A couple of weeks ago, I had a friend from college (Steve) visiting Colorado. Prior to his visit he had convinced me into climbing a 14er with him while he was out here. Although I had attempted a 14er about a year ago, I had never summit-ed a mountain before. I was a little apprehensive at first, I knew that if I didn't check this off my bucket list after 4 years of living in Colorado, I was never going to do it.
A few days prior we had agreed upon hiking Quandary Peak. It is known by most as one of the easiest - if not the easiest - 14er in the state. 14,265 feet above sea level. The morning of, I was feel very confident. In my mind, I had attempted one of these before and made it 6 of the 12 miles to the top. I was going to crush this 7 miles round trip hike to Quandary Peak today. I loaded up my Camelback, packed on my layers, laced on my shoes and was ready for the adventure.
The beginning of our hike was not terrible - I had to stop a few times to catch my breath and adjust to the even higher altitude than I am normally used to - but eventually the breathing got easier. As expected, the hike got tougher, the path got steeper and the rocks got more loose and sharp. About 1/3 of the way to the Summit, I looked up and was pleasantly surprised that we seemed to be getting closer to the top. This is when Steve tapped me on the should and said...we aren't hiking to that top (pointing a few hundred feet in front of us)...we are hiking to THAT top. Behind me he stood and pointed to what seemed like a million miles away. I remember looking at the peak and thinking. "Shit. What the hell did I get myself into"?
Around this time in our hike, Steve knew I needed some motivation. He gave me the mental tool of pointing to someone who was hiking a head of us on the trail and making that our next goal to hike to before we could stop and take another break. (Note: I think he was getting a little annoyed with how many times I was stopping to catch my breath or give my legs a break and this was his way of getting me to go farther...but either way it worked!) Stretch by stretch we were inching closer to the false summit. What is the false summit? Exactly what it sounds like - reaching the top of what you THINK is the summit of the mountain, but in reality you still have a LONG way to go! We traversed the treadway until we reached the base of the main climb to the summit. I remember standing at the base looking up thinking "there is no way I am giving up now...but damn."
At this point in our hike, my body had basically gone numb. No more aching muscles or tired feeling, just numb. My arms and legs were moving, but I honestly have no idea how I was even standing let a lone climbing up a mountain! I remember my legs feel shaky like jello and my arms starting to cramp from relying heavily on Steve's hiking poles. We must have stopped at least 10 times from the base to the summit. Whether it be for a minute to catch my breath or for 5 minutes to eat, hydrate and continue onward. At this point, I had started to realize why people were crazy enough to do these 14er's. As exhausted as my body felt, the adrenaline slowly started building each step we got closer to the peak. The last half mile of the hike, it felt as though every person climbing down kept saying "you're so close, you're almost there"...and yet we still weren't there yet.
I vividly remember the last 500 feet to the summit, I felt as though I was dragging my body through the rocks with my hiking poles. I could basically see the peak and yet my body just wanted to give up. We were nearly 25 steps away from the top when I stopped to catch my breath, give my legs another break and I turned to Steve and said "this is the last stop until we get to the top, I don't care how hard it is". It was grueling.
Nearly 4.5 hours after our initial assent, we finally made it to the summit of Quandary Peak. The views were out of this world. I remember just walking circles looking at the incredible scenery, the peaks of other mountains and the vastness of the nature around us. However, the overwhelming feeling of accomplishment was an understatement. I didn't feel the blister on my heels or the aching in my legs - I was simply at ease in my thoughts. I had just accomplished something very few people are ever able to endure. I had conquered this challenge and all the struggles that came along with it and I had reached one of the highest points in the world. The mental toughness it took to make it to the top that day reached a part of my brain that I had never even thought was possible. The mental stamina definitely outweighed the physical, but it took some soul searching to dig deep, tap into another realm of my mind and push my body to it's limit.
At that moment I thought the exhilaration of the climb was one of the hardest challenges I was ever going to endure - physically, mentally and emotionally. I stood on the top of that peak and thought I had conquered the world - because well - it felt like I was on top of the world! Little did I know, 72 short hours my world was going to come crashing down on me. Although I had physically trekked the top of a mountain, I had no idea the challenges that had lie ahead of me that day I stood on that peak. Reaching that summit was just the beginning of an even more challenging adventure...
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