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Curt and
I planned our first epic
together. The
Knife Ridge of Capitol
Peak in a day. We
got started early and
were on the trail at 4
a.m. |
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We
started off strong and a
little jittery due to
Curt's coffee brewing
skills. With
headlamps blazing, we
charged right along and
promptly became
hopelessly lost.
In our defense, the
trail was flooded and
ran right into an
intricate lake system
with two collapsed
bridges that we were
unable to see in the
dark. We decided
to go right and attempt
to navigate our way back
to the trail. |
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After
bushwhacking for about
two hours through dense
forest and unseen sink
holes we found ourselves
on the right side of
raging river.
Unfortunately the right
side of the river was
not the correct side of
the river and with
another valiant effort
we found that there was
no way to cross the
river without getting
soaked. In our
thirst to be on the
trail we decided that
being soaked wasn't all
that bad and crossed the
river. |
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With the
Gore-Tex doing an
amazing job of keeping
the water in our boots
we sloshed onward.
Somehow we were still
making great time and
reached Capitol Lake
before we had planned.
There we passed the only
people we saw all day.
We asked how the top was
and received the
discouraging news that
they felt the route was
too dangerous and
unstable and they turned
back without summiting.
However at this point we
were fairly comfortable
in the face of adversity
and so we pushed on. |
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We
eventually arrived at
the ridge which was
where the real journey
began. The next
two hours of scrambling
over loose boulders and
rock climbing without a
rope brought us to the
summit of K2 and the
beginning of our final
obstacle of the daunting
Knife Ridge. |
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Appropriately named, the
Knife Ridge, came to
such a sharp point that
it made straddling
difficult and we ended
up just smearing both
feet on one side and
shuffling our hands
across. |
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Our hard
work paid off as we
summited Capitol just
before noon and took
some time to dry out our
feet. |
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I'd say
the hardest part for me
was looking at what we
had just accomplished
knowing that we had to
repeat everything with
the same care, judgment,
and effort that we had
just exerted. |
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After
getting off the Ridge,
we ate the last of our
food and made our way
back to the car.
We were both tired; Curt
fell and did a sort of
combat roll somersault
on the ground and I was
sure I was dying of
dehydration, but we made
it back all told in just
over 12 hours. And
it was epic! |
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