Shriner's Peak- July 5th, 2010

FIRST HIKE OF THE SEASON! 

Shriner's Peak

Stats

Roundtrip mi.: 8.5

Elev. gain: 3434 ft 

High point: 5834 ft
Party: Michelle, Deb, BEAR, and Shelby

SUMMARY: As you can see from this photo, there was just a lot of snow. So much snow in fact, that we were unable to reach the top. (However, we did this adventure on July 5th, and according to the WTA trip reports, the snow is melting and people are making it to the top.) This hike was difficult...as in... I wouldn't send a n00b on this hike. My booty ached for a few days afterward! The elevation gain was almost 3500 feet, which is intense! We loved it, but yeah.... I wouldn't take a new hiker here. They would hate you forever. There are beautiful views of the mountain, but the weather wasn't that great, so my picture doesn't do it justice.

Also, when you get to the top of Shriner's peak, there is a fire look-out. We didn't make it to the top, so this isn't my photo, but this is what you are supposed to see!

But don't cry for me, Argentina. I've done this hike before and made it to the top! No worries!

HOLY SHIT BEAR: Yup. We saw a bear. And by "we" I mean Michelle and my mother. My mother whispered "Holy shit! Bear!" Then Michelle runs up to see it and goes "Oh my God, it's running toward us" and up until that point, I was walking in the direction of the bear to get a sneek peek, but when I heard "Omg, its running toward us" I stopped dead in my tracks and reached for the bear spray. Turns out the bear was actually running in the opposite direction (the running motion had just scared Michelle.) HOWEVER, the opposite direction was down the trail....the trail we were also going down. We were headed in the direction of a bear. Great. So I start doing what you do when you see a bear. Waving my poles like a lunatic, and having conversations VERY loudly, and when I ran out of things to talk loudly about, I just started screaming things like:
"I LIKE KOALA BEARS. THOSE ARE NICE. GUMMI BEARS. ALSO DELICIOUS. TEDDY BEARS CAN BE CUDDLY SOMETIMES....." attempting to mask my blatant dis-like for bears. Michelle and my mother continually laughed at me, because for some odd reason, they enjoy bear sightings. I on the other hand get anxious and feel like peeing myself. Like how a normal person reacts when they see a bear. Not my mother and Michelle. They love it. In addition, they revel in my agony. They think I am hilarious. So eventually I start to calm down.... and then we see this:

Yeah.....the bear that was somewhere ahead of us was sharpening it's claws. GREAT. My eyes grew wide.

Shelby: "NO WAY"
Michelle: "Woah! That is so cool!"
Shelby: "That is NOT cool!"
Mom: "That is awesome!!! I'm going to take a picture!"
Shelby: "WHAT?!?!? There is a bear somewhere around us, sharpening it's claws.... and you want to take a picture???"
Mom: "Look how cool it is! I bet its fresh...like, that just happened. I'm going to smell it and see how fresh it is"
Shelby: "THERE IS A BEAR CLOSE BY SHARPENING ITS CLAWS AND YOU BITCHES WANT TO STOP AND TAKE PICTURES AND SMELL THE BARK????"

Michelle and Mom *start sniffing and taking pictures*
Shelby *Sighs but decides it is safer for her to stay with the pack....even if the pack is "stopping to smell the roses" of death. *

And it wasn't just ONE tree....it was at least TEN that were fresh... and about 30 that were old. I hadn't noticed the old claw marks on the way up, because it was never something I was aware of, or knew that I should be looking for. Upon finally noticing all the claw marks, I start shouting "OH MY GOD. LIKE....THIS IS WHERE THEY LIVE! WE ARE IN THEIR HOME. YOU KNOW WHAT I DO TO SPIDERS THAT ARE IN MY HOME????" while becoming increasingly paranoid. And Mom and Michelle just laughed away....

CONCLUSIONS: Shriner's peak was a good time. Its a rough hike, and you might meet a bear.