After taking a long break from the first hike, this one really kicked me into a new mental reality. I had a very stressful two weeks at work where I felt the tension in my neck and I could feel it on this hike with my backpack rubbing my back and neck. The weather was fresh, a good 30-50 degrees all the way through. The sun peeking through the tops of the mountains was beautiful and inspiring ! I kind of lost track of time until we hit the 2.4 miles to go part where it was aaaall uphill from there. My friend and I usually don’t stop and I wanted to stop more frequently but I’m really glad she kept pushing me to keep going. I got a headache by the time we made it to the top (possibly didn’t hydrate enough) but the sight of the clouds was breath taking. I started rapping the song “Above the clouds” by GZA. At the top we sighted a black snake and a few cute and hyper chipmunks. Overall, the view was definitely worth it all. Next time I would probably do more lunges and drink more water as preparation.