This was my first hike out of the six pack! This challenge always seemed out of reach for me, until a few weeks ago when I had a moment of clarity and thought, “Why not? Why would I think I'm not capable of this?” and signed up on the spot. I chose Strawberry Peak first for a few reasons – 1) it's one of the closest hikes, shortest hikes, and lowest peaks – a good starting point, and 2) because I always thought I couldn't do it. My friend and I had always read about the Mountaineer's Route and I thought it seemed out of reach. With a bit more research, I wanted to do this hike via Red Box and decided it would be the perfect first challenge.

It was 80 and sunny all day and was a perfect clear day for hiking. We started just after 11 am. The trail was rocky but easy to follow. I had hiking boots, my partner had sneakers. Once we hit the saddle at Mt. Lawlor the trail became narrower. I don't always love heights and had a few parts where I didn't want to look down but if you're used to hiking the trail width shouldn't be a problem. There were two very very small shaded patches with a tiny bit of leftover ice from a few weeks ago – not dangerous at all. Great views on this ridgeline trail. Not a lot of elevation changes. My partner and I are both fairly active and didn't really find this part of the trail to be too challenging. The first 3 miles went along this way.

After 3 miles, the terrain changed and things started getting steep. There were rocks, there was sand, there was a lot of UP. I recommend shoes with good traction – my hiking boots did the job but my boyfriend's sneakers were more slippery. This is where we started to feel the hike and just took things slow and steady. I wouldn't call this scrambling per se but I did use my hands to help me up a lot of times. The trail continued to be very easy to follow and well marked.

There were quite a few false peaks – the second to last one was the worst, we really thought we were there! Then we realized we still had more to go…we met another couple that told us we could see the top…from the next false peak. But they were right, we were really close. One final push got us to the top of the peak. The highest point itself was small and people were there sitting so we didn't spend a ton of time right at the top top (because Covid) but walked down to the sandy part to drink water, eat our sandwiches, and soak in the views. The views were so worth it – plus there was a great sense of accomplishment in knowing I was at the top of  a peak I'd looked up at so many time before.

The downhill was a little rough but fine – we didn't have poles and just went slow and steady to protect our knees and not fall. We probably took 4 – 4.5 hrs total but that included at least half an hour rest at the top to hang out.

So proud of this first hike and can't wait for the next one.