Wahoo!

So on Friday I decided to head back to Granite Mountain and try to find my camera. Andrea is also funemployed so she gamely volunteered to come with, even though she'd climbed it earlier in the week as well. This time though I decided I wanted to climb in my mountaineering boots since they are much lighter than my ski boots and have two key features: grippy soles and ankles that bend. The mountaineering boots happen to also fit acceptably well into my snowboard bindings so I brought it along because at least if I didn't find the camera I'd get to say I skied and snowboarded the last week of May.

I'd remembered taking a photo partway up the first big push in the snow:

So it seemed like a good idea to look around where that push ended and I'd taken off my pack (and presumably the camera had fallen out of the case attached to the shoulder strap). The problem was in two days, a lot of melting had occurred and there was much more rock than before. I poked around looking for a big bit of rocks that would have frustrated me enough to change footwear. And then I remembered that while I was changing, Clare was waiting for me next to a tall two pronged stump just a bit ahead. I headed for a likely spot and started making big circles around the place. In about five minutes I'd found my camera just lying on a flat spot - quite lucky because it's a small silver camera amid a bunch of huge grey rocks. I hit the power button and the lens popped out and the LCD came on! I was so ecstatic I took a picture:

Though this picture was slightly more scenic:

Mission accomplished and Andrea's evening theatre plans fast approaching we decided not to visit the fire lookout on the very top of the mountain. Instead I strapped in and headed down the mountain

with Andrea in hot pursuit


Now I get to post and caption all my New Zealand pics (right after I figure out that health insurance thing...)