Slithering

Like a 190 pound python slithering through 18 inches of fresh now.. Hurricane force winds had me on my belly.. Thank God, I had slept in my high tech winter clothing.. Getting out of my bivy sac with a frozen zipper was frustrating enough.. Having. to put on my outside layer in those conditions would have been a real pain..

Just 2 feet away I was having to scream near the top of my lungs to communicate with my buddy Tom.. we agreed.. `It's time to run for your life ’… Especially for him, he was under clothed..

A White Out.. can be very disorienting.. creating in this case a horizontal storm world impossible to stand up in or look into.. Driven by Gale force winds.. snow and ice particles can literally damage your eyes in minutes without goggles.. Mine we're buried, couldn't find them.. So looking down wind only I slithered seeing only about 8 to 10 feet ahead.. on what I prayed was the trail.. About 100 ft. later I was able to rise like a strange humpback on a wide stance.. all crouched down.. able to walk and withstand the gusts.. After dropping down to 11,000 feet I resembled a snow glazed humpback.. who could now walk up right..

The storm lessoned substantially by the time I got back to my truck at 8000 feet. It was a wild surreal contrast two completely separate worlds one at 13K ft. elevation the other at 5K ft..

A strong climbing partner, Tom Cosgriff and I had thought we would race up a climb on Keeler Needle and beat the bad weather.. Ha.. Mother Nature gave us a good slap down.. she had other plans..

In 1986 - 87? We had no cell phones.. No, last-minute weather updates.. So we learned a good lesson that late November day at 13,000 feet..

High Sierra Winter storms were a level up...

Still traveling this Magically Silent terrain in Winter but.. Not during Winter Storms…

At least not on purpose..

Mount Tom with a giant feather in its cap..

Peace..

We Got This..