I usually like to lay out my gear for a full week prior to leaving on a big trip but with Ryan (RDUB as I sometimes call him) crashing in our basement, I delayed my staging until late last night on the upstairs. While I had a pretty good idea of which specific items I would be taking, there were a few hiccups in locating few things which somehow (ok I'd be lying if I didn't admit to a few gaps in my organizational systems) got misplaced.

Then, there it all laid out - so simple and elegant - my whole life pared down to two ergodyne duffel bags! It is such a fulfilling feeling to cast off all the excess of life and head out on an adventure!

RDUB had taken an earlier flight and was waiting for me at the airport in Seattle when I arrived in the early afternoon. Thinking that it would save time, I went to get the rental car while Ryan waited for my bags. It all went smoothly until I got lost on the way back to the airport to pick him up - less than a mile away!?!

No jokes about my navigational skills! Please...

Next, we made a stop at REI to pick up a few supplies. We also managed to actually come up with a PLAN of what we will be climbing for the next two days.

First up Mt. Adams, then hopefully St. Helens and Hood - after that we'll have to see about the weather. In case you forgot the overall objective - we need to climb 7 peaks and try to raise 7,000 dollars for Big City Mountaineers.

Much to the chagrin of the folks helping us promote our small adventure, we are pretty excited about the laissez faire nature of our climbs. It feels good to be here and breathing fresh mountain air and with most of our 'normal' expedition travel regimented and intense, we have both enjoyed a little bit of seat of the pants problem solving. Our decision to go to Adams first was based on being able to sleep in a bit tomorrow morning but equally based in our desire to sleep in a tent above tree line.

And our home tonight? An unmarked clearing off if some random forest service road.

As Ryan said earlier today, 'It feels good to be living out of a car again like in my old dirt bag climbing days.'

I couldn't agree more.

Image: Rainier from the plane.