the mountain

"Your off to great places.

Today is your day.

Your mountain is waiting

So, Get on your way!"

 Dr. Seuss

 



As summer rolls to an end, what better way to wrap it up, than to do an incredible hike? On Labor Day, I set off with my son, his friend and two girlfriends and headed up to conquer South Sister, the third largest mountain in Oregon. A 14-mile roundtrip adventure!

 

 

This hike has been on my "Bucket List" for quite awhile and I figured it was finally time to see what all the hype was about! I had heard from several people that "it was the hardest thing they have ever done" and that it was "harder than childbirth or running a half marathon!" None of that sounded particularly enthralling to me so, I put it off as long as I could. Until now.

 

I have a good friend who I trained for a half marathon with, who asked me if I wanted to do the hike over Labor Day. After much discussion and back and forths, she convinced me to do it. When I asked her if she really thought I could do it, she replied, "Yes, because I think you can do anything!" Wow. How was I supposed to respond to that other than by saying "OKAY, I'm in!"

 

So, we set out Monday morning at 7am. The first mile and a half was a tough, uphill through the forest. Luckily, I had brought trekking poles which really helped on the steep hills. Once we made it through the trees, we found ourselves on this clearing and got our first glimpse of our mountain!

 



So pretty!

 

Susan and I heading off on the trail

 

 

We continued on. For awhile it was pretty flat. Then, we began our ascent to the summit of South Sister. It was by far the hardest hike I have ever done. We plodded through lose rocks, switchbacks and boulders. I kept the prize in mind as I trudged onward, even though I couldn't see the top of the mounain yet. I had to stop several times. I got separated from the group, as they were all way ahead of me. There were many times, that I would stop and think to myself  "what if I can't make it up the whole way?" But, then I would block that thought out of my mind and keep going. I had to see the summit and get those award winning photographs! That is what everyone talks about. That is what I had come to do. There was no way I was going to let that mountain win!

 

I met some really cool people on the way up. A guy from Florida who had a matching pink bandana on (we took a picture together!), a woman who said she had lived in the area for 30 years and had never hiked S. Sister (I have only lived here 23 years and had never hiked it so, that made me feel a lot better!) There were young kids hiking with their dads. There were groups of young teenage kids. There were hot bods, old men and everything in between. One gal in particular, caught my eye as we were heading down...she was wearing super short black shorts with gators and was running down the hill. She was pretty amazing!

 

After a few hours of hiking. I finally reached the top! I came over the rim and heard my two girlfriends say, "You made it!" We still had to walk around a rocky ridge to get the views so, we did. Once we came up and over, I knew it was all worth it.

 



 Me and the other 2 Sisters!







After having lunch on the top and taking a gazillion photos, it was time to begin our descent. I was a little worried about that part, because I knew there was only one way down - and it wasn't in a private helicopter! The hike down was almost as hard as the uphill, with all the loose rocks and cinders. (Sidenote: two days after I did this hike, a young man had fallen 200 feet on the ice, hitting boulders and injuring his leg and had to be airlifted out! So happy that didn't happen before my hike!) Again, I was so happy to have my trekking poles to help me. But, even with the poles, I fell on my keester a number of times. I lost count at 5. In addition, my knees and feet were killing me. With each step down, my sore toes would jam into the front of my not-so-comfy hiking shoes. The hike down seemed to last forever. I couldn't even remember certain areas of the hike, even though I had just been there a few hours earlier.

 



 

The descent...gorgeous view, but grueling!

 

 

Once we reached the bottom, I kept looking up and saying, "I can't believe I climbed that!"

 

 

We got back to the car at 4pm, nine hours after we had started. The first thing I did was tear off my dusty hiking shoes and put on comfy flip flops! I was worried about what condition my toes would be in, but was happy to see no blisters. My toenails were sore to the touch, and I could see beneath my pink polish, that a little bruising had occured. (A few days later, I had the nerve to finally remove my nail polish and all but 2 nails had turned black and blue. Ouch!)

 

We headed to a nearby brewery and celebrated with a few rounds of cold beers, recounting the days hilights! It was a great feeling of accomplishment, pride and comraderie among the five of us. I was happy that I had finally conquered that mountain. And, I decided, that once was definitely enough! Now, onto the other items on my bucket list...