The start up the hill was fun and lighthearted, I for one was singing my way up. Though if you know me, that's not unusual, I'm always singing my way along anywhere. Everyone was chatting and having a lot of fun as we went up. However it didn't stay that way for long. Suddenly the pavement ended, there was no more paved trail, it was all dirt from there on up (so I thought). The incline suddenly became a lot steeper. Soon it took all your effort to keep from falling. Walking up you couldn't see much because it was so pitch black, but you could feel that there was vegetation on either side. I personally am not a huge fan of nature, or touching things in nature. I was praying the whole way up that I wasn't touching anything super gross and that bugs weren't jumping all over me. As we got further up, you could hear the running water of the falls and all the little streams that run off of it. Soon, the ground beneath us was sloshing. Suddenly I knew I was walking through mud. Gross. I had passed off my flashlight to someone else by this point, so thankfully I wasn't able to see the gross of the mud on the ground. However I still had high spirits. I was excited we were actually doing this. By this point, we were about 2-3 hours into the hike. We had hit a series of switchbacks that were proving to be quite difficult, a couple of our group decided they couldn't do it anymore and headed back to the cars to go home (They took my car back and were going to come get us in the morning).
After these 2 left the group, we got even more quiet. Every now and then we would come to a look out ledge. Even at night, you could tell these were gorgeous. I was excited to see them in the daylight the next day. The climb was getting steeper, and it was definitely getting colder, though thankfully, we were all so warm because we were huffing and puffing our way up the mountain. The climb was pretty monotonous for the first 4-5 hours. We were just climbing up switchbacks on the side of a mountain face. Every now and then it would get scary, and we would have to scale sheer smooth rock to get across to the trail. It was crazy in the dark. A couple of the guys would get setup, one on either side of the rock face and would help the rest of us get across it. Then we'd go back to the monotony. After a while, things started to get a little bit easier as we reached a meadow. It was peaceful, the stars were beautiful, and you could hear a stream running nearby. Right after the meadow however, was an incline I've never seen the likes of. It was crazy steep and the dirt and rocks would shift underneath you. I was literally on my hands and knees to get up it. But once at the top of that, we were totally rewarded! We had reached Emerald Lake. Most of the 9 of us that were left made it to the top of the hill okay, however there were a couple of stragglers. So the 7 of us at the top of this hill found a nice little spot to settle down and take a small nap.
Yup we look pretty ridiculous.
After a short nap, we gathered our things to start going again. The 2 stragglers decided this was where they were going to stay until morning. There was no way they could make it up the rest of the way (one of the poor girls had the flu). So they camped out there and the rest of us continued up. From there, things got crazy. There was no longer a cut trail, just rocks and icy snowy drop off. I'm not kidding... if you stepped on a rock or the snow wrong, you would have tumbled down the entire mountain side. It felt like it was completely treacherous. I couldn't believe we were attempting this! That was probably one of the scariest parts of the hike for me. I was completely silent by this point. Finally after what seemed like the entire night, we reached the trail again. This was straight switchbacks, but at the top of these switchbacks was amazing. We had reached the Saddle Back. This is the point where you are at the top of the mountain and can finally see down the front and the back of the mountain. It was gorgeous. The lights in the cities below looked amazing and the stars were so clear and beautiful. We sat down at this point and got some more water and snacks. Tyler and I started to get antsy to get to the top of the mountain, so we got our things packed up to go. The rest of the group decided to stay behind at Saddle Back.
Tyler and I began the last leg of the journey. This was the hardest part. Often we were walking on really unsteady rocks and it was a drop-off to the cities below. There were a ton more people now, so you were constantly waiting on someone else, or having someone impatient pass you. There were some huge climbs where you were using your hands. But after about an hour, we made it to the top. It was just starting to get light. We found a seat and waited. As we watched, the sun started to come up over the horizon in front of us. I saw the most beautiful sunrise I've ever seen. It was absolutely amazing. The colors were so vibrant and amazing. After the sun was up, Ty and I went to go and sign the book they have at the top. It felt like such an accomplishment.
Tyler and I at the top
Then I realized... I had to climb back down what I had just climbed up. And on top of that, I actually was going to be able to see the drop-offs and the grossness this time. I was sooo not excited. However, the trip down was pretty uneventful. We were all exhausted. Tyler and I climbed back to Saddle Back and met up with the 5 we had left there, and then we all headed back down the mountain. It was interesting to see all the things we had climbed the night before and all the obstacles we had made it through in the dark. Even more interesting to see was what could have happened if we had happened to go the wrong way. I was completely enthralled and pretty deep in thought the rest of the climb down. We stopped at the falls and stuck our feet in. It felt amazing to have the cool water going over our hot sore, feet and my feet seriously did not want to go back in the shoes. All the bundling up that had happened the night before was quickly undone as the sun made the climb down hotter and hotter. But finally we made it back down to the bottom and met up with the last 2 from our group. We all just laid in the parking lot and waited for our ride to come and get us.
The Group after we finished
This was a truly amazing experience. I am so grateful that I got to do this. While I was hiking, I got so much time to think, and out there I felt so close to my Heavenly Father. I felt like the lines of communication had opened up in a way that I could only dream of. A lot of what has happened in my life thus far, suddenly began to make sense. Why I had the feeling to make certain decisions and such. I was also taught some beautiful lessons out there.
How often are we climbing up a steep trail in the dead of night? How often are we in complete darkness and scared, not knowing what gunk is underneath our feet, or what we are touching off to the side? I know that this happens to me a lot in life. I have no sense of what direction I'm going, or how what I'm doing affects my life. However out on the trail, we had a light, just a small one, that opened up what we could see enough so that we could make our way. It lit the pathway before us so that we could continue on the path unharmed. I was amazed to realize, this is how the Holy Ghost helps us. He opens up our light on the the trail to let us see where we are going and to give us the help that we need. If we rely on that help, we can make it to the top to see the beautiful dawn in our life. I know that through the help of our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ, my life is blessed and led in a direction that will bring me true happiness!
