picture of me on a mountain

 

I went backpacking over the summer for 2 weeks in New Mexico. This is a picture of me and my crew on top of Baldy Mountain, the highest peak we would achieve, on the final full day of our trek. It was a long journey that covered well over 100 miles and this was the final goal. The trip ended on a triumphant bang as we reached the summit of the final obstacle between us and our trip home.

We had marched along for days with the mountain getting ever closer in our sights. It would loom behind us at every campsite we made. It found its way into the backgrounds of pictures we took just 3 days into the journey. At one point someone let us look through their telescope and we were able to see other crews climbing the mountain. Though it looked so far and arduous, we knew that would be us in mere days. We had come a long way and faced many obstacles (running out of water in the middle of a dry ranch being the most daunting) but we still had one to go: climbing Baldy. 

We felt ourselves begin to climb in elevation a few days out, gradually making our way up to 9000 feet above sea level the night before our big day. We were fortunate to have a campsite on the side of the mountain, some crews had to scale the whole mountain in a morning. We slept early that night, hitting our claustrophobic tents at 8 PM before the sun had even set. We would have to rise before 4 AM the next day. 

We awoke long before the sunrise, giving me a chance to admire the stars as we took down our campsite. The crew that camped nearby had already departed before we had woken to catch the sunrise from the top of the mountain. Getting up at 4 was early enough for me. After we secured our large packs, with all of our equipment, to a tree, we packed a few day packs and began our ascent. 

The journey up took a few hours as it became increasingly difficult to climb. When we finally passed the treeline we knew we were in the final stretch. The reason it was called Baldy Mountain was because nothing could grow on the rocky summit, leaving it entirely without vegetation. We had only a few hundred more feet to climb, the end goal was well within our reach. We trudged up for a few more minutes before we reached the very top. 

The temperature dropped several degrees on the climb up and the other members of my crew bundled up. As you can see by Talon’s hair (second from the right), it was also very windy up there. I am in a T-shirt and shorts because I am simply built different. The sun was enough to keep me at a comfortable temperature even with the high wind speeds. 

The view at the top was incredible. The effort was worth it. Though we were in New Mexico, we could see mountains that were in Colorado. We could see for miles all around us. We could trace almost our entire journey over the past week on the ground below. It looked so small and insignificant now. There were few clouds in the sky but of the ones we saw, we had climbed above some of them. We watched as they passed below the ridge. We spent an hour on top of the mountain on a space not even the size of a football field. The afternoon storms forced us off the mountain but none of us were disappointed in what we had seen.

This photo is emblematic of what we were able to accomplish as it shows us overcoming our final. and most memorable, obstacle. The trek was difficult and this photo reminds me of that but it also reminds me of the beauty that I was able to see because I was willing to conquer that difficulty. As the bookend of our trip, this photo shows our crew both happy to be there and proud of what they have been through. Also, I know everyone in this photo hasn’t showered in 2 weeks.