By Nancy Beverly
I was telling Jen that hiking can be a Zen exercise for me. I have a goal (in this case, Sugarloaf Peak — AGAIN)… and then I do what I can to get there… bearing in mind I have to have no attachment to the goal.
Last year, as we attempted this goal and stood on a very tall peak , some mountain bikers told us, “Oh, no, this isn’t Sugarloaf, THAT is,” as they pointed across the way. It was the third week of November and I was concerned we’d be out of daylight if we attempted to summit it. So we turned around. I took some solace in the fact that Ed Viesturs and other climbers have stopped just short of Mt. Everest when conditions turned bad.
So THIS year, our third annual trip to Big Bear — hosted once again by gracious Tammie & Kyla — I was of a similar mind — be focused on the goal, do everything I could to get there (start earlier, take shorter breaks, walk a little faster…), and then see what happens. The hiking gods were with us — and by us, I mean Jen D. and Mike B. again, plus Jeff J. With such a small (and very capable team), the odds were in our favor.
The weather gods chipped in, too; what a glorious day, 20s in the early morning hours, but approaching 50 degrees in the afternoon sunshine. We got started at 9:10 a.m., and even though our hearts were pounding on the steep sections, we safely made it to the 9950′ summit of Sugarloaf at 1 p.m. We took a lot of snow-dusted pictures along the way as well as some spectacular vistas. At the top, after a short lunch break and more pix, we headed back down. It was turning cold again by late afternoon but we completed the 10 mile trip and were back to my yellow sunbeam car at 4 p.m.
We continued our Big Bear traditions by having Mexican food in town that night and then doing an easy hike on Sunday. Jen had headed for home but Devorah S. joined us as Mike took us to a relatively flat section of the Pacific Crest Trail, where we were rewarded with vistas of the desert instead of the mountains.
