After 2 hours of hiking in the woods on switchbacks, we got to the valley! It was beautiful and although the clouds were covering our mountain, we could see through the valley to the next stop: a saddle looking spot that was just before the rock scramble to the top. This is where things got more interesting. The switchbacks to the saddle were very precariously placed in rock scree that did not give a very wide or stable path. This is where April and Norma started to get nervous. But, they both made it to the saddle in fine shape and everyone took a nice long rest before heading up the rest of the mountain.
Now, when I say the rest of the mountain, I mean the 5,000 feet elevation gain we had left! This was a very intense rock scramble and this was the 3rd largest peak in the park. 11,626 feet tall. This was not your everyday hike.
Katie, Andrea, and Brian quickly dashed up ahead of everyone. Josh and I stayed with Norma. Aubrey stayed with April at the saddle and told us they would catch up. Well, the rocks were very slippery (imagine walking up large particles of sand very very steeply.) basically one step forward and then you slide a few inches backward. You have to use your momentum to really get up it. The three of us were moving very slowly. Norma was very scared and wanted me to lead, show her where to put her feet, then Josh followed behind as a support to her back to help her realize that she wasn't going to fall. Brian, Andrea, and Katie found a nice place to rest about 500 feet above us (we were about 1,000 ft up so far) and yelled down to us if we were coming. We told them yes, but slowly. Then, we got to a very tricky part where there were solid (ish) rocks that you had to really climb like stairs. They were very steep and Norma really started to panic. We told her that we had only gone 1/5 of the way up and that if she wanted to turn around we could. At that point, we spotted Aubrey below us and yelled to him. He said he and April were coming up to us. So, Norma was encouraged and decided to proceed on. After about 10 minutes, Aubrey yelled back that they were not coming up afterall. We yelled down to him that we were coming back down. As much as I hated Norma to fail, we simply could not keep doing this coaching and slow pace if we were to get all the way up. Plus, if she didn't turn back now, she would have to wait alone. So, with many tears, we started back down the mountain. Well, this took even longer than going up. We were very grateful that we had only made it about 1,000 ft up because it took about 1 1/2 hours to get down to the saddle where Aubrey and April were waiting. Norma did fall near the end (flat on her back) and after resting in that position, we continued to the saddle. Norma was very upset at being left behind, but Damn it, I was going to climb that mountain. Aubrey agreed to take Norma and April back to the bottom (sadly because he really wanted to climb too). April and Norma were too scared to go back alone and too scared to stay there alone. Aubrey sacrificed his climb and headed back down.
Lucky Josh and I got to climb that 1,000 feet again! (we are now in hour 5 of the climb) We got to where Katie, Brian, and Andrea had been waiting for now 2 hours. They were cold and bored but waited for us anyway! We had a short rest and then started to continue upward.
Now, back at the saddle (the first time) we had passed some Swiss mountaineers. You know, the ropes, harnesses, and climbing equipment to pull yourself up the steep rock face of the mountain. We started climbing up and after a while, we saw the Swiss above us. We thought maybe somehow, they had gotten to the top already and were back down (which would have made them the fastest climbers ever). We were at a difficult part and were getting rocks rained on top of us from them above. We stopped to let them pass and asked what they were doing. They told us that they tried to go up, but the high wind, rain, and cloudy conditions (we were in the clouds at this point) were turning them away and back down without making it to the top. This sort of shook us. I mean, why go to the top if the Swiss mountaineers couldn't do it, and why get up there if there were only clouds. Josh and I did that when we climbed Mt. St. Helens and it was very disappointing. We decided as a group to go on up anyway, since we were surely going slower and the weather could always clear. Plus, they were climbing and we were hiking, two very different paths.
A little while later, we got to a rock band (a section of solid rock you must scale up) and could not find a way up. Up to this point, we were following cairns (which are piles of rocks stacked) to lead us up the trail. The huge boulder ahead of us had a spray-painted arrow pointing up, but we saw no way to climb it. The top of the rock was about as high as I could reach my hands. Plus, even if we could somehow be hoisted up, how the hell would we get back down? Up is ALWAYS easier than down, especially with rock climbing. The weather was still foggy and cold, so we were seriously considering giving up.
That's when we spotted another group coming up behind us. We decided to wait and see what this group would do and if we could just follow them. They arrived and it was a person leading a group for his 6th time up the mountain. He knew exactly where to go. We all followed him. It turns out that 8 feet away from the spray-painted arrow was a hidden nook that you squeezed inside and then found a hidden section of almost rock stairs. We were relieved to follow them. They were going MUCH faster than I could possibly go with my heavy load. I encouraged Brian and Andrea, who were very fast climbers, to go ahead of us and follow them to see what other tricks/paths they could find. They would go ahead and Katie, Josh, and I would make our way up. They only needed to stay ahead enough to see their path and behind enough for us to see them. It worked out great. Seeing them above us was encouraging us to keep going, and yet it allowed us to go our own speed.
Now, we had been climbing for over 7 hours when I looked at my watch and saw that it was after 1pm. I thought if we were ever going to get down before dark, we needed to get to the top by 8 hours (or by 1:30/2:00). I set that as my goal and vowed to turn around if we weren't there. Well, that time came and went and we were still not there. But, we could see the first group (and then even a second group that passed us) were already at the top. WAAAAAYYYYYY above where I was resting. It was very encouraging to see they had made it, but also discouraging to see how far up we still had to go. Plus, I was starting to feel those 1,000 extra feet Josh and I covered twice. Still, we pressed on because I wasn't going to get that far and not make it. Plus, the sun had come out and the view was amazing.
After 9 hours, we finally made it to the top. Katie and Josh stopped just short of the actual top because Katie was DONE with hiking, exhausted, hungry, thirsty, just DONE. The top was just after a very narrow ridge with 9,000 ft drop on one side and 5,000 foot drop on the other. The last group that had passed us was about to leave the top so Brian and Andrea encouraged me to hurry the last 60 or so feet. I dropped my pack, scooped out my dad, and hurried pretty hysterical to the very top. I was more emotional than I could imagine. I had worked for over a year training with my trainer Nick and Josh to get to this point. I had hauled dad up with no rest or help. This was the moment I had looked forward to and dreaded the whole trip. The top. It was time to say goodbye to my dad, my favorite person in the world. I was sobbing pretty hard and the people I was passing to get to the top assumed that I was tired and scared but I wasn't. I was with my dad and we were almost to my destination. It was momentous and I will never forget the top as long as I live. Brian and Andrea posed with me and dad for the group to take our picture and then they were gone. Just us Mays were up there now. We took many photos and my hands shook too much to write in the log book that is kept at the top. Brian wrote the date, "in Max May's memory", "No Mercy", and "Live Life to the Max." He signed our names (Brian, Andrea, and Molly). We took photos for posterity and then looked around. We saw a huge grey storm cloud headed our direction and hauled ass back to Katie and Josh. Half way there, we realized that we were stupid and did not write everyone's names. This was dumb because they were every part of the trip that we did, so Andrea (being the most sure-footed and confident and energetic) headed back to the top to add everyone's names and take another picture.
Katie was doing better by the time we reached her, but still not great. We all paused long enough to get some food and water. Then, seeing the cloud was not veering away from us, we started heading down. Down at first was easier because you just leaned backward toward the mountain (which the heavy backpack helped) and let your feet slide in the rocks. But, as we got to the harder parts where you have to climb with your hands and feet, the sky darkened. Then, the thing we all talked about and were most worried about happened. We did not reach the tricky large boulder band before it started to rain. This has very many serious consequences. The small rocks get wet and slide more like mud, streams of water fall like rivers making everything slick. Worst of all, the places where we needed our hands and feet would be the slickest of all because it was like climbing smooth, polished rocks. Then, when we thought it couldn't get worse, it started to thunder, lightening, and worst of the worst it began to hail. We're not talking light hail, but pea-sized hail that hit at an intense rate. It pounded on our helmets as we scrambled quickly for the large rocks. The lightning crashed closer and closer to us, and there was no where for us to seek shelter. Plus, we realized that we weren't sure what the opening for the boulder was and Katie started crying. Then, along came our 2nd miracle. A single hiker we passed earlier was on his way down too. He knew the mountain and despite the fact that he only had a t-shirt and shorts in this storm, he slowed down and showed us the way. Unfortunately, he told us the best way down was not the way we came, but down that huge boulder that was spray painted with the arrow. We had to sit on the top of the ledge, jump off to another narrow ledge straight below and not fall off. This would be scary and difficult if it weren't still raining and hailing on us. He jumped down like a mountain goat, then spotted Brian and Andrea. Katie was next and was frozen with fear. Just below her, if she missed was a very steep 2,000 ft drop. She was tired, hungry, cold, and scared. Brian really stepped up. He swore to her that he would never let her fall, stood on the edge of the ledge (with his heels almost off the cliff)and told her to jump and he would catch her. Josh and I were behind her trying not to slide into her too. We were on the slick rock scree which has a nasty way of sliding down on top of people's heads and almost propelling us down the cliff ourselves. We tried shouting encouragement to Katie (least we slide down and push her off the cliff) and finally using Brian's head as a hand hold, she sort of slid/fell off the boulder and Brian used his hands to quickly push her against the rock wall of the boulder and slide down to where she could touch. The second she realized she was down, she threw her arms around Brian's neck and hugged him like I've never seen anyone be hugged before. "I love you Brian," she literally cried before finally letting go. The best hug I have ever seen. Brian then spotted Josh and I and then followed our buddy (later we found out his name was John) further down the boulders. None were quite that scary, but it was still raining and hailing. John waited for all of us with is face to the hail, getting soaked, until we all passed the difficult spot. He went on faster ahead of us, but said he was going to find a spot to dry out.
It finally stopped raining and the sun came back out just as we finished the hard spot. We relaxed a little bit, but only rested for a minute, then continued down. We caught up to John eventually (drinking a beer!)and got his email and information. We're going to have to think of something nice to do for him. We continued down without really stopping. No one was in the mood to stop since we were so tired and wet and ready to be down the damn mountain. We did stop to stretch our legs just before the switchbacks started our path out of the valley, but otherwise we just dragged on.
The way down is easily as hard as the way up, especially if you have bad knees. We used our walking poles to help with stability, but it didn't stop me from falling twice (scaring the crap out of Josh) and others from falling too. This kind of fall is like a slow-motion fall. Your foot slips and you gently (sometimes) slide the rest of your body onto your butt and back. By the last few switchbacks, we were really getting tired of hiking. Our feet, quads, calves, and knees hurt. Your toes are completely jammed into the bottom of your shoes, hurting your big toe and other toe nails. Your shoulders grow tired of the weight of the back pack. You run out of water (or at least I did). You are hungry for something that isn't an energy bar. You fall silent and your body droops. You think, we've got to be almost to the bottom by now. Then, you catch a glimpse of that beautiful turquoise lake through the trees. You realize that you aren't as close to the bottom as you'd hoped. Then, we saw a rainbow in the mountains over that lake and smile. You trudge on. Then, you finally get to the lake side and see the parking lot. You have to walk up hill a tiny bit and it feels good. You get to the car and collapse inside. Andrea had to drive, poor thing, and we were quiet much of the way. We got to the car after 14 hours and 50 minutes. It is practically dark, but you see more rainbows on the drive back to the hotel. You think of dad and how proud he would be of our teamwork, persistence, and our drive to get to the top and back down. We hurried right back because we knew that Aubrey, April, and Norma had seen the bad weather above and were worried sick about us.
We walked in the door to tacos and hugs. Josh and I raced to strip and get in the hot tub at the hotel. The rest stay behind and tell the tale. Katie starts throwing up and is taken to the urgent care center nearby. She has an electrolite deficiency. She has not eaten or drunk enough. She is taken home and fed gatorade. We stay up far later than we thought possible reliving the hike and smiling and laughing with our family. Bed never felt softer or more comforting.
Enjoy the pictures:
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| Banff 2 |
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