Family reunion time in SC and

7/12/10 -- Family reunion time in SC and KY is over, and Debbie and I are back in Oregon. An ascent of Mt. Jefferson with my climbing buddies was on the calendar, but rapidly warming temperatures in the Cascades destabilized the heavy snowpack. So we decided to go rock climbing instead. We chose a ten-pitch route, the Peregrine Traverse on Acker Rock in the Umpqua National Forest. It's not a technically difficult climb, but has lots of exposure and was a blast. Here is my friend Gary, a 3rd grade teacher from Bend, OR, on the 5th pitch.

I returned from climbing to find a hardcover copy of STORM MOUNTAIN in the mail. I like to think that the very first copy I receive was the very first one off the press. Probably not, but it still holds a special place in my heart, and takes its place on a special shelf.