Copper Mountain: A Short Story

In Matthew Hedger’s article “Yosemite National Park Day Hikes: Vernal Falls Death March”, he claims that you don’t always know what you’re getting into and find that things are harder than they seem. Hedger supports his claim with a story of his hike up Vernal Falls. His purpose is to inform his readers that you can always get through difficult things and that they’re stronger than they think. The intended audience is anyone who enjoys a good story and wants to know about hiking.

were ready to set off we rode to the river past the rock. All of it was uphill the first hill me and my dad had to go up was

Staring up at the towering, glacier-covered mountain range, I felt impossibly small. My overflowing backpack dug into my shoulders and I bounced on my toes, eager to start hiking before the sun rose too far in the summer sky. Supplied with nothing but what we carried on our backs and in our minds, my family and I were about to backpack into the Alaskan wilderness for a week.

Once my dad arrived, we were on our way. I jumped out into the first park that we came to and the fresh new powder exalted me. We then rode over to our friend's cabin to say hello and have a Pepsi. We asked our friend, Bob to come along for the ride and he was delighted to join us. From there we cut across flat lined Twin Lake and then across the untracked Eggleston Lake. To my unpleasant surprise, we approached the lodge, and sleds were buzzing around like crows on road kill. Ten miles down the road I expected to, at least, see some other people riding, but we had the whole mountain to ourselves. We rode from mountain to mountain, crossing open drainages and gigantic playgrounds of snow one after another.

I ran. I ran as fast as my body would let me. I soon made it to the thick forest and hid behind a tree. I needed to just look around me and gauge my surroundings. I didn't see much of anything at first but soon I noticed smoke coming from quite a few directions.

The man knew that his only hope for survival was based around thawing out his icebound legs. This meant that he must build a fire in order reach his intended destination and outlast the Yukon cold. With his fingers and toes on the verge of being frostbitten the man got a fire started. But then it happened. Packs of snow cascaded down the branches of the powdered spruce.

The soaring sandstone cliffs never cease to amaze me. They offer a freedom from everyday life. After being cooped up in a classroom all of January and February, I needed a break. Going to the slot canyons to the east of Zion was the perfect way to start that break. Spring break. Today my uncle Wade, older brother Tyler, and cousin Silver were going to climb cougars cliff, which is near Snow Canyon. This was the third time that I had ever gone rock climbing, so it seems reasonable to attempt the daunting 135 foot cliff. I climbed into a harness. Wade tied a double fisherman’s knot, and then the four of us approached the wall.

“Come on guys! It’s not even a hike anymore, we can walk to the top!” my dad exclaimed, gesturing towards the top of the mountain.

We drive up Twin Peaks. There are a few bold stragglers running toward the top. We drive up Twin Peaks and it is beautiful, you can't see an inch of the city, it is floating in fog. You can see the fog. Dad says we have to come back on a clear day. They built a look-out point up there, but they also stuck a post in the ground on a mound that offered topographical information. I run up the mound, then down, then read.

It started on a chilly February morning at my church’s Youth Camp Retreat, called “Winter Blast”. My friends had tried to persuade me all morning to climb the two-story ropes course, in the barn at the top of the hill.

On March 14, 2014 I, had gone to the Buffalo National River for an overnight solo backpacking excursion. I hiked 7.5 miles, from Steel Creek to Kyle’s Landing, and camped out along the way. What is notable, is that I had never been on a backpacking trip. Nor, had I ever camped out by myself before. It was also the first time that I got the chance to sleep in the Hennessey hammock-tent that was bought years before. The reason this matters, is because previously, I had been unemployed for a year and a half, nearly everything I owned was in the trunk of the car, and I really didn’t have a life that I wanted to go back to. I was also 25lbs greater than I am today, had just quit smoking six months earlier, and was ridiculously out of shape. Nevertheless, I knew deep down in my little soul that if I could survive this trip than I’d have a chance of finding what I was looking for.

From the moment I stepped out of that brand new beige SUV, I was determined. Determined to persevere an entire month of nothing but hiking, hiking and hiking. I love the outdoors; my time in Boy Scouts achieving the rank of Eagle Scout confirmed that, but one month without being inside? One month without air conditioning or the internet? We started our trip, two counselors, three other guys, one girl and I, on what many consider the hardest mountain range of the peaks, the Seward Range. As our first range, having half of the trails damaged from Hurricane Sandy did not help, A swamp cut right through the trail needed to get to the Lean-to we would be staying for the night. This obstacle was only the first of

On Sunday morning, Mum and Dad decided to bring us to toboggan at Lake Mountain. We woke up at 7:45am in the morning, got changed and started our journey to Lake Mountain. As we were driving along Plenty Rd, we stopped at the Bundoora Hungry Jacks for breakfast. Although, the bacon & egg muffin was crispy, it didn't have the same taste as the normal muffin. Despite this, we continued our trip to Lake Mountain. Our adventure to Lake Mountain consisted of many winding roads and narrow roads. After two hours of driving, we reached Fernshaw and the fog was thickening but soon after, we reached Marysville. In Marysville, we hired toboggans and snow boots from the local store. After that, we made our way up the mountain and saw huge piles of snow along the side of the road. On the top of the mountain, we paid a car entry of $57 and parked the car in the car park.

Kate’s family was off again for another annual camping trip; a trip she hadn’t enjoyed since she was a child. Back then they were close and happy but now she had to give up a weekend with her friends to tough it out in the woods. Since she begged not to go that morning they were running late and had to walk up the mountain at a more than average pace. Kate was exhausted so they stopped for a quick break next to a crowd of trees.

“So what do we do? Simply waltz in there and hope they will see us?” He didn’t wish to doubt his father, but everything was riding on this.