Walking home after a shindig with friends, the Dublin fog rolled in.
I mean, serious fog. We’re not talking some cutesy fog. We’re talking thick, slightly stinky, impenetrable pea soup fog. We’re talking the type of fog where monsters live, and where portals to the feywilds open up in dark alleys and doors that don’t exist during the day.
This was FOG. And no, this photo isn’t edited or blurry. This was what we saw from the 7th floor.
We made it back to the apartment, safe and sound and without having to bargain with any ethereal creatures to keep hold of our souls. Andrea and I poured ourselves glasses of whiskey, and watched as the world unfolded and escaped from the tendrils of fog below.
I don’t mind living in Dublin. I really don’t mind it one bit.
Who are the Mazamas, you may ask? And what’s BCEP, you may enquire? Well, let me fill you in dear reader. When I first moved to Oregon, I pretty quickly heard about a mountaineering group in town called The Mazamas.
Similar to the AMC back in Boston, they teach classes and do conservation outreach projects. Over the years, I’d interacted with them tangentially – attending a few classes, volunteering with a few groups, but I’d never been able to actually take a course officially. I’d applied to their Advanced Rock climbing class, but wasn’t accepted for one reason or another.
Now, nearly seven years after first moving to Oregon, I was trying again. This time beginning at the bottom – while you may notice that I’m not quite a beginner when it comes to the outdoors, I was tired. These last few years haven’t been easy, and I was just tired of fighting… the chance to just sit back and meet new people while enjoying a few group hikes was more than worth the price of admission.
Saturday, 19-Mar-2022
Hiking!
Lots and lots of hiking!
Foggy hiking, with a tiny bit of snow at the summit!
Not so many picture taking, though… One downside of hiking with a group is that we hike a bit more quickly than I normally do when solo. I mean, it makes perfect sense – it’s a huge group, and the goal of the hike is training! So consistent movement, group breaks, and a general focus on the hiking part is pretty expected.
I’ll be candid here; it’s a bit more tiring than I’d expected. And the lack of photos afterward does definitely make blog posts a bit more challenging.
So instead, I’ll just mention that this was an excellent hike, and move on. The listed milage was way off, at least according to my fitbit, but… we’ve already proven that my fitbit can’t quite be trusted when it comes to distance while hiking. I think it’s great for step-counting, but since my steps are a lot shorter when going up (or down) hill… well, it kind of limits the effectiveness.
Anyways. It was a great hike! We walked, we chatted, we summitted, and then we did some rappel practice. It was really fun, actually, since the leaders set it up that we’d rappel down a hillside, then ascend up on a fixed line… not prusking up, mind you, but mostly just walking with a safety slip-knot tied in for safety.
Most mornings I’m rushing – jumping out of bed, running to the car, and then rushing into the office to make it in time for my morning staff meetings.
But sometimes I end up a little bit ahead of time… and sometimes the weather aligns just right that I both have the time to stop, and have the views to photograph.
