OH MY LANTA! I still can't believe I climbed 2,768 steps on Saturday afternoon. That was a massive staircase! Some of it was so narrow, I was climbing on all fours with my water bottle as a crutch. Crazy! I know! AND I am afraid of heights so every time I turned around to take a picture, I started shaking. However, I made it to the top!
This challenge has been on my bucket list since I heard about it. I had no idea how much endurance I would need for this though....My friend Mike, clearly, was in better shape than me. He got to the top about 30 minutes or so before me. He "graciously" came down and climbed the last 1,000 steps with me. Mike could have stayed and waited for me. On the way down, I ran out of water but it was raining so I wasn't as parched as I was climbing up. We ate some snacks when we arrived at the top and of course to catch our breaths. According to the sign at the beginning of the trail, it was .88 miles to the top and over 2 miles to the bottom. Weird. However, the trail was winding all the way coming down. So, I guess that makes sense.
When we left Denver, it was 90 degrees but when we arrived it was maybe 75 degrees, which was nice. On the way up, the weather was cloudy with the sun playing peek-a-boo. On the way down, however, it started to rain. Not hard, thank goodness. It was lightly raining then starting sprinkling. We heard thunder and saw some lightening bolts from a far so we hurried down as quickly as we could. Halfway down, I pulled a muscle in my leg! UGH! Been happening to me a lot lately, I think I need to stretch more. After massaging my muscle for 5 or so minutes, we continued on to the bottom.
Next challenge....conquer a 14er!! We'll see when I get a chance to do that. Last time didn't go so well because the leader didn't respect my needs. At any rate, I will post when I have conquered that beast!
One neat thing that happened on my way up was seeing a chipmunk, actually more than one, running around. I also liked the fact that the higher you go, the less likely you see bugs especially bees!
I am glad I reached the top and even more glad God saved me from certain death! Now I just need to find a T-shirt that proves it :)
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