My first thoughts were that I will just climb this thing just until it starts to rain and then I will go back home. It seemed like at any minute it was going to downpour. The first part was just covered in various kinds of animal poop. Mostly of sheep. It wasn’t long until I already was witnessing amazing views of the lake and town. No rain yet, so I might as well keep going.

I quickly caught up with the 5 teenagers that I saw at the bottom before I started the hike, so I naturally tried to crack some jokes with them as I passed them by. Are we there yet? There is a bar at the top right?

I began to notice just how out of shape I am again. Oh joy. This beer gut is trying to keep me down and back in the pub. I thought I was about halfway up by now. Damn, I was wrong. I’m now thinking about how my little water bottle with cupcakes printed on it was already halfway gone.

I was determined to keep going until it rained.

All I could hear in my mind was Teryn telling me that I should have brought more water and my mom telling me that I should have worn a warmer coat. One of these days I’ll learn, but today was not one of them. Nonetheless, I was determined to keep going until it rained.

There were parts of the hike that I slowly went in and out of my brain. Doing a solo hike or climb can be spiritual, they say. Well I’m not sure if I would call it spiritual or just genuinely going crazy. Sometimes when I’m doing something difficult my mind wanders and I start envisioning friends and family both cheering me on and being super positive or they are being negative and telling me that I can’t do it. Nothing I hate more than hearing someone tell me that I can’t do it. This is definitely something I started to do while I was in basic training in the army. Also, whenever I go for runs, I imagine my best friend Jared running next to me. It was then on the hike I started to think of my friend and how I still miss him every day. He may be gone from this physical earth, but he was with me on this hike.

You might be thinking…damn just how hard is this hike? Haha It really wasn’t that hard, but for me it kind of was. I didn’t bring headphones, I didn’t have service to play music on my phone. It was just me and nature. Doin it! I’m also one of those people that talks to himself on the regular, always up in my mind.

Onward and upward!

Every time I stopped for a breather, the view was just that much better than the last. It was at that point that I was addicted and committed to this hike. Check the sky, yep it’s still 49 shades of blue, but still not a drop of rain. Onward and upward!
Around one of the corners, I noticed a guy eating what looked like a cup of noodles on a rock. “What a great spot for lunch eh?” I said. “It’s a great day to have lunch on the side of the mountain!” he replied. I think he noticed that I was quite out of breath when he said: “Don’t worry man, you are almost there.” “Is it worth it?” I asked. He replied, “It is, It is one of the best views I have I ever seen in my life!” I smiled and said “Okay sweet, I will keep going then, thank you. Enjoy your view and enjoy your lunch.”

The top was getting close, I could feel it. I could feel it in my legs, at least. I hope no one reads this that has hiked up Mt. Roy…they will think I’m a sissy for sure. No matter though, I was in this to win it and the prize was the view I would have from the top!

Back to a time before I knew how to actually use my camera settings. 🙁

Finally, I had reached this amazing walkout, which you’ll see in the video. I tried to get a good video of it, but of course, the 49 shades of blue were working against me.

This, of course, was still not the top.

After I gathered myself I started in the 4th quarter of this game that I’d created. I tend to create difficult hurdles into a game that I must win. I guess it’s just another mind trick that I do to myself. I ran into the teens again at this point and asked if they had any water. They graciously filled up my bottle. I couldn’t thank them enough, I now had enough in me to make it the very tippy top!

360 degrees of beautiful.

The walk along the top of Mt. Roy was completely out of this world, 360 degrees of beautiful. It was quite windy, almost knocking me over at times. I saw the teens again at the top, which was now just 100 meters away! “You made it! Whooo!” they yelled to me. I was so excited, I ran up the last little part to the very top of Mt. Roy! I had made it! I did it! I successfully hiked up a mountain that was said to be a difficult hike! It was quite unreal. I felt like I was inside a postcard of New Zealand. I am in New Zealand. I made this happen. I am doing this. I am really doing this!

I wanted to bask in my glory of doing this hike that I have just spent that last 3 or 4 hours doing. At this point I completely lost track of time. It was Saturday, who gives a shit what time it is. After a few pictures and video. I noticed the wind picking back up again to the point that I no longer felt safe standing up. I quickly realized that I needed to get down and as fast I could before this storm hit.

Hiking up a mountainside can be dangerous, but hiking down can be just as dangerous, if not more. Reason being, going back down you aren’t really thinking and you think it’s easy and not paying attention and the incline of the mountain can send you spiraling down pretty fast, and soon I was tripping over my own feet.

I made it back down and back to Dug, our sweet campervan. All safe and sound. It never did rain. My legs were pretty shot that night, but I had an all-time high. I felt amazing. I felt like somewhere between skydiving and getting a new tattoo. That is the best I can describe it. I had done something I have not done before and I felt damn good.

I want more!

Now I want more. I want to hike more, I want to learn to climb, I want to learn how to be a better photographer and I want to learn how to gather the words to describe my feelings into this blog. I hope you enjoyed this post and I hope that this will inspire you to get out the house and go experience something that you have never done before, something that you have always wanted to do but were too scared to do or something that you’ve been told by someone that you couldn’t do.

Go. Do. It. You’ll feel like you have never felt before. You’ll love like you have never loved before.
 
Do you hike? What is your favorite hike? What is your favorite mountain? Leave a comment below!