by Kathy Durning Brennan
Sarah and I met after her college graduation as Jesuit Volunteers, and I think of her often. Here’s a story from our early days in Auburn, WA.
We arrived at Gooley House in Auburn, Washington in August 1990. A bunch of recent college grads from the East coast, we were eager to explore the great outdoors!
One Saturday, our housemates met up with about 5 or 6 volunteers from Seattle for our first outing to Mount Rainier. With some food, tents, sleeping bags, and rain jackets tossed in the back of our cars, off we went up highway 410 to Sunrise.
Three hours later on our hike up the ridge trail, clouds swept in over the mountaintop and snow began to fall!
The photo above shows a bunch of us dressed in shorts and hoodies, grinning and shivering as we learned our first lesson in mountaineering! Apparently, there was not a boy scout among us, so we headed back down the trail.
The next photo in my album shows dome tents pitched among the rhododendrons, just beyond the covered patio at the back of our house on G Street.
It was the first sleepover party of our JV year. It turns out, after all that driving, hiking, and socializing, I was just fine to sleep in my own bed.! #stilladayhiker2022
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