After climbing and descending the North
Sister earlier this morning, we had a leisurely
lunch on the head of Prouty glacier. We
had thoughtfully packed a water filter,
and were richly rewarded by being able
to reload our water bags with cold, clear
water. It was hot and sunny again, and
we had already been walking for six hours.
At about 11:30am, and after a most pleasant
rest, we took off for the summit of the
Middle Sister.
True to form when on our own, we were
still climbing at between 1500 and 2000
vertical feet an hour. At just before 1pm,
we hit the summit. Peak number 6, and another
calm and sunny summit. On the first few
days of our adventure, we had spoken under
our breath, not wanting to jinx our good
fortune by saying it out loud. With incredulity,
we were thinking out loud now, "How long
can this last"? While we discussed our
good fortune, we had another small lunch.
We were both feeling some
fatigue at this point, and the plan was
to climb yet another mountain before the
day was over. At about 1:30, with a sense
of foreboding, we took off for the South
Sister. Our route was the north ridge,
and from the summit of the Middle, it didn't
look good.
