Just go, C!
I'm Charity, a proud auntie, wine lover, semi-nerd, and dreamer who can't stay in one place for too long.
Ladies and gents, I feel that there should be certain exceptions made for using the F bomb appropriately and this HAS to be one of them: I FUCKING HIKED THE TONGARIRO ALPINE CROSSING. Edit for the LOTR fans: I FUCKING HIKED THROUGH MORDOR. This may not mean much to you right now, but here are some statistics to give you a bit of an idea of what I went through: Total distance: 19.4 km (or 12 miles) Altitude: varying up to around 1900m (or 6200-6300 ft) Temperature: varying down to below freezing with wind chills Winds: up to gale force at the peaks I had absolutely NO idea what I was getting myself into. Remember the other day when I bragged about hiking Mt. Maunganui? Yeah, that was a gentle stroll over a speed bump compared to this. It all started just fine and dandy, pretty easy hike, and somehow I got the idea that it was going to be like this much of the way. Innocent enough, right? It was all well and good until I got to the first REAL climb. There was a sign posted before the ascent - clearly directed at me. "STOP. ARE YOU CERTAIN YOU'RE FIT ENOUGH TO HIKE THE TONGARIRO ALPINE CROSSING?" Seriously! That's what it said!! And holy cow, were the alarms ever going off in my head. "Am I fit enough?!? AM I?!?!?? Oh God. What if I die?? WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING HERE?!??! I'M GOING TO DIE IN MORDOR!!!" All of this must have been showing on my face, as well, because a man from Holland named Willam came up to me. "You okay?" "Ha! Yeah, just a little intimidated right now."* (* understatement of the year) "Are you doubting yourself?" "Yes. Yes I am." "You can do it. Come on." And that, friends, was exactly what I needed to hear. I climbed up not only that mountain, but three more excruciating ones that followed. It was the MOST physically challenging thing I've ever done in my life. And each time I climbed a mountain, I thought, ok this is it, this HAS to be the last one. It wasn't. HA! The climbs themselves were very challenging, but add on the bitter cold and wind gusts powerful enough to knock you on your ass at the higher elevations, it was incredibly taxing. Several times I would stop and look back at how far I'd come (as in the above photos). This was hugely motivating for me. This is something I don't do often enough in my everyday life. I tend to look at how much I still have left to do, how much fixing of myself I need to accomplish, instead of how much I've already changed and how far I've already come. I caught up with Willam later in the trek and he gave me a huge high five. At the end of the hike, I thanked him for his words of encouragement. They were honestly the difference between me doing that hike and giving up. The Emerald Lakes The Red Crater Mount Ngauruhoe (better known as Mt. Doom from LOTR) Me at the summit of one of the climbs. Photo credit: Willam from Holland
10 Comments
Slovia Gabay-Crichton
12/7/2016 03:45:52 pm
Love to read about your adventures.
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Natasha
12/7/2016 04:05:16 pm
A-f*cking mazing!!! Soooo proud to call you my friend!!! Keep the inspiration coming sister...you're the best!!!
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Adrienne Cusick
12/7/2016 04:42:07 pm
Holy SHIT!!!! Way to go and thank goodness for encouragement from William!! These are gorgeous pictures too! What a feat!!!
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Lindsay
12/7/2016 04:13:32 pm
That is so awesome!!! Such a great mentality to keep looking at how far you've come instead of what's left to come. Great job!
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Jake
12/7/2016 05:31:14 pm
Wow Charity I feel like I'm watching YOU as a character in LOTR now! It's like you're in a different world... So interesting. Stay strong and keep goin!
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Linda Ferreira
12/7/2016 06:05:04 pm
The world needs more Williams. So happy for you. Wow, Mordor...amazing.
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Tina
12/7/2016 07:12:36 pm
CHARITY!!! You are my HERO!!!
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Derek
12/7/2016 11:11:04 pm
Charity... my precious 😆Holy crap dude, this is awesome! I can picture you giving the most epic high five and what you must have felt at that moment. Props to William too (perhaps Gandalf?)
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Jenn Lake
12/11/2016 07:29:17 am
I am so proud of you and excited for you! You are doing something sooooo amazing!!! I would love to hike through Mordor!!!!!!!!
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Bela
3/4/2017 05:58:19 pm
Thank God for the Williams in this world!
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AuthorHi! I'm Charity. I'm from Omaha, Nebraska, USA. I quit my job in October 2016 to travel the world. Archives
June 2022
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