Kendra’s Pike’s Peak Challenge (abbreviated)
Kenz and mom, Karen
Kendra Lee headed up Pike's Peak
In September our wonderful Kendra took part in the Pike’s Peak Challenge, an event associated with the Brain Injury Association of Colorado. We want to share a bit of her story with you. We are so proud of you, Kenz!!!!
We started off in the dark. 4 am wake up and across the street to registration then on a shuttle to the trail head. Everyone had on headlamps and backpacks and a very good attitude to start off with. It was really cool to see all the little spots of light going up and up. The first three miles are discouraging because they are steep. It was really cold and the forecast called for possible snow. 7 miles up, we hit Barr camp which is where you decide if you want to keep going or turn back. It was getting really cold. Just as we were getting ready to start up again, a trail staff member came down with his walkie talkie and bad news. There was a 50% chance that we would get turned around at A-Frame, three more miles up making our hike 20 miles instead of 13 and making us unable to summit the Peak. Those three miles between Barr Camp and A-Frame just dragged. Our spirits were deflated and our muscles were aching and it was almost entirely steep uphill. I don’t really know how we did it. Just one step at a time.As the trees were starting to thin out, we turned the corner and were greeted with a very exuberant “WELCOME TO A-FRAME!” Judy asked the man if he had any bad news for us. He said “Just that you have to hike three more miles”. We were so excited, but unfortunately, Mom was beginning to feel sick. We got her checked out and continued on our way.
Let me just tell you what lies on Pikes Peak above tree line. It sort of looks like you are on the moon. For that first mile after A-Frame, there is some vegetation and grass mixed in with the huge brown boulders but soon that dissipates. There was fog and, of course, there was snow. At mile 12, mom was so sick she wasn’t keeping up with us anymore. Judy told me to keep going and not to stop. She said they’d see me again at the top. So I went on by myself with light hail falling around me. It was really hard at first. I was scared about Mom and scared about the hike and tired but somehow I kept going. Judy caught up to me at the next check stand and told me that Mom was hiking up on oxygen with the medics.
The last mile is called the 16 golden stairs. That was the only time I felt like giving up. I could hardly even make myself go one step further although I was less vocal about it than some others around us. It didn’t help of course that you could hear them cheering at the top but couldn’t see them through the fog and couldn’t seem to reach them even as you kept climbing. That was the longest half mile of my life. finally, we reached three women who were whooping and hollering. They high-fived us and put medals on us and sang “You’re on the top of the world lookin’ down on creation!” A woman up there gave me a hug and I almost cried with a sense of relief and accomplishment. They took our picture by the banner and we went inside for soup. Mom did make it up in roughly one piece. I, unfortunately, got altitude sick when I got to the top. We each got some oxygen, a useless shot of Phenergan (anti-nausea), and shuttled back down.Though I say very seriously “never again,” it was a once in a lifetime experience. It was amazing. And I couldn’t have done it without you. Not just your money but mostly your support.
If you can take anything from my story, I want it to be “thank you” but also, mountains are climbed with the courage to put one foot in front of the other. No matter what difficulties you face in life, you have within you the strength to pull through and summit! Thank you again. I love you all. Go climb those mountains!
