I'm climbing a mountain, I think supposed to be Mount Hood. We started late, with no real intent to get to the top, just a casual day out.

I come to a rock wall, as if on the east crater rim (*), and it looks like pretty easy climbing. My party stays at the base and watches me, and I start picking my way up the rocks, without any protection. I'm somewhat divided about this; each hold looks pretty good, and the climbing is easy, but it would be a long fall if I were to lose my grip, and I still have to climb back down, which is even more difficult. I wish I had brought a rope and harness.

But I pick away a bit more, and the wall tops out to an easy trail. I think that reaching the summit couldn't possibly be this easy, but I scramble up it just a bit to see how the trail is.

I get to the edge of the crater rim, at which point I'm looking across the volcanic crater to the real summit. It's actually many hours away, but seems very close, and I see a familiar team from my climbing club, celebrating their summit victory.

(*) Matt of Stoneworks is climbing a steep ice route on the east crater rim today, and we were just talking about it.