If your friends drive 4.5hrs bright and early on a Monday morning to get to a trailhead, but then upon arrival, you pull a muscle in your back while tying up your laces, do you: A) call it a day and disappoint everyone? or B) tough it out and hike for 11 hours on a steep mountain, and hope it doesn't seize up more on you during an inopportune moment? Asking for a friend. (Me. I'm asking for me. I'm your friend.)
So anyways, I managed to reinjure my wonky back before the hike even started. Naturally I went with option B, Operation: Eat all the Robax and Advil, and maybe wash them down with a beer on the summit after 6 hours of struggling up the mountain. I'm no pharmacist, but I'm guessing this is not the recommended course of treatment for lower back strains. (Yup, consulted Dr. Google. It's not.)
I'll spare you the details, but I will say this mountain broke me. I don't often have thoughts of turning around when the summit is in sight, but if Jas or Jill had hinted they wanted to stop, I would have happily obliged. But since all three of us are stubborn AF and refuse to be the one to admit defeat, we soldiered on all the way to the top. If you're looking for a recommendation for a pleasant hike, stay the heck away from Serendipity Peak. You'll get some awesome shots along the ridge to the false summit, but it's not worth it. 10/10 would not do again. The end.
On our descent, the sun lowering towards the horizon set this field of wildflowers aglow.
I climbed over the prominent bump in the left, and then downclimbed it to get here, rather than continue to traverse across the rubble slopes. It doesn't look too bad here, but there's a section with two smooth slabs with no handholds on it...
That smile would not last...
Some steep loose terrain.
Smiles briefly returned when we finally hit the summit ridge.
Unenthused? Defeated? Resigned? Concerned about the descent? Likely all of the above.
Summit Brew: Situation Brewing Page Turner IPA.
Beginning the descent.
What you don't see in this photo are the curses, the 'stop your faacking singing', and bans on us saying 'We're almost there.'
The sun peaked through the forest to just perfectly strike this one single flower.
A riot of colour as we made our way back through vast fields of wildflowers.
So anyways, I managed to reinjure my wonky back before the hike even started. Naturally I went with option B, Operation: Eat all the Robax and Advil, and maybe wash them down with a beer on the summit after 6 hours of struggling up the mountain. I'm no pharmacist, but I'm guessing this is not the recommended course of treatment for lower back strains. (Yup, consulted Dr. Google. It's not.)
I'll spare you the details, but I will say this mountain broke me. I don't often have thoughts of turning around when the summit is in sight, but if Jas or Jill had hinted they wanted to stop, I would have happily obliged. But since all three of us are stubborn AF and refuse to be the one to admit defeat, we soldiered on all the way to the top. If you're looking for a recommendation for a pleasant hike, stay the heck away from Serendipity Peak. You'll get some awesome shots along the ridge to the false summit, but it's not worth it. 10/10 would not do again. The end.
On our descent, the sun lowering towards the horizon set this field of wildflowers aglow.
I climbed over the prominent bump in the left, and then downclimbed it to get here, rather than continue to traverse across the rubble slopes. It doesn't look too bad here, but there's a section with two smooth slabs with no handholds on it...
That smile would not last...
Some steep loose terrain.
Smiles briefly returned when we finally hit the summit ridge.
Unenthused? Defeated? Resigned? Concerned about the descent? Likely all of the above.
Summit Brew: Situation Brewing Page Turner IPA.
Beginning the descent.
What you don't see in this photo are the curses, the 'stop your faacking singing', and bans on us saying 'We're almost there.'
The sun peaked through the forest to just perfectly strike this one single flower.
A riot of colour as we made our way back through vast fields of wildflowers.
Great pics! Especially love that flower! Hope you're healing up! Glad to here you made it down alive! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Polly! That flower was just so pretty in the light. All good otherwise.
ReplyDelete