For the Beauty of the Earth

Not even to the trailhead, I was already distressed and anxious.  With a three-day backpacking trip ahead of me and about 30 miles to cover, I began to think that perhaps I just wasn’t cut out for this sort of thing.  After some sizing adjustments on my 30lb pack, we finally began our adventure.  We crossed Elkhorn Bridge after several miles into the hike.  There we stopped next to the stream and took a lunch break.  After filtering some water to refill our bottles, we picked up our packs and continued on.  Later that afternoon we stopped next to Dollar Lake to rest.  There was a group of scouts playing in the water and a few men fishing.  We rested on a few rocks under a tree, while Josh read a chapter of The Horse and His Boy from the Narnia series.  Surrounded by a peaceful environment, I closed my eyes and dozed off for a few minutes.  When it began to rain we picked up our stuff and found our way back to the trail and hiked for a mile or so past the lake.  We set up camp just off to the right of the trail and over a little hill.  There we had a view of the stunning valley all to ourselves.  Most people camp near the lakes and don’t come far enough to discover this concealed piece of Heaven.

On the second day we prepared our daypacks and hiked over Gunsight Pass.  We passed hundreds of sheep which were rounded up by a Sheepherder and sheepdogs.  We were running low on water and kept our eyes out for a water source.   Deceived by the wind, we climbed up part of a mountain away from the trail, because it sounded like running water.  Twenty minutes later we hiked back down to the trail discouraged by the cruel trick that the wind played on us.  We eventually found a small stream flowing from an underground source.  After filtering several liters of water we continued on.  The climb in altitude became strenuous for me and I rested a few times on the way up.  Finally we made it to the saddle, it was past lunchtime and I was famished.  After munching on a few dried apple slices, we realized that lunch would have to wait.  It began to rain and we wanted to climb King’s Peak before the storm made its big appearance.  We pulled out our ponchos and began our 1½ hour boulder hop.  We passed numerous people coming down from the peak who strongly discouraged us from continuing to the top.  Each group that we passed informed us of the lightning close to the peak.  One man recounted that, “a man was buzzing at the top, and that’s when we decided to come down.”  Catching the sarcasm in his voice, we cautiously continued on.  The rain died off and the sun came out… a tender mercy indeed.  I practically held my breath as I hopped from rock to rock.  I naively trusted each rock that I leapt onto.  I lost my cool a few times when a rock or two shifted from under my feet.  Regaining my balance I essentially climbed with my hands and feet, not trusting a complete standing position.  After all this work I reached the top.  Was it the tippy-top you ask?  Without remorse I answer no.  No I did not take the extra 15 steps to the tippy-top.  As much as I have tried to act like a resilient and independent individual, I am only a child inside with the same vulnerable and tender insecurities and fears.  I faced my fear of heights and pushed WAY past its boundaries.  So although I did not make it to the tippy-top of Utah that day, inside I know that I achieved something much greater.