Some introspection on recent hikes

So, that nasty Gray's Peak hike I wrote about a while ago? I've hiked quite a bit since then, some with Tim and Heather, some with just Heather. Some longer distances, some higher and lower altitudes.

3 or 4 weeks ago, Heather and I hiked Gray's peak again. We made it to the top, it was fantastic. I took tons of pictures. It was truly an epic victory. I fully intended to write about it, because it is a damn good story.

But I just can't. I've already gotten out of the experience everything that I needed, and internally, writing about it adds nothing for me at this point. So instead of writing about it, I thought I'd write about writing about it.

I guess when I started the hiking, I didn't realize it, but I was using the mountains to push my own boundaries and conquer my own limitations. There were some easy hikes, but they were just for fun. Most of the hikes had an unusual challenge of some sort: descending in pitch black after sunset; almost getting hit by lightning (this happened often it seems); being hailed on. And each time, I refused to accept defeat. I pushed myself beyond what I thought I could do, and I left another part of me behind that says "I can't do that" when facing a challenge.

But I feel like I've reached the limitations of these adventures. With Gray's Peak, I did what it took, and I won. And then the week after I camped for 3 days and 3 nights with Tim & Heather at the sand dunes, and again almost got hit by lightning, and got hailed on.

My point is, the last 2 trips were far more epic than our first attempt at Gray's, but I don't feel any different after them. They're just things I did. They were challenging, but not internally.

They were closure.