Living Deliberately - For Kinley

     "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."  -Henry David Thoreau

    This is my favorite quote about why we love the mountains.  For my entire life being in the mountains with only the essential facts of life has taught me so much.  The mountains have given me independence, confidence, resourcefulness, self-actualization, and my best friends in the world.

    After 25 years of giving, they have taken.

    My father has been a volunteer ski patroller since before I was born.  For many of these years (as far back as i can remember) Kinley Adams was along side him and the patrol at Hoodoo mountain in the Oregon cascades.  Kinley was always a climber, skier, and mountaineer. He always shared his experiences with the ones he cared about.  He climbed big walls in Yosemite with his sons when they were in high school, and summited Denali with them after their college graduation.  He climbed and skied numerous cascade volcanoes with my father and many other members of ski patrol.  He climbed Hood and Rainier many times with old friends and planned to venture into the Himalaya soon.  Although Kinley was a multi-talented man (concert musician and respected dentist), the mountains were where he sought solace in the essential facts of life, and where he shared lessons with his friends and family.  He had a quiet confidence about him, one that comes from seeking challenge both physically and mentally in all aspects of life.

   On my recent trip to Oregon I went to see Kinley for some dental work.  My father and I were planning a trip to ski on Mt. Rainier the following week.  Kinley lit up as he told me how great it was that we made the time to go, how much my father had told him he was looking forward to it, and generally how great he thought it was that we could share the experience.  Kinley knew the bonding power of the mountains, and he certainly showed it that day.

   The next week my father and I went to ranier, spent three days skiing on the mountain sharing what has always brought us together, and headed back to our homes.  The following weekend Kinley left to climb Mt. Hood, which he has climbed countless times, via the Leuthold couloir route, which he had taken to the summit before.  He did not return.  After five days of searching in poor weather, and two more days via helicopter in clear weather, his body was found near the top of the Sandy glacier.

   Kinley lived deliberately, it does not undo the tragedy of his death, but it gives us an example to live by and a role model to forever respect.  I will continue to live by the lessons mountains can teach me, and do my best to keep Kinley's life alive.

I climb for Kinley.

 

My Father Doug, Kinley, Kinleys son Cameron, and Kinley's close friend Matt

Doug, Stephanie, and Kinley in the Oregon Cascades

Cameron, Kinley, Doug, and Matt on Mt. Ranier