Yesterday I took on one awesome challenge: I climbed my first ever fourteener. For those of you not from Colorado a fourteener is a REALLY tall mountain…14,000 plus feet to be exact. It was big, but one of the best experiences of my life…
I was able to try out some of my World Race gear. Turns out I have some really great things from my little travel pillow to my backpack..I feel very confident in spending 11 entire months with it all. To sleep in a sleeping bag in the chilly mountain air and NOT wear socks was life changing. My backpack felt like it was made for me, and was fairly comfortable all the way up the mountain. My lightweight trail running shoes didn’t give me a single blister. My fleece was so warm and cozy. My tent kept all the moisture out, and was SO easy to assemble! Can I just say God is good?!
He not only provided in the gear department, but in so much more. I needed that trip more than I can tell you. My brain is on 24hr thinking about every little detail mode…but on the mountain all of that worry and stress disappeared. Instead I had to focus on the NOW. When you are climbing a mountain surrounded by running water and wildflowers, fairly rough terrain at parts, and so much walking up hill there really is no time to worry about anything else. It was the most beautiful of journeys that I will forever cherish…
5:45pm my dad and I leave the Springs our stuff piled in the backseat of his pickup truck. 1.25 hours in we decide to go to the Lake City area and hike Handies instead of our original plan to go to a much closer Mt. Sherman.
10:00pm we get to Lake City and on the road that will take us to American Basin. WORST ROAD EVER! Okay..so there is probably much worse and my dad brought up a good point that on the World Race I will probably encounter many similar roads. By road I mean skinny path full of rocks, ruts, and boulders with no guard rails over the crazy deep cliff. Did I mention it is pitch black?!
11:00pm we FINALLY make it to a camp site. Still a mile or two from the trailhead, but I was done with the bumpiness and was crazy tired. We set up camp. I get little to no sleep.
5:30am pack up camp, eat instant oatmeal, and head out in the dark. Thank goodness for headlamps.
6:00am we begin our ascent. The sun was just rising. As we climbed up the sky got brighter, and God revealed His magnificent beauty that surrounded us. There was only two other people a little behind us on the trail.
Every step I took got me one step closer to the summit. Some steps were much harder than others. The closer to the top the harder they got, but then we reached this ridge 2/3 of the way up. AND behold there was the sun. The bright beautiful sun that provided so much light and warmth. Then as I got to the top of the ridge we discovered what was hiding on the other side. An entire new world of beauty (as if there wasn’t enough). Green valleys and lakes, then mountains as far as the eye could see. At that moment I knew I could make it to the top.
The last 500 feet were crazy difficult. I would count 5 or 10 steps then take a break just to catch my breath. My body hurt. I could see the top and wanted nothing more then to just be there.
Then somehow as if in a dream I was standing on the summit looking over what seemed all of the Rockies. One of the cool things about Handies is that you cannot see a single town, instead all there is to see is mountains. So many points sticking up into the sky towards our magnificent Creator.
Never have I felt so close to God.
“Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens your faithfulness to the skies.” Psalm 36:5
