Finishing up the intro from out trip to the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City:

Back from climbing Mt. Olympus in Washington State. Ended up being a nice four days -- although demanding -- 50+ miles and 8000' elevation gain. Enjoyed spending time with the three "girls", all lesbians who live full and exciting lives. We had to delay the climb by a couple of days because of a death in the family of Saskia (she had two "grandmother" figures , who had been part of her life since childhood, one had died at the age and 102, both women had been together for about 70 years). But this gave us time to get to know each other better while staying in Port Angeles Washington.

The Olympic Peninsular ended up being spectacular, and the hike up the Hoh River toward Mt. Olympus was like going back into time into a primeval forest. Some ticky parts along the hike, log crossings and a major trail wash out, but seeing the inside of National Park, in all it's incredible beauty.
The climb went well, although having to stop at the False Summit, bacause the crevasse and mote around the the real summit made it in assessable.