Putting the Knowledge into Action

So the girls learned that they are strong and can do hard things and very quickly were able to put that knowledge into action.  Two weekends later, their leaders planned to take them up a mountain... Mt. Ellinor.  Grant and I were invited to come along, along with the Bishop.

We began our day bright an early.  The Young Women's president, Teresa, wanted to take the girls to her favorite place... walking the sunset over the beach.  We all walked down to see why it is her favorite. 

We arrived in plenty of time to look around and wait for the sun to rise.  It was so beautiful and relaxing!  I had a lot of fun taking pictures!  It was seriously a photographer's dream come true!!

We even saw a sea otter swimming out in the water, some herons (I believe that is what they were), a Mama and her baby ducks, and Sariah found some seaweed to check out.

Right when I didn't think this place could get any prettier, the sun began to set!  WOW!!  It was incredible!!  And super worth getting up this early for!! 

 

 

It was pretty cool to see the sun, the moon, the ocean, and the majestic mountain (Mt. Rainier) all at once.

After the sunset, we had a quick breakfast and were on our way.  The drive wasn't too bad and pretty soon we were at the trailhead, ready to begin.  The first 1/4 mile was hard!  I think we just weren't adjusted yet and thought we could go faster than we were able to.  In reality, our bodies were adjusting to the change in altitude already and pretty much the whole climb is straight up from the very beginning.

The climb was hard.  I was so thankful for the people who built the steps into the climb though.  There were some stick steps and some rock steps... all of the steps made it easier to climb.

It was much harder than I was expecting it to be.  I would much rather do this climb in the snow because it is a much more direct route... but the view definitely made it worth the climb!!  They were amazing!!  :)

 Super model pose!!

We are strong!!  We can do hard things!!  :) 

Savannah and I decided we were going to race up the long staircase, after all we can run stadium stairs.  Riana, Sariah, Autumn, Amanda, and Brooke decided to join in the race.  What we didn't take into consideration was the elevation!!  It was very hard to run up this staircase!  Even though she had to take a break or two also, Savannah beat us all-- that girl is in crazy good shape!!

And speaking of good shape, 3 girls finished in front of me... Savannah, Riana, and Amanda.  These three were super speedy and we had to keep telling them to stop and wait... or slow down, so that they didn't get too far ahead of the group.  I was super impressed by these girls!

Autumn was next, and then Rachel R, and then Sariah and Grant, then Melanie... and on and on... with the Bishop finishing last to help protect those who were struggling a bit.  (Although I didn't include them all, I tried to get a picture of each person summitting the mountain.)  I was so happy that everyone worked so hard and finished!!  It was really neat to be at the top as a whole group, not missing anyone!!  I was truly impressed because it was a very hard hike!!  What was especially neat was that most of the group was wearing their pink Virtue Run t-shirts.  Throughout the entire hike, whenever people would pass us on the way up or down, they would ask about who we were.  We were able to explain that we were a youth group from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and that these girls had participated in a 5K run for virtue.  We explained that they were learning how to do hard things and gaining the confidence that comes along with overcoming difficult things.  We probably talked to over 100 people and everyone was so impressed with the girls!  A lot of them talked about Mormon people they had known (neighbors, co-workers, etc.) and that they had always been really good people.  It was a really neat added bonus!  (Rachel was so inspired to suggest that everyone wear their shirts.  I think 15/19 of us had them on... not Bishop, Naomi and Melanie's cousin Reagan, Grant and I.)

We had a nice, relaxing lunch on top of the summit!  My chips were about to explode when I took them out!  I guess elevation did that!  LOL!  I always love the yummy snacks we bring hiking, especially the trial mix.  Grant makes a mean trailmix-- complete with Mike & Ikes, Skittles, Peanut Butter M&Ms, etc.  Yum!  Yum!  We also enjoyed some crackers and chicken salad.

The mountain looked so different without the snow.  It was hard to believe that I was looking at the same mountain I had climbed just a few weeks before in the snow.

All the girls and ladies. 

I tried to get a picture of each family connection...  (I missed one but luckily someone else got them.)  Christian and her Mom, Bev, Grant and I and our girls, Bishop/Jason and his girls, Autumn and Savannah, sisters Melanie and Naomi, Amanda and her Mom, Wendy, and cousins, Melanie, Naomi, and Reagan.

Picture on the right- Rachel pointing at a beehive or a tree that looked like it had one.

Going down the stairs and rocks was much harder than going up.  The 1st third of the way down, climbing down big boulders, really hurt my body, especially my bad knees.  I think I was the slowest on this part.

The amazing part for me was that even though this hike was crazy hard, I never once heard even 1 single girl complain.  They were all such troopers!!  Grant said that young men are different that way.  LOL!!  Maybe it is just this particular group of fantastic girls!  They all did amazing!!  :)

On the way down, we spotted some crazy things.  First, we saw some mountain goat fir.  It looked like the goat had scratched it's back on a tree and the fir had come off.  Then we spotted a horsefly that had been speared through with a stick.  I can't say I was sad... those things were incredibly annoying and would not leave me alone.  We also saw some mushrooms.  Another thing we saw was tons of dogs, on the way down.  We saw some really cute dogs and they loved all the attention the girls were giving them.

Some of the girls had to use the bathroom and refused to go on the mountain.  So the last third of the way down, me and several girls literally ran the entire way.  There was quite a line for the outhouse (yet, another thing that would never happen on a young men's hike.)  Brooke and Naomi were kind enough to pose for me... LOL!!  :)  Silly girls! 

It was so amazing to look up and see where we had come from.  From the bathrooms, we were able to see the green field with the amazing staircase that we ran up.  It was pretty crazy! 

I decided that this hike was much easier in the snow, and much less painful on your body.  I will definitely hike it again and glissade down it in the snow but I don't know if my knees can handle another climb on the rocks.

We celebrated our success with a stop for ice cream at the bottom of the mountain.  It was a fun day and I am glad I was invited to spend the day with these amazing girls and leaders!!  :)