Sniffling Up Mount Sneffels.

     Hiking is strenuous activity. Hiking up mountains are pretty difficult. Hiking up mountains of over fourteen thousand feet elevation gain, in roughly three miles, is practically insane. Before coming to Colorado, I had hiked flat land in my town (we call that walking on trails). I have zero experience with hiking and being much in shape (I like food + sleep, alright?!), so going on a two mile hike up a hill when I first arrived was pretty hard. Four weeks later, after only really exercising through basketball and a few hikes up a small ridge (a third a mile maybe?) to contact family a few times, the option of hiking up a legit mountain was proposed to me, and astonishingly to me, I accepted. I still can't believe that I did, but here's what happened.

     Seventeen of us left the lodge at 3:00am to head to Ouray for our adventurous hike up Mount Sneffels. We got to the mountain at about 7:00am and it was pretty chilly – about thirty degrees. I thought I dressed warm enough but I was sadly mistaken. With four layers on the top, 3 layers on the bottom, wool socks, a beanie, and scarf, I was still cold. But I got used to the cold fast enough.

     The first half of the hike was trailed, and rough. I wasn't used to walking two miles straight, but you can't stop and sit, otherwise your heart rate will freak out, so I pressed on. When we finally got to the trail head, it was a sigh of relief. I took a celebratory break to eat half a sandwich, then carried on. The last mile to the saddle of the mountain was quite intense. That one mile was twice as steep as the trail. It started to snow, and the wind blew the snow very hard, so I had to curl into a ball otherwise I'd get blown over and fall down the mountain. It was a frustrating mile because of the wind and lack of track on my shoes mixed with the snow. I often stepped in a supposedly good place, but the snow or loose rocks would move and my feet would move down with them. Then the wind would blow strongly in my face so while I'd be trying not to lose placement of my feet on the steep mountain, I'd try covering my face so I wouldn't go blind or fall over. That was the hardest hour of my life. I was in the back of the group, so I could occasionally get words of encouragement from the people higher up than me. I was one of the last, along with Bella and Matthias, and us girls were pretty exhausted. But Matthias was our hero and would climb up five steps above us, grab our hands, pull us up with him, than go up another five steps, and this continued until we were all three at the top of the mountain.

     I was so relieved and overjoyed when I reached the top, that I started to cry, but Molly (one of the mentors + our medical professional) quickly shot down the idea because she didn't want the tears to freeze on my cheeks, so I contained myself until I got back down. The saddle (not the summit) was about zero degrees. We reached the saddle of the mountain, but were told to not go any further because a storm was a brewing and it would be dangerous to go further. I was perfectly okay with that, because I was exhausted and freezing, and the thought of going up another 0.2 miles with another 300 feet of elevation gain was going to kill me. I was at the saddle for approximately two minutes (enough time to get a few pictures and enjoy the view), then I turned back around and went down. The going down was easier in the sense that I wasn't having to climb up two miles, but the wind was much stronger and harder than it was going up (the storm was increasing), so it was still pretty difficult. I just slid down on my bottom the majority of the way, until I fell backwards once and decided that probably wasn't wise. But a super great trooper and friend, Zach, took it upon himself to make sure I got down alright. We linked arms tightly and became inseparable for the next hour as we tried to reach the bottom in one piece. We survived and had a nice chat in the process, but while getting caught in conversation, we lost the “trail” a few times and had to backtrack. We made it down in one piece though, and only had to stop once or twice because of the strength of the snow blowing in our face.

     When we got back down to the trail head, we met up with Molly, Annalise + Jordan, and hid behind the trail head's sign to let the wind die down. When the wind wasn't as bad, we decided to continue down the trail, but Jordan would wait for the rest of the group (those crazies that got to the summit before we even reached the saddle, and the few behind us that were a little slower). It was so cold that some of the ground had frozen over, including a dip in the trail that you would have to walk down to keep going. While the rest of us were talking, Annalise went ahead of us and slipped on that dip in the trail, injuring herself. Everyone slipped on that dip on the way up and were fine, so we figured that was what happened to her. But she began to cry in pain and we knew something wasn't right. We (as quickly as we could considering the icy ground) went to her and tried to help. The guys slipped also on the way there, and Molly rapidly jumped into mama bear mode and tried to handle the situation to the best of her abilities, and to the quickest. We tried carrying Annalise down, but we still had two miles of rough terrain to continue on, and that wasn't a great option. With Annalise still screaming in pain, Molly was reminded of two men that, not only 15 minutes before, arrived in ATVs on the lookout for hikers because of the snow storm. Molly ignited the great idea to have Zach and Jordan run down the rest of the trail and get those two men to come back and get Annalise, who was unable to move. I was told to continue down the trail alone, but carefully, because she didn't want me slipping like Annalise or running like a maniac like the boys were. On my way down, I almost fell a few times but caught myself, thankfully, and made it down in one piece. Molly and another hiker of ours, Tristen, met me halfway and told me that Annalise was in good care and the men were carrying her down.

     The presence of God was so strong in the hike up Mount Sneffels, that it's almost unbelievable. From the beginning of keeping me warmer and safe from hypothermia with not nearly enough clothing on, to the men in the ATVs arriving just when they were needed to carry injured and physically exhausted hikers down the rest of the trail. The hike up and down Mount Sneffels was difficult, but rewarding. Knowing that I hiked a mountain that reached 14000 feet in elevation (though I only reached 13,800 feet because of the danger), I was extremely proud of myself. Especially since, not even 7 days earlier, I knew nothing of the mountain and the possible opportunity of climbing it.

     For those concerned for Annalise: she broke her ankle in three places and we're unsure how severe it is. All are hoping and praying that the ankle will heal on its own (there's a possibility), but she will have to go back to Durango next week to have the doctor check it out and give a verdict about surgery or not. Please be praying for her, as she is in a lot of pain, and her healing, because if she needs surgery, then she will most likely not come back to us afterwards (and we really love her and want her back). She is being well loved on here for the time being, with chocolate, lots of blankets, ice cream, and help from every student and staff member. But please be in prayer for her healing and comfort. I know she would greatly appreciate it.