Adiction's, "Coming Down the Mountain" keeps ringing in my head.
Right now, as I sit here on the couch and type with the Sounders game on the TV and Zakary taking his nap upstairs, Kristen is hopefully hiking down Mt Rainier.
If all went right, she summited this morning.
If all went right, she had an amazing journey.
If all went right, she got to see something not many of us have.
If all went right, she and her crew are okay.
Kristen has been training for this day for months. She's committed herself to this trek. She ran. Sweated. Hiked with extreme weight. Climbed stairs by floor dozens.
And if all went right she accomplished a dream of hers and we couldn't be more proud of her. No Elliott has ever climbed this high. While her Dad has climbed Rainier before, no Elliott has come close to anything like this. Unless there was a "give it all away" sale at a liquor store or a free 6 pack on a mountain top, no Elliott would ever think of it.
I couldn't be more proud. Zakary gets to point to that mountain and say with great pride, "My mom climbed that." He gets to brag to his friends that his mom braved the elements and made it to the top. That mountain will mean something to him different than other kids.
2-0 Chelsea is beating the Sounders. Damn.
I can't wait to hear about the trip. The sounds. The challenges. The crevases. What is was like to hike with the extreme glare off the snow. The view. The fears. The joy.
Hopefully, everything was okay today at 14,411 feet at the top of Mt. Rainer and every foot below that on the way up and down.
