At last, the trip report that I had been waiting to write - MY LIST FINISHER. What a great day! Having so many friends in attendance that I had hiked with over the years really meant a lot to me. Most had seen me only in hiking clothing so I decided to do the last peak wearing a dress. I'll never forget everyone's look of amazement at the carpool point.
After the short, steep hike up to the peak, we had some liquid refreshments and took all the obligatory pictures. There were nine list finishers in attendance. We then returned to the picnic tables at the base of Kratka for a big assortment of goodies to sample. I had ordered a sheet cake with a picture of a woman climbing a mountain and I requested the baker to "be sure everyone knows this was not a man." Well, he left no doubt in anyone's mind as to the sex of the climber. This led to several requests from the male hikers to taste the various body parts from the cake.
Just as our party was breaking up, Bob Wyka and his group were arriving to celebrate his list finish on nearby Winston Ridge. Congratulations, Bob. List finishing feels great, wouldn't you say?
Thanks to all the terrific leaders whose trips I went on, and to the friends whose private trips helped me to accomplish my goal. I am especially grateful to my buddies who made it possible for me to get the last ten peaks when my published list finish date was drawing nearer and a fractured pelvis made the completion much more of a challenge than I had intended. Thanks to Patty for assisting and for setting up shop at the party to sell the various HPS items.
Now that the list is done, I still plan to lead HPS trips, but I also would like to try some DPS peaks as well as adding to my SPS list. See you soon. Happy hiking to all.
