Aug 14, 2021 (Sat)
Trent went to ride bike with Brenden and Rita on Dr. Park. I wanted to take it easy and do whatever I want but I had not decided yet what to do.
We camped at Washington Gulch dispersed camping area. I met Frank, our neighbor camping next to us, a day ago. He was interested and impressed by how I camp with my van.
In the morning Trent had already left, I took Tsali for a morning walk. Walking back to my van, Frank came out from his camper to walk to another of our neighbor (parking next to us on the left side): Chris. Frank asked me if I wanted to go hiking with them. They are thinking of hiking up to the top of “that” mountain. He pointed to the mountain next to our camping area.
Without knowing anything about “that” mountain, I asked if he would take his dog (Brody) with him. He said yes…. So I said yes! I asked him to wait for me for a bit. I changed my cloths, packed Tsali and I some sandwiches, packed some water, and took 1 hiking pole with me. We were ready!
Chris drove all of us to start our hiking at the trailhead below.
In my mind, I didn’t think too much how hard the trail would be. I was just thinking that it would be something simple and easy. I was totally wrong. It turned out to be the most difficult trail I had ever done!
The trail started to be more difficult half of the way we hiked up. There were so many VERY steep sections that we had to hike/climb over. Going up was one thing. But coming down was a totally different story. It was tough.
I didn’t even expect myself to be able to hike up all those… But seeing Chris and how comfortable he was, I felt confident. I was focused and did not overthink. Focusing on one step at a time. Tsali was doing well climbing up. However, I started to get a bit concerned after we had climbed up several steep peaks, and started to think about how we could handle hiking down all these steep, exposed, and loose hills.
I got pretty closed. We got to the peak next to Gothic mountain. After I saw the ridge that takes you to Gothic mountain, I decided that this was my limit. I told both guys that this was it for me and I would wait for them here instead of keeping going further.
Frank asked me if he could leave Brody with me. Of course, I said yes. I think it turned out to be a good decision for all of us to have both our dogs staying with me instead of keeping going further.
Both guys continued to hike up while Brody, Tsali, and I wait at this peak.
It took them some time to get up to the top of Gothic mountain. I think it was probably close to an hour until I saw them start to hike back down.
It was a well worth hike for me. Probably the best hike I have ever done. More than that… I would never expect to have this kind of hike with someone that I have just known for a few days. Life is full of possibilities…. We made very good friends out of this adventure together.
The price we paid: Frank broke one of his pole on this hike. I left my hiking pole up there when I was trying my best to climb down with both hands on one of those steep hills.
What we gained: Trust in each other. New friends. And so much enjoyment.