We found out that they only allowed so many people in the park. I think all our hearts sank when we heard the news, because it was already 8.We finally found out that it was not full. So we got all our stuff around at the base and we hit the trail around 8am. There was a father and son 20 minutes ahead of us as we signed in on the trail board. Our goal for the time being was to safely catch up to them. So we started at a very fast pace, almost a jog but walking... you know what I mean. We passed the hikers in a little bit resting on a fallen log. Although we passed the hikers, we still kept a steady pace.

That is until we hit the boulder field. We had stretched our whole bodies to get over some boulders. That is when we started to slow down, and take out time. Of course, my mom (37) was scared to death that something would happen to me all the way there. Anyway, so all the way through the hike there are areas where you can look back and see where you have been and the views around you. You get your best views when you are out of the tree line, but at the same time, it also gets more dangerous.

After we've climbed some extremely large boulders, we came to a very short ledge. A few feet above our heads was a small steel hook, and a bar. This is when my mom finally lost it and could not go any farther. So we reached "our summit" for the time being. We took pictures, and stuff and started to head back down. As we got down off the steep parts and into the tree line, we started to say, "It didn't seem this hard coming up"! Our knees and legs ached all the way down. When we reached the base, we were all relieved. Then we looked up at the top and just gaped at the mountain.

It was an amazing experience that I will never forget. Mainly because we did not finish it, but hey, I can always do it next year!