On Saturday, Jiri and Ben parked their car near to ours at the Paradise parking lot in Mount Rainier National Park. I spoke with Jiri twice—once in the overnight parking area and again at the Skyline trailhead. I was impressed by Jiri's patience and smile. When they set off for their summit hike, I wished them a safe and successful climb. Later, when I learned that the two hikers who had tragically died were the same people I had spoken with, I felt deeply shocked and saddened, and those brief, ordinary moments stayed with me for a long time.
I wrote more about our conversation in my blog post (https://afterpeaks.wordpress.com/2026/01/23/i-met-jiri-ben-at-mount-rainier/). You can read the English version with Google Translate.
