View From the Top

Do I like hiking?

Just to clarify, the photos from above have no relation to the story below. Apart of my glamping adventure I have been sharing all summer, this is the last post from a hike in Vail! I wanted to share a cute way to dress while you are playing in the woods. However, since the two are semi related (in the hiking sense), I wanted to share my personal experience hiking my first 14er recently. Enjoy! 

Photos by Pure Lee Photography

That is a great question my friends. Living in Colorado the thing to do is hike. Whether it is a leisure hike through Red Rocks National park, somewhere in the Flatirons or a hike up in Vail, these are hikes I love. When my brother called me on that glorious Tuesday evening saying we were going on an adventure together tomorrow, I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. Most people across my Facebook who live in Colorado rave about the 14er that they just hiked. I’ve always put this accomplishment in the back of my mind as my “bucket list” thing to do at one point in my time living in Colorado. Little did I know that time was coming much sooner then expected. 5am was the call time and my brother was sitting in my driveway. For those who don’t know me, I don’t usually rise in the morning until about 8, 8:30am. I sat silently for part of our drive down I-70 contemplating going back to sleep, eating my breakfast even though I was not hungry, or trying to stir up a conversation about what I was getting myself into.

We finally arrived at the base of Quandary, an elevation of 14,265 feet once you got to the top. To my surprise there were way too many jolly people around me this early in the am ready to endure this “walk in the woods”. Now, I am not one to complain. I try to stay cheery through most activities that I am not thrilled with because I know the people around me are enjoying it. Key word, most! In this moment, the moment of walking up a hill the first 20 minutes of this five hour day, I kept with that attitude. Even though I could barely breathe because of how thin the air is, even though I was fully regretting my choice of how I was going to spend my Wednesday. Who knows at what hour into this ‘walk’ that mentality went right out the window. As I approached my brother who was sitting waiting me with his dog Georgia and our friend Alexis (I have no shame admitting they were MUCH faster than me), I did not have anything positive to report to them. Even though in the back of my mind I knew that we were no where close to being done, I asked anyways, getting a chuckle out of the gentleman sitting near us. After about 5 or 7 minutes recuperating, it was time to venture on.

Fuck.

I kept looking up, even though I kept telling myself I shouldn’t and that it wouldn’t help me get there any faster. I have heard a lot of people joke about how disappointing “false summits” are. Well, it’s more than disappointing. It’s saddening my friends. I so badly wanted this false summit to be the top. Holding back tears, trying to breathe and trying to make my feet move, we arrived to the bottom of the last and final stretch. Which, just so you know, may seem like you are “almost there” but you are no where near there. This steep incline up to the top quite possibly was the most miserable experience of my life. Ok, I know I am now complaining and very much over exaggerating, but I just want you to know how I felt. Miserable. The next part went something like this… Moving at about an hour a mile, one foot in front of the other, thinking the ENTIRE time about how badly I wanted to turn around and meet them back at the car. But, in the back of my head I kept thinking about how disappointed my brother would be, let alone even I had attempted to turn around he likely would have pushed me up the mountain not allowing me to even take one step in giving up. So, three hours later? Something like that. I arrived to the top. Trying to push out a smile for my brother while he was taking photos of me (I weirdly do look very happy in this photo below). I made it. Letting go of all my frustration and miserable feelings, I realized I made it. Yes, I know hundreds of people do this hike weekly, but this is something I am so proud to have accomplished. Will I do it ever again? I caught myself telling my brother “Next time, I will eat more breakfast” as we headed down the hill. So, who knows!

Photo by Andrew Chad

SHOP THE POST

The backpack featured from Zara is sold out, but I tagged a ton of similar styles below!