Those Damn Boulder Fields...

The fun stopped when we reached the boulder fields.

If you look closely, you can see how tiny the people look compared to this massive boulder field, which turned out to be just the first of three that we encountered.

While I saw many people just joyfully skip across these giant rocks (which is what Jimmy did when he arrived behind us), I used my trekking poles to gingerly scope out the flattest bits of the rocks to step on. It was a slow process during which I got increasingly agitated by the lack of ground to step down on.

By the middle of the third boulder field, I’d had enough. I sat down and said I didn’t want to go any further.

It didn’t help that I saw that the trail dipped down before going straight up. Kent was incredibly patient. He very calmly said, “No problem,” but then reminded me that we’d have to retrace our steps across those same boulder fields we’d just crossed. I was suspicious that he was just trying to trick me to the top and then we’d have to retrace our steps anyways.  

Kent then explained that we would be taking an alternative path from the top called the Corridor Route. Another hiker overheard our conversation and confirmed that there was indeed another path accessible from the top and encouraged me not to give up when we were so close to the summit. That was the encouragement I needed to plow on ahead.