18 Mile Hike

A picture of the Peak. We couldn't make it all the way to the top because there was snow at the switch backs right below the peak :(. So we hiked all that way and didn't even get to sign the book. Bummer!

In Las Vegas the 4th year hike is on a separate weekend from the week of girls camp. So 2 weeks before girls camp our alarm clocks went off Saturday morning at 4:30 am. 2 of our young women; Miranda and Ciara, plus Sister Davis and I met up with 40+ other girls and headed up to the mountains to meet our fate; the Mount Charleston Peak :). We had heard this was a pretty serious hike...18 miles to be exact. It definitely proved to be just as we thought; HARD. It's the highest peak in southern NV, you ascend over 4,100 feet in elevation. The first 2 miles were super hard, especially with 150 oz of water on my back. I think around mile 3 or 4 I ditched my frozen camelback in a tree; the water was frozen and was extra weight. We hiked and hiked for what felt like forever! Miranda and Ciara left us in the dust, but not with out dancing circles around us for the first 2 miles. Finally we told Ciara to just go :).

I got a couple blisters in the first few miles but a little mole skin helped out. Going down was pretty tough especially the last 2-3 miles. It was uncomfortable to walk down because it was so steep. I ended up jogging down a lot of it because that seemed more comfortable on my knees. We all made it down at different times, I was down at 4pm. Some were down by 2:30pm and others around 6pm. When we got down, I took my shoes off and my big toe started to hurt. Which seemed weird because it wasn't bothering me on the hike. Over the next few days my toe swelled up and turned black and blue. I had to cut open my toe around the nail to release the pressure (lovely huh!). It healed but now I am just waiting for my toe nail to fall off :(.

After the hike I said I'd never do that again! But now I think I might do it again next year :)