Two summers ago I had an opportunity to hike to the top of Old Chief but wasn't able to make it due to a couple reasons. One being the fact I invited a gal I was spending time with at the time to come and she forgot her passport (needed to get through the border and into the United States, in which the mountain is just barely located) and due to me not really explaining to her that it was a serious hike that requires more than just a pair of Keds (the only type of shoes she brought with her) and a granola bar. I ended up having to tell my buddies I wasn't going to make it, which bothered them considering we had planned the trip weeks in advance and were pumped to conquer it.
I ended up taking the gal on a date which included us canoeing and having a picnic on the other side of the lake we were on and having a really good time. Seriously, it was really fun... but it was not fulfilling my dream of hiking Old Chief. To make matters worse, I had to endure many taunts and various different kinds of verbal abuses, along with them making up a hand signal that mimics the face of the mountain that reminded me how I didn't make it up to the peak like they had (talk about humiliation).They still bring it up, no lie. All in all I learned my lesson and have vindicated myself from here and forever onward with my long overdue excursion.
I won't say anything else about the hike (I'll let the pictures do the talking) except that I'm grateful for Chanel for getting the group together and making things happen.
P.S. If you look at the header to my blog, it's pretty easy to tell which mountain is Old Chief. That's the view I have from my house. Not too shabby.
P.S.S. Here is a picture of Jeff and Ben making fun of me with their silly little hand gesture.
