We Have Reached The Summit!...

As you might remember, the Weave threw down the gauntlet (see January 4th entry), challenging the Man-Hut-Quad-Squad to reach the top of the mountain with our machines (altitude 1,247 feet). Well yesterday WE DID IT!!!!. It was our most awesome ride to date. Little did I know yesterday morning when we met up in my driveway at 8:00 am, we would be on a journey to reach the summit. Before leaving for the woods Big Lou went back to get his chainsaw and other miscellaneous cutting utensils. Starting out for the mountain it was my turn to take the lead with Bobo behind and Big Lou bringing up the rear…. Big mistake, I started by taking us off in the wrong direction before we left the Manhut (seriously), and it only got worse from there. When we finally got to Burning Bush Landing, Big Lou took lead and brought us to V-Ledge. This is where we ended our journey for the mountaintop last time (see January 24 entry). But this time was different, we were prepared, the snow was mostly gone and we were ready to go with a nice early start. And so we began, cutting and clearing the dead trees and limbs blocking the visual path between us and the top of the mountain. As we cut through we moved the quads up behind us. It felt great as we made progress and got higher and higher, the view becoming less and less obstructed. It wasn’t long before the chain saw blade was spent and we had to resort to hand saws and pure brute force. I could tell we were getting close to the top when I started to see the treetops sheared off, a distinct feature of the Broken Pines landing that the Weave and I had hiked to in January. As we got to the last 100 feet we all started to take our time, none of us wanted the journey to end. So we took our time clearing the path even more thoroughly than we needed to. In an instant our three quads roared to the top. We paused. Had a cheer. Took in the view. And enjoyed the moment.

Once we got to the top at Broken Pines, we walked along the ridge to the next high spot. Here we found the stone monument you see in the photos. We also found an old fire pit obviously unused for years. We have named this spot High Point as it appears to be the highest point of the mountain ridge, (duhhhh). On future trips we plan to run the length of the ridge and see what waits on the other side. Stay tuned.
Cheers!