But notice it's just two people who made it to the summit. A group of 6-8 of them went. Everybody else turned back at the false summit (the last peak before the real one). But Rachel, the girl in the picture and Bennett's close friend, still wanted to go to the top. He didn't want her to do it alone even though he was exhausted. So he went with her.
He said the wind was horribly strong. It was bitter cold. The rocks were incredibly slippery. It was intense and treacherous. But they saw a mountain goat, so that was cool. Plus, they were descending in the dark. Ice covered many of the rocks. It was hard in the dark to tell which rocks were stable and which ones weren't. Everything the experienced hikers say not to do, they did. And lived to tell about it.I think that is a perfect summary of the college years in general.
Unfortunately, he ended up with the worst migraine ever and had to go straight back home to sleep it off. The next day when he was telling us about it, his legs and ankles were killing him. But he said his knee held up, which he saw as the bright spot in all the pain he was experiencing. (He had a knee injury the end of his Junior year in HS making him unable to play basketball for more than 6 months with many more months of rehabilitation on top of that. So this hike was the ultimate test on it.)
Personally, I never aspire to climb a 14er. There are several reasons in case you care to know: 1) I don't want to wake up and be climbing a mountain in the cold at 5am. 2) I like to stop and admire the beauty and take pictures along the way - I'm a slow hiker. 3) I get migraines too easily. 4) I love to look at other people's pictures of making it to the top and celebrating their joy and success. 5) I am perfectly content to be at or below 11,000 feet and beneath the treeline. 6) I hate the cold. So...more power to all the 14er hikers out there. I'm super happy for you. Keep doing hard things. I'll be cheering for you from the bottom.
