MT BALDY!! Up at 3:30am and out the door to meet my team. The elevation gain was double of our last peak that we used to TRAIN for this. We moved slow but steady to manage the rapidly increasing thinning of air & preserve energy, yet keep momentum. My girlfriend led this watching our time “ if we continue at this rate it will take us past sundown” so we picked up our speed. The ascend (ski hut) is outright relentless. I was determined to do this peak & knew that something beyond our control could sabotage it (elevation sickness, vertigo, physical pain, the potential 40++mph wind etc). We did everything in our power to beat those odds. My biggest fear was in preparation for devils backbone. It is just like it sounds. A thin ridge-line down from the summit. There are parts on each side that drop down and far. My fear was not of falling but my mind adjusting to the view/drops while being physically exerted. I had heard/read people can have vertigo. The mind is wildly powerful. Funny enough it turned out to be my favorite part. I could not believe the surrounding views. We looked like a tiny spec in a greatly large world. The hardest part was taking each step on that last push to the summit after a BRUTAL, STEEP long climb. It was as much mentally strenuous as it was physical. PURE mind over matter for me. Man oh man, the summit was just EXTRAORDINARY. BEAUTIFUL. The surrounding mountains were GRAND with DEEP drops. I was told and read that someone put a rock formation at the peak and if we wanted to escape the gusts of winds to lay flat in front of the formation. When we got to the peak….it was BLUE SKIES. It was STILL. We were so lucky iN ALL WAYS. I physically danced on the peak in absolute bliss.

GRATITUDE describes this accomplishment. Gratitude for pushing beyond limits, for my TEAM, for a real connection to inner strength. I just want to do it again, and again. If there is any message to give others from this experience it would be YOU CAN DO REALLY HARD THiNGS. Invite it. The reward is unmatched to anything. For an elevation of 10,064, a close to 12 miles.Vertical +/- 3900 feet. Bagged peak 5 of 6!!