Safety first on a family vacation

On the way out to the Oregon coast a few weeks ago, my family spent a day hiking on the lower slopes of Mount Hood.

A few days later, we were in Salem, Ore., walking by a newspaper box, and just happened to see on the front page of the Oregonian that Gary Lee, a 55-year-old cancer specialist from Eugene, had been hit by a boulder on Mount Hood during a climb with his 20-year-old son.

It happened the same day we were there, right above the spot where we were, and not long after we had stopped for lunch.

The blow to Lee's head killed him before he was knocked into a gully below. A major recovery operation was required to retrieve his body from an icy area of the mountain's Eliot Glacier.

After the tragedy, members of the rescue team criticized the father-and-son climbing team for two things - not wearing helmets, as rockfall is a common occurrence on Mount Hood, and coming down the north side of Cooper Spur instead of taking the popular and more reliable southern route.

Lee had summited the mountain many times and knew its secrets well, but rescuers still criticized the choice to take the more dangerous route that day.

As a sidebar, the Oregonian printed a long list of deaths on Mount Hood and their circumstances, and I encouraged my sons to read the list. One of them especially is not always the most careful sort, and I like to drum cautionary tales into his head as often as I can.

We weren't even supposed to be in that area ourselves, but we hadn't quite followed the directions a friend had given us to Gnarl Ridge, so named for its covering of whitebark pine trees twisted into gnarled shapes from their exposure to the elements.

We took a wrong turn early on in the hike, which could be forgiven as the whole bottom half of the mountain was covered in a major fog and at times you could barely see the person ahead of you.

During the early part of the hike, we were worried the top of the mountain would be obscured from view all day, until we came around a switchback, the clouds evaporated, and we were met with an unlimited vista of the surrounding glaciers and the Mount Hood summit.

It was an amazing sight, the line where the carpet of clouds matched up with the rock slopes and blue-white snow fields of the mountain, which was set against a stunning blue sky.

After more than two hours of a very steady uphill climb, we reached what we assumed was the Gnarl Ridge destination where the well-worn trail ended. Then we realized there were no gnarled trees, in fact there were no trees at all.

The misstep didn't matter though, as we had spectacular views every way we looked, with Mount Adams and Mount St. Helens in the distance, their peaks poking out above the inversion, and it really didn't seem that the top of Mount Hood itself was too distant.

That was what worried me. I was concerned that my gung-ho family would decide there was no reason we couldn't make it to the top if we just picked our way up the adjoining fields of snow and boulders.

With none of us knowing the slightest thing about the mountain, it would have seemed a foolish pursuit, and thankfully, everyone was satisfied to let the end of the trail be the end of our ascent.

Most times I end up glad that the rest of my family's enthusiasm overrides my own cautious nature in the mountains, but knowing what happened higher on Mount Hood that day, for once it was good to have stayed on the well-trod path.

ON A lighter note, another brush with danger occurred in the Laundromat in Yachats, a small town on the central Oregon coast. While waiting for laundry to dry, we saw a particularly compelling posting on a community bulletin board.

The message warned people about a young fugitive on the loose, Jesse Nicholas. He was somehow out of jail despite being charged with numerous crimes, and after his release, he had gone "on a rampage" down a certain street.

The alleged criminal was born in Tidewater and had red hair, freckles and glasses. It was said he would be under the influence of "meth, alcohol, pot and cocaine."

Free firewood for life was offered to anyone who could provide information leading to the apprehension of Nicholas, and residents of the area were warned to keep their guns "oiled and loaded."

We actually saw a red-haired young man hanging around on a beach later in the week, but we braved the danger and walked right by him. Somehow, we survived the encounter.

Reporter Heidi Gaiser may be reached at 758-4431 or by e-mail at hgaiser@dailyinterlake.com