Mt. Whitney
I have recently rediscovered my love for hiking, as I'm sure you have all noticed. Thanks to a wonderful, adventurous spirit and her idea to climb Mt. Whitney, I feel a little more like my pre-child self again.
One day, hubby noticed that one of my dearest friends posted something about hiking Mt. Whitney on Facebook. She and I used to do lots of local hikes together years ago, so hubby asked why I wasn't joining. "Who me? I HAVE CHILDREN!" I thought. Sometimes, we tend to box ourselves into the little boxes and really prevent ourselves from living life. But after discussing with hubby, and also talking to my Jessica, it was decided, I was on board for backpacking Mt. Whitney. This was last summer.
Mt. Whitney, is the highest peak in the lower 48 states. It gets cold and icy, and every February, hikers and mountaineers get to enter a lottery for a permit and date to climb the mountain. Our goal was to hike in August because we wanted nothing to do with the cold weather. But, it seems like the people in charge of the lottery had other plans for us. We found out in April that we are going on our grand adventure mid-June... with no training under our belts. Oh, and crampons and ice picks are mandatory to be let up the mountain, as it is still snowing there now.
Jessica, my little adventurer, belongs to a gym called SlimBody. A group of about 15 people at the gym signed up to join us on Mt. Whitney. They held a meeting, a sort of meet and greet, at the gym, we exchanged numbers, and almost immediately started hiking together. Not all together, but whomever can make it, does as often as possible.
I have to say, it has been wonderful for my spirit. To be alone in nature, to hike before the sun comes up and to watch the sunrise has been amazing. So much so, that now that my boys and I are all sick, I feel a pain in my soul for the missed early morning hikes.
But, this time at home has given me a bit of time to research ALL of the equipment we are going to need. It looks like I'm going to break the piggy bank with this one. But I'm so excited to do this, I dont want to turn back.
Stay tuned for more about Mt. Whitney as I navigate this journey.
