On Tuesday, Tim and I hiked 5.5 miles of the Lupine Meadows trail. It is considered a moderate hike with enough rise in altitude to get your blood pumping for sure. I was very pleased with how I felt overall after that hike. I was a "good tired," and slept well Tuesday evening. We knew that Wednesday would be filled with time on the water, so we planned a more significant hike for Thursday. We looked at several different options. I knew Tim could handle any hike on the maps, so I had to take into consideration my own physical limitations. I've spent time in the gym and on trails at home, but I knew it would be nothing like the challenges I would encounter in the mountains. And while in Tuesday's post, I joked about my cardio-vascular challenges, I knew that would be my limitation.
After much deliberation, we decided on Death Canyon Trail. We both laughed at its name alone, but had heard from a couple sources that it was a pretty hike. Now when I say much deliberation, I should more accurately describe it as much agonizing. Here's where you're going to get to know a little about me. I'm competitive. (I know, I know, that one's obvious.) I don't like to fail. And sometimes, if I think I might fail, I hesitate to even try. This is actually, much more prevalent for me when it comes to physical challenges. I am much more likely to take risks in every other part of my life.
For those of you who have read Carol Dweck's work, I was definitely struggling with a fixed mindset as Tim and I chose a trail. I had it narrowed down to two options. I've copied the descriptions of both straight from the National Park Service website:
Phelps Lake
4.2 miles RT, 3 hours, 1050 ft total climbing
Strenuous.
Trail climbs to overlook, then descends to Phelps Lake. Return involves steep hike back to the overlook.
Death Canyon-Static Peak Trail Junction
7.9 miles RT, 6 hours, 2100 ft. total climbing
Strenuous.
Trail climbs to overlook, drops towards Phelps Lake, and then climbs the canyon to a patrol cabin.
As you can see, both hikes are considered strenuous. That alone was going to be a challenge for me, regardless of our choice. I was pretty sure I could complete the Phelps Lake option. I'd walked the 4.2 miles on trails around our house. This would only be the addition of really steep climbs that don't even exist in Missouri...but the Death Canyon trail taunted me. I wanted to be able to do it, but I wasn't sure I could. The total climb was twice that of the Phelps Lake trail. The distance and time, twice that as well. I really struggled internally. I literally had voices of doubt in my head telling me I couldn't do it. I wasn't sure I could complete Death Canyon. I knew I could finish Phelps Lake.
Then, there was another voice. A real, audible, encouraging voice. Tim. He had the growth mindset I needed to hear. "Try it. You can do it. Let's just try it. It will be better to try it than have regrets later."
But the most important words he spoke were these, "We can hike as far as you can go. Even if we don't get to the end, I'll be proud of you for trying, no matter how far we get."
I consider myself a strong person. I have internal drive and can power through lots of "stuff." But when you have an encourager like that...it makes all the difference. There was no pressure, no "let down" if I decided not to do it. But I knew I would have a cheerleader all the way.
So we set off...on the Death Canyon Trail. I really wasn't sure how far I could make it. The hardest decision I had to make, was when to turn back. The halfway point of the hike was the Static Peak patrol cabin, but I had no idea how far a little under 4 miles would be and how much I would need left in the tank to go back. There were steep ups and down on both ends of the hike. I knew the most difficult part would be the steep climb back up to the overlook towards the end of the hike.
We hiked up to the overlook--not bad. We hiked down to into Death Canyon and then started back up...and up...and up...
This was a challenge. We would either hike all the way up to the patrol cabin then turn around, or turn around at some point on the ascent to the cabin. It was hard. I was completely out of breath. I had to stop often along the way.
Whew.
Keep Going!
There were several times I said, "Okay, this is it." And Tim would say, "Okay, let's go back!" He was willing to let me make the decision. He also knew I am stubborn and that it would not be totally out of the question for me to overdo it. I think this is why he did not push at this point.
We did not make it to the patrol cabin. We got to a point where the switchbacks got even steeper. I was worried I would not have enough left to get back up that last steep climb back up to the overlook. We stopped here:
I chose to use Tim's picture instead of mine because, well, because I'm not sure I would have even tried it without his encouragement. When we got back to the lodge, we estimate that we were probably .5 miles from the patrol cabin. Maybe...just maybe if I had seen the end, I would have tried to power up that last half mile. But I'm happy with the distance we covered. We made it to a gorgeous waterfall that rushed down the canyon. There was snow directly across the canyon on Prospector's Mt. We were up there!
On the way back...I have to say, it was more difficult than I thought. The climb back to the overlook was really hard for me. We stopped more going back up to the overlook than we did in the canyon. I had said to Tim while we were on our way down and I recognized how hard it was going to be coming back, "I have a feeling either I will be cursing you, or you will be cursing me on the way back up!"
He laughed and said, "That's fine!" I wasn't cursing him, but I think I did get a little crabby. Sorry, babe. :)
When we got to the top of the overlook, there was a feisty, older German couple who were resting before finishing the decent to the trailhead. Tim and I were talking pictures of each other when the German gentleman piped up, "I will take your picture for five dollars!" We laughed and he took our picture free of charge!
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