My Everest

From my backdoor, I can look to the left and see Tiefort.  It is the tallest mountain that surrounds this valley that is Fort Irwin and this view is one of the only things that I actually like about our house.

When we first got here and I was still pregnant, I told Joe that I would like to climb it before we left... of course, I said this with absolutely no intention of ever following through.  It was an idea for some far away goal that would never come to fruition and I didn't really care to see it through.

And then Joe came home a few weeks ago and said that he had signed me up for the climb. 

Lovely.

So, this past Wednesday, we woke up early, put on our hiking boots, dropped Addie off at my girlfriend's house, and with our backpacks full of water, peanut butter sandwiches, and bananas, we made the arduous trek up this damn mountain.

Oh my goodness.

 



At first, it seemed easy.  I was energetic from two cups of coffee that morning and had the new Britney song in my head and was bee-bopping along.  No sweat... actually, there was a little sweat but I didn't mind. 

But, see, here's the thing about mountains that I didn't know about... You have to go up, up, up... then go down a bit, then go up some more.  Ummm... hello, where is the elevator? Or the gondola?  Or anything else that wouldn't completely mess with your head???

 

The views were absolutely gorgeous and after two hours, we made it to the FIRST peak... and then had to go down a bit (and back up) to make it to the second and highest peak.  By this time, I am pretty much done and all that I can think about is my pb&j... but I kept moving along. 

After another hour and a half (we are at three and a half hours now), we FINALLY made it to the very top of Tiefort.  And it was the most amazing view (and feeling) ever.

 

But here's the other thing that I didn't think about when planning for this trip...  It's not like a race.  With a race, once you have crossed the finish line, you are done.  You can pat yourself on the back, grab a beer, and then be on your merry way.  Apparently, when you get to the top of the mountain, you rest for a minute and then you have to climb down... WHAT?!?!?

At first, the climb down seemed relatively easy.  But then we came up with the brilliant idea of skirting the mountain so that we didn't have to do the climb back up.

While we were on the path less traveled, this was the prayer that was coming out of my mouth as I tried to find a steady place to put my feet,

"Dear God, please don't let me die on this mountain... I need to see my daughter again... and I promise that I'll do better... I'll be a nicer person... and I'll try not skip bible study....  I promise I'll just be better.  Please don't let me die.  And please help me get off of this damn mountain quickly.  Thanks."

You are laughing.

I am serious. 

I was scared.

After another three and a half hours, a few falls, scrapes, and bruises, we made it down.

I have run three half-marathons and had a baby... I think climbing this mountain may have been harder than all of those.  I am so proud of myself for finishing but I think I am retiring from climbing huge mountains like this.  God knew what He was doing when He had me grow up in a place that was below sea level.  I prefer flat ground.  I have climbed my Mount Everest and I think I'm pretty much done with that nonsense.  ;)