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Once upon a time I lived in Texas. You might be wondering what that has to do with this post since Hallet Peak is located in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and located just a little bit south-west of Estes Park to be exact. Well, there was a time eight years ago that I attended an internship in Garden Valley, TX and part of the experience here was called "LTEs" or Life Transforming Events. The purpose of these events was to give us awareness of world situations, to think about our theological perspectives and the present state of the world and to help us realize not only the potential but also the limits of our mental and physical capacities. These events ranged from on-campus celebrations to third-world reenactments to a somewhat dumbed-down version of the Marine Corpse's "Hell Week" to, you guessed it, climbing a mountain. You might be asking yourself why and who. “Why would anyone attend a school that subjected you to this kind of bizarre and extreme experience?” Or “Who in their right mind wouldn’t just pack up and go home?” To be honest, this was kind of an extremist, Judeo-Christian, fundamentalist school. So naturally we all felt these were the right kinds of things to do to “get closer to God.” Did it work? I don’t know, but to share one of the best quotes I ever heard “Faith is not about the destination. It’s about the journey” and I’m here to share with you the adventure of that journey.
For this mountain-climbing excursion not just any old hike on any old mountain would do. Oh no, my friends. We would take a 14-hour bus ride first and then trek a 5.2 mile hike up a 12,718 foot mountain for this LTE. And if that wasn’t bad enough, I happened to be in the video department that captured our peers' experiences, so there was gear to carry. Fortunately for us, the entire campus would train for two-weeks prior by conditioning our lungs through mile-long morning runs. Yes, it was a lot. Yes, there were moments where I wanted to quit. Also, yes, there were many points along the hike where I just wanted to sit and bathe in the ambiance of nature and felt we didn’t spend enough time doing so. But the payoff was worth it. The view, incomparable. Having lived in Colorado for 17 years prior to this I had never experienced a more scenically beautiful outing.
We had started our journey in the wee hours of the morning while it was still dark and arrived at our destination sometime mid-day. I regret that we didn't stop and capture more photos along the way. But finally, we arrived. Now, the top of the peak was the hardest. Going from a sea-level environment to 12k feet is no easy feat. The last part of the hike became increasingly difficult as the higher we climbed, the thinner the air became.
What looked like an easy scale of a few feet became a marathon as every few feet we had to stop and catch our breath. But finally, after what seemed like an impossible task, we made it.
From left to right: My sister, me, friend, and friend.
The view looking back.
The coolest part was looking down and seeing the rivers. At one point we saw a large pond that was nestled in the reaches of the mountain.
For a little history and trivia. Hallett Peak was named after William Hallet, who climbed the peaks in the 1800s.
The Arapaho tribe of native Americans called the peak "Thunder Peak, which referenced the frequent storms that happened at the top of the mountain.
You can read more about Hallet Peak here.
Once we had the opportunity to catch our breath, we made our way back down the mountain. There was still plenty to see,
So, if you ever do get the chance to hike this amazing mountain I would highly suggest it.
