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Personal Narrative: Saddle Mountain

633 Words3 Pages

Up around 6:30, and on the road by 6:45. My Dad is driving, my older brother is up front in the passenger’s seat, and my little brother and I are in the back - probably with me sprawled all over him, as I tend to do in any car ride longer than 40 minutes. We are off to our annual end-of-summer hike. This year, the same as lasts: Saddle Mountain. With an elevation gain of around 2,000 feet over two and a half miles, Saddle is a fairly difficult hike to say the least. In addition to containing an all too mischievous false peak (forming the saddle), the majority of the trail lacks practically any coverage from the sun, making a grueling climb infinitely worse. As we get out of the car, there is a certain calm before the storm. We stretch out, use the restroom, and most importantly, make sure we have all of our protein bars and gatorades packed up for the top. When the hike starts, nothing hurts. No …show more content…

The Saddle is the hardest part - the incline greater, the rocks looser, and absolutely no coverage from the sun. It is a simple mind over body attitude that gets you to the top the fastest. It is telling yourself that you are simply going to go faster. The winner of the hike is always the person who can push past the point where their body tells them to stop, willing themselves to the top. People always ask why I don’t stop and rest. What’s the point of going up so fast? Well first of all, I know it isn’t just about competition. If I was out there by myself, I would try and beat my old time to the top, and push myself just as hard. The real goal of the hike is twofold; to not only do the best that you can, but to push your brothers to do the best they can. The fun is in getting to the top and being able to confidently say that you gave everything you had, and enjoyed doing so with the people you

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