Honestly, in coming to Scotland I was unsure as to what I should expect. I figured we would do some sightseeing and typical touristy things but THIS experience was the mother of all sightseeing or touristy experiences. According to Emily’s pedometer it took roughly 20,000 steps to the top and back down to the bottom of Goatfell Mountain.
Two years ago I started making a really detailed “bucket list” of the things I want to accomplish in my life. I look over it often and ironically enough during my, earlier mentioned, treacherous flight to Newark I looked over it again. The first thing I put on that list two years ago was to “hike up or climb up a mountain”.
I’m a firm believer in how you think you control all aspects of your environment. For instance, if you let the negative chatter sink in and cloud your mind, you will have a hard time overcoming or achieving anything exciting because as everyone knows, the best things in life come with adversity. At the start of what would be this five hour and forty-five minute hike up a 2,866 foot slope I made the promise to myself that I would make it up to the top no matter what I had to do.
Half way up I realized that I was doing better than I thought. The hike hadn’t seemed that difficult. There was some beautiful scenery when passing through the forest and the further up we got the prettier it seemed to be. At certain points during the hike I would realize just how tired and sore I was until I remember just how bad I wanted to see the view at the top and even more how I wanted to be able to say that I did it.
The slopes did get steeper and the rocks did get higher, but no matter how narrow the path I kept going.
We made several friends on our hike up. The most memorable, who’s name we didn’t catch, was a very fit guy who I would guess is in his late forties. The few words exchanged between he, Emily, Erin, and I were about his training for a race through the Alps. The expression in his eyes even made me tired when he said that he would be hiking up Goatfell twice that day. I should probably mention that he made it up and down before we made it to the top. Nevertheless even after dozens of breaks we finally got to the top. It was a solid 20 degrees cooler than it had been at the bottom. I through my book bag down and my arms up in the air then I realized my eyes began to fill with tears. I did it.
Tara
[Check out my video to see our adventure!]
Two years ago I started making a really detailed “bucket list” of the things I want to accomplish in my life. I look over it often and ironically enough during my, earlier mentioned, treacherous flight to Newark I looked over it again. The first thing I put on that list two years ago was to “hike up or climb up a mountain”.
I’m a firm believer in how you think you control all aspects of your environment. For instance, if you let the negative chatter sink in and cloud your mind, you will have a hard time overcoming or achieving anything exciting because as everyone knows, the best things in life come with adversity. At the start of what would be this five hour and forty-five minute hike up a 2,866 foot slope I made the promise to myself that I would make it up to the top no matter what I had to do.
Half way up I realized that I was doing better than I thought. The hike hadn’t seemed that difficult. There was some beautiful scenery when passing through the forest and the further up we got the prettier it seemed to be. At certain points during the hike I would realize just how tired and sore I was until I remember just how bad I wanted to see the view at the top and even more how I wanted to be able to say that I did it.
The slopes did get steeper and the rocks did get higher, but no matter how narrow the path I kept going.
We made several friends on our hike up. The most memorable, who’s name we didn’t catch, was a very fit guy who I would guess is in his late forties. The few words exchanged between he, Emily, Erin, and I were about his training for a race through the Alps. The expression in his eyes even made me tired when he said that he would be hiking up Goatfell twice that day. I should probably mention that he made it up and down before we made it to the top. Nevertheless even after dozens of breaks we finally got to the top. It was a solid 20 degrees cooler than it had been at the bottom. I through my book bag down and my arms up in the air then I realized my eyes began to fill with tears. I did it.
Tara
[Check out my video to see our adventure!]