This hike will probably be the one I'm always gonna cherish and talk about for two reasons: I was sick as a dying dog bagging this peak and all 9 miles were PCT miles! It started out great I was in a happy mood, I was on the PCT, the weather was amazing! Then as soon as that first switchback hit me and we were gaining some elevation my breathing became extremely hard because I was already sick with bad congestion and it made it harder for me to breathe. From that point on all the way to the top every step I took literally took every ounce of energy I had to make it, every breath I took literally took the life out of me and my coughing made it worse. But I had to bag this peak, I wanted to be there to witness my best friends bag their first peak and I wanted to bag my #2 of the 8 peaks, I was hungry for a peak! At one point I became beyond frustrated with myself that I cried. I cried because I was off my peak bagging A game and I was mad myself because I felt like I was failing myself, I was fighting myself internally. My best friend Rebecca looked at me and said “don't be so hard on yourself, you're sick gurl and you're climbing a f**king mountain! You're a bad ass hiking b**ch gurl and you got this!” I let those words sink in and I pushed through! Once I made it to the top I was filled with so much emotion so much accomplishment so much joy in my heart! Not only did I climb a mountain sick, I got to witness my three best friends bag their first peak and all the miles I trekked were PCT miles! The book Wild by Cheryl Strayed is what got me into hiking 2 years ago and I was filled with so much overjoy on top of that peak, I was literally above the clouds! The way down was just us hikers so happy filled with joy and feeling accomplished that we all did it and we all share the same passion for hiking! We gave the thru hikers high fives as they were going up as we were coming down! At one point one of them stated how awesome it was to see us all happy and full of joy hiking! This hike is truly one for the books! I'm always gonna remember and cherish this one!
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Responses
This is an awesome story, @acgonzales916! I’m glad you made it, and ended up having such an awesome time.