(no subject)
Apr. 27th, 2014 05:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolariPacific Northwest Good Memory #2 - Beauty amid Terror.
Not many people know I'm deathly afraid of heights. On our way up to Seattle, Emily and I visited the Grand Canyon. One of the most heart stopping moments I had was watching her set up a camera at the edge of a 3000 foot drop. I, myself, couldn't get too close without getting that oogy stomach vertigo feeling. when we left, I said "That was amazing, that was wonderful. Let's NEVER do that again."
Moving to the Pacific Northwest, I had several landmarks I'd wanted to get closer and see. Mainly because I'd NEVER seen anything like them before: Mt Rainer and Mt Baker. Mountains. Great big gigantic volcanoes you could see from 70 miles away.
September, 2008. I'd just gotten my first paycheck, and I decided, I was gonna see one of them thar mountains. I made a beeline for Mt Rainier's Sunrise Summit. The trip there was wonderful...i'd neve seen such a thick forest before. Texas had gnarled oaks and a patch of tall pines in Bastrop, but nothing like I saw here. I got my first look at towns that would soon become second nature to me: Enumclaw, Covington, Black Diamond.
And closer and closer the mountain got, getting bigger and bigger. To the point that I actully lost it from being so close. The ridges were blocking the view.
When it came time to fot the turnoff to head up to Sunrise summit, I began to blanche. The road switched back and forth quite a bit, and climbed. Climbed like crazy. The then 16 year old pickup was having trouble with the grade. It overheated at least once, forcing me to pull over on a pullout...on a ridge...overlooking a steep drop. At least, I thought, if the truck fell off, the trees would grab me.
Then I made it past the the treeline. Pardon my swearing, but OH HOLY GODDAMN. Tiny two lane road. No barrier. And a wonderfully clear view of the trees that would spear you once you fell, and the million foot drop to them. Now the truck itself wasn't just overheating. _I_ was overheating. My heart was racing, I was sweating. I got to a scenic view of Mt Hood and pulled over so the truck could cool down from yet more overheating (we found out later it had a bad water pump). I got a nice view of Mt Hood in the distance, but was beginning to panic. It was too much, I couldn't make it the rest of the way. I had no signal to contact anyone if I fell off the side. I didnt' think i'd have any intact bones to dial anyone anyways if I fell off the sides.
Thankfully, the scenic view for Mt Hood was very large and wide. I parked in the middle, and just caught my breath for a bit. I'd been climbing back and forth for almost fifteen miles...surely there couldn't be much more. And I was so close - was I really going to turn back after almost 90 miles of driving?
With the truck (and myself) cooled down, I continues up the road. Had I given up at the Mt Hood overlook...I'd never have realized the Sunrise Summit was only a quarter mile away. I was already at the summit and had made it.
The view, the amazing view, was worth it.
While I never completely got over my fear of heights...I did learn to get over them when it came to driving up them. After Mt Rainier, I drove to Mt St Helens. I drove to Mt Baker. I drove up and into the Cascades. I went back to Rainier. I even managed to drive 25 miles deep into the forest to visit untouched forest and rivers.
Washington isn't the Texas Hill Country. But, by god, it's a breathtaking place.
Not many people know I'm deathly afraid of heights. On our way up to Seattle, Emily and I visited the Grand Canyon. One of the most heart stopping moments I had was watching her set up a camera at the edge of a 3000 foot drop. I, myself, couldn't get too close without getting that oogy stomach vertigo feeling. when we left, I said "That was amazing, that was wonderful. Let's NEVER do that again."
Moving to the Pacific Northwest, I had several landmarks I'd wanted to get closer and see. Mainly because I'd NEVER seen anything like them before: Mt Rainer and Mt Baker. Mountains. Great big gigantic volcanoes you could see from 70 miles away.
September, 2008. I'd just gotten my first paycheck, and I decided, I was gonna see one of them thar mountains. I made a beeline for Mt Rainier's Sunrise Summit. The trip there was wonderful...i'd neve seen such a thick forest before. Texas had gnarled oaks and a patch of tall pines in Bastrop, but nothing like I saw here. I got my first look at towns that would soon become second nature to me: Enumclaw, Covington, Black Diamond.
And closer and closer the mountain got, getting bigger and bigger. To the point that I actully lost it from being so close. The ridges were blocking the view.
When it came time to fot the turnoff to head up to Sunrise summit, I began to blanche. The road switched back and forth quite a bit, and climbed. Climbed like crazy. The then 16 year old pickup was having trouble with the grade. It overheated at least once, forcing me to pull over on a pullout...on a ridge...overlooking a steep drop. At least, I thought, if the truck fell off, the trees would grab me.
Then I made it past the the treeline. Pardon my swearing, but OH HOLY GODDAMN. Tiny two lane road. No barrier. And a wonderfully clear view of the trees that would spear you once you fell, and the million foot drop to them. Now the truck itself wasn't just overheating. _I_ was overheating. My heart was racing, I was sweating. I got to a scenic view of Mt Hood and pulled over so the truck could cool down from yet more overheating (we found out later it had a bad water pump). I got a nice view of Mt Hood in the distance, but was beginning to panic. It was too much, I couldn't make it the rest of the way. I had no signal to contact anyone if I fell off the side. I didnt' think i'd have any intact bones to dial anyone anyways if I fell off the sides.
Thankfully, the scenic view for Mt Hood was very large and wide. I parked in the middle, and just caught my breath for a bit. I'd been climbing back and forth for almost fifteen miles...surely there couldn't be much more. And I was so close - was I really going to turn back after almost 90 miles of driving?
With the truck (and myself) cooled down, I continues up the road. Had I given up at the Mt Hood overlook...I'd never have realized the Sunrise Summit was only a quarter mile away. I was already at the summit and had made it.
The view, the amazing view, was worth it.
While I never completely got over my fear of heights...I did learn to get over them when it came to driving up them. After Mt Rainier, I drove to Mt St Helens. I drove to Mt Baker. I drove up and into the Cascades. I went back to Rainier. I even managed to drive 25 miles deep into the forest to visit untouched forest and rivers.
Washington isn't the Texas Hill Country. But, by god, it's a breathtaking place.
