Sean, Chris, and I started our trek toward the mountain and up the mountain before 5am. Only days before, a storm quickly formed on the mountain and layered two feet of snow in some places on the ground.. With winds gusting and having to start two miles lower down the closed road (adding four miles to our trek) we headed out.
After a great start and a brisk pace we ascended from approx 10,700 to 13,000 for our first glimpse of the top of America. Though still three miles from the peak and still 1200 feet below, Sean saw his future.
With snow nearly at our knees, we realized too much snow had fallen and a summit experience was impossible on this day.
Chris is techy. He loves gadgets. He tracked our journey on a GPS satellite. The day after the hike we discovered that we went further and ascended more vertical feet than planned.
Being above 13,000 feet felt good. It burnt my lungs. I liked it.
Other than Sean packing a buffet to the point of descent below of the summit, it was a great exercise. Short, of the summit…yes. Long on loyalty and determinence.
HEAR THE PODCAST RECORDED AT THE SUMMIT :: SHORT OF THE SUMMIT
