As we woke up every morning and looked out our window we could see these beautiful mountains. So one of my teammates had this silly idea that we should climb one, and sure enough I said yes we should. Before I knew it, there I was at the bottom of this 9,000ft. mountain getting ready to climb it. I was thinking to myself this won’t be that hard as were walking on a wide path, but this was just the path that gets to the start of the real test. As we started hiking it wasn’t so easy anymore. It was an 80 degree climb up a muddy, rocky, wet, slippery, slidy, “trail.” As it took us straight up the mountain I was thinking to myself, “what have I gotten myself into?” At the same time I was in awe of the beauty around me. When we stopped for lunch we asked our guide how much further, since we had been hiking for four hours… up an 80 degree angular climb. At this time we were all tired and exhausted. He responds we’re halfway there, and we looked at him in disbelief and laughter. We all thought he was joking, but no, he was not. As we continued hiking for another four hours, we finally made it up to the top after 8 hours and 5 minutes. I thought I was going to die. The beauty was amazing. We were above cloud level and you could see the ocean from there. We got to spend the night up there and watched an amazing lightning storm. The real test would be coming in the morning when we had to hike down. Pretty much we had to crawl down because it was so steep. As the last hour approached I felt delirious. I seriously did not think I was going to make it. Around every corner I was looking for the stupid red van that dropped us off the day before. As the sun was beating on my neck, I thought I could not put another foot in front of the other. But it’s crazy how much your body can go through. As I turned the next corner there it was"the red van! Victory! It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life (no exaggeration), but yet so rewarding. As my body was sore for five days after, I kept reflecting on the mountain and how it relates to my life so much. Life can be hard sometimes, and we can almost feel delirious. But we can take it. Our bodies are built for so much more. With God’s help we can conquer that mountain, even if at times it feels impossible. I loved the challenge of getting up that mountain, because I knew I was stretching myself. If I was stretching myself, then I was growing. Sometimes when I was struggling going up this mountain, I needed my teammates help to encourage me, but the victory was so sweet. In my head I was thinking “I conquered this mountain,” and looking at it from our window each morning I thought to myself “I could never climb that mountain.” But I did.
