For those of you that don’t know, the Tetons is the mountain range that is closest to where I live. I absolutely LOVE the Tetons! They are so unique, and have so many opportunities to push yourself. I have always wanted to do a hike called “Table Rock”. All summer,my husband and I kept talking about wanting to hike it. Every time we planned to go hike it, we had something come up. One day it rained, another time we had a mini emergency come up. This summer with all of the wildfires in California and other areas, the smoke ended up coming over to Idaho. Several times we went to go hike Table Rock, but when we got there we realized that when we got to the top, it would be too smoky for us to even see the view. Eventually, summer ended and school started. I was really disappointed to realize that my window for hiking this peak was closing rapidly. Winter generally starts early in Idaho, meaning anything with elevation tends to be covered in snow before long.
I looked out the window during one of my classes, and I realized that after my morning class the next day, I was free for the afternoon. Because it was during school, my husband had classes and labs to attend. I decided that this would be my last opportunity to hike it for the summer, so I geared up to do this by myself. I’ve done solo adventures before, but nothing like this. This is an 11 mile hike, that is straight up a mountain. The elevation gain is about 4,146 feet. I’ve done a lot of hard hikes, but I knew this one was going to be a doozy. I was nervous to accomplish such a hard hike, but my excitement for the challenge won out.
The hike started up hill, and in a grove of aspens. As I kept going, I took frequent breaks to admire the scenery around me.
This was one of the hardest hikes I have ever done! It was straight uphill for 2-3 miles, and then it flattened out to an uphill kind of grade. When I got to this point, I knew that the end was just around the corner. Instead of pushing through, I actually took a long break. After a while, I got back up and decided to finish and get to the top. The views definitely paid off!
When I got to the top, I felt such a strong wave of accomplishment! I did it! I overcame my fear of hiking alone on such a hard hike, and I pushed through till the top!
I stayed at the top for such a long time! I couldn’t get enough of the beauty and majesty of the Tetons. I wanted to soak up every last drop of the bright sun while sitting at the base of such amazing mountains.
This was such an amazing experience. I definitely had a lot of personal growth from this experience. I also got a lot closer to my bear spray! Just because you’re hiking alone does not mean that the dangers around will disappear! I made sure to bring along literally everything I could possibly need. Having so much safety gear helped me to feel a lot more comfortable and like I could take care of myself if I needed to.
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This also helped me to feel a lot of comfort in other areas of my life. I felt that because I had been able to conquer this mountain, I could conquer any mountain in my daily life, such as school or work. That’s one of the things that I love the most about being in nature. It brings peace, and it brings confidence.
Accomplishing this dream of mine was a life-changing experience. I hope that all of you can have, and continue to have, experiences similar to this one! Best of luck out there! Don’t forget to go and dive into those wild moments!
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