NOLS camp, guides, gear energize Morgan

Dispatches from Morgan Beasley — July 5-8, 1997

The team tries to tie a few good prussik and fisherman's knots

July 5
Today was our first day at NOLS Northwest in Conway, Washington. I am so excited to be finally here and have had non-stop energy since I arrived. I was very excited to finally meet our guides, Del Smith and Judd Rogers. They are both really cool people. I am very happy that we have a lot more control over our expedition than I thought we would. We set up our tents and learned how to guy them out properly. I think we'll be okay if there are high winds tonight. I am just happy to be here.

July 6
Today was a fun-filled learning experience. I was pumped and full of energy the whole day. Today we finished dividing the personal gear and started fitting packs. Tomorrow we set off to Mount Baker for glacier training. In preparation for this trip, we learned some new knots — double fisherman's and prussik knots, which are used to ascend out of crevasses or descend into them. I am so excited! I wish school was this fun.

July 7
This was an awesome day. We started the day at NOLS packing gear into our monster 7,000-cubic-inch EMS packs, which are great! We drove for about an hour and a half to reach the trailhead near Mount Baker. From there it was a 4-mile hike in, with about a 2,000-foot elevation gain. Most of the trail was covered in snow, and we had to follow the footprints of others and scout the way ourselves. It took us about three hours to get to camp on the flanks of Mount Baker, which wasn't bad considering the weight of our packs and the conditions of the trail; mine was 60-plus pounds. We set up camp on the snow in a small bowl ringed with crags and are now in bed awaiting a restful night's sleep.

July 8
Well, not much to write about today. I strained my neck and can't move, and the weather outside is horrible so we spent the whole day in the tent playing cards, talking, and generally going crazy.