The first time I climbed Mount Sneffels, I was seven years old, but I was nine the first time I summited Sneffels. Overall, the mountain seemed daunting, but I knew I could make it. We started early in the morning, and I remembered my dad told my brother and me that we got chocolate after the hike; we were sold! We climbed Sneffels in the summer, and we loved passing snowfields that weren’t melted yet. I felt as though we had a fast pace and enjoyed getting to look at all of the colorful flowers. We sang songs as we hiked and played the alphabet game to pass the time. The hardest part of the climb was crossing a giant boulder field, but my mom had a trick to get me through it in good spirits. Once we got to the saddle, I felt so close. The scariest part of the climb was the last stretch where you are very high up and close to the edge, and I will admit that I cried. Once we got to the top, I stopped crying, and I was so happy to be up there. We took a break and enjoyed the view, which was unforgettable! The climb down seemed to go by fast and relatively painless. My favorite part of the hike was the race between my dad and brother and me back to the car. I felt very accomplished afterward and said that I loved hiking, but I knew I would take back my words the next time we were headed up a big mountain. I will forever remember this experience and will recreate the climb once again. I want to thank my parents for taking me to hike a fourteener at a young age to carry that on as I get older. I would also like to thank my parents for taking me outside of my comfort level, so I don’t live a life in a bubble of fear. Climbing Mount Sneffels impacted my life, and I am forever grateful for it.
