After the grueling switchbacks, we made it to Trail Crest which is at 13,650 feet. This marked the final leg of the journey to the summit which was another 1.9 miles. This sounded easy in its distance. What we didn't realize is that it contained several sections with steep drop offs and difficult terrain. I probably drove Kim and Eric crazy for the last few hours because all I kept saying was, "I need to get to Mark." My husband had been with a group of nine guys for four days who came in from the south through Cottonwood Basin, making a gradual ascent up the mountain. My son-on-law had a great idea to carry a tie that we would each place on the Trail Crest sign. The plan was, whoever got there first, would wait as long as they could for the other group. If they decided to continue to the summit, that group would tie the ribbon as a signal to let us know they were already on their way up. When I turned the corner and saw the ribbon, I started crying...again!! They were nearby. Mark was going to be able to help me off this mountain. I felt renewed will and wanted to get there as quickly as we could. When we saw their backpacks piled to the side, I knew they would be coming down the main trail with us! I was as overjoyed as I could be after climbing for ten and a half hours!
We tied our ribbon as well so they would know we were there, just in case we missed them. Eric took the lead as it was becoming even steeper and more treacherous. At times, the trail was less than two feet wide. My body ached from fear and exhaustion. Just a little while longer to go. I needed to get to Mark. We made it through the rock towers and past the windows. Eric wanted us to appreciate the beauty around us. All I could think of was the edge of the mountain and how close we were to it. Just put one foot in front of the other. Keep going.
We had less than a mile to the summit, .8 of a mile to be exact, when Eric asked us to stop for a minute. I said, "No. Let's just keep going and get there." He said, "I want to take a picture in this spot." Kim and I both said we just wanted to keep going. Eric calmly said that the reason he wanted to take a picture right here was because our uphill journey was over. We were going no further!! What?!?! After all this time and effort?!?! This adventure had sucked most of the strength, energy and desire from my body!! We had to finish. He pointed out that we had run out of time and into weather. While we had been keeping our heads down watching the trail, he had been keeping his head up watching the clouds roll in. Afternoon thunderstorms during the summer months are a danger to all climbers. It is not only a concern at peaks, but also on exposed ridges. At that time, it was 10:45am. He said at the rate we were going, it would take us another hour and a half to reach the summit. That was much too late to have enough time to descend before the storm started. The words were coming out of his mouth, but all I could think of was that they were exactly the words my husband had said to me many times. He said you need to be going down off the mountain by 11:30am. We would never make it in time. Kim burst into tears and I followed. This was too much work to come up short. So close and yet so far! Robbed of our chance by something beyond our control ~ the damn weather!
AT first, I suggested the two continue without me. After all, my knee injury was slowing us down. They could possibly make it if I stayed behind. Eric would not hear of it. "No one gets left behind," he said. There was no changing his mind. Truth be told, he sacrificed his successful climb to the summit for us.
Very soon, his decision to turn back would prove the logical one. As we made our way down the same 97 switchbacks, it started to rain and hail on us. It made it easier to hide the tears rolling down our faces.
As the saying goes, "What goes up, must come down." We had 10.4 miles under our belts and the only way out would be another 10.4.
"I want Mark!!! I can't get off this mountain without him!"
No comments:
Post a Comment