About four years ago I led a field trip to Mt. Rainier in search of the elusive White-tailed Ptarmigan. There was a woman on the trip who was set on seeing one. She had trouble walking though because of a medical condition. But she battled her way almost to Panorama Point at 6800 ft. Talk about pressure to produce a ptarmigan. Luckily our group found a male poking around in the vegetation. Her husband literally carried her the last couple hundred yards to see the bird. The smile on her face told the story. She was so happy to see a bird that she thought she would never have the strength to see. As we were watching the ptarmigan, a couple of Rosy Finches flew in to give her bonus lifer. The hike back down was no easy feat. She had to walk backwards down some of the steeper sections of the trail. Once we reached the parking lot, she was so thankful. I should of thanked her because she really showed me the meaning of "true grit". She had reached her goal through shear determina!
tion. W
e will miss your smiling face Patricia.

Neil Zimmerman
Brier, Wa
n3zims at comcast.net