poppet and the pea: The Whistlers

So that last post? You know, me complaining about some dinky little hike with a slight elevation? That, my friends, was a CAKE WALK compared to what we got ourselves into later that weekend. See, there's a mountain in Jasper called The Whistlers. Sounds ominous right off the bat. There's a gondola that takes seven minutes to reach the top. At the top, you can enjoy the view, walk around, and even do a decent hike up to a higher elevation to The Summit.

Here's what went down.

We decide that gondolas are for the weak and we're going to just take the ride up, and then hike down. Win win! We get the view, a little hike at the top, and then a long, but not so grueling, hike back down to the bottom. Great plan, right?

Sneak Peak

Well. The devils working at this place have it all figured out. They charge you full price to ride up/walk down, but it's half price to hike up and ride down. Fancy that. Of course now we just have no options. Not only are we just super adventurous, we're also cheap, and will NOT give them the satisfaction of ripping us off. So, decision made. The last gondola down departs at 5:30. It's 1:50. It takes 3-5 hours to hike to the top. Add one pregnancy and you could conclude that we will not be making it to the top of this mountain. Compromise? Let's hike halfway up, hope for a decent view for some pics, then hike down. Wonderful!

Wait for it.

I don't know why they even bother sugar coating these deals. Why can't they just have a nice big sign right up front that says, "Would you like to turn your legs to Jello and feel your heart bust through your chest? Then please, spend the next 3-5 hours climbing exclusively uphill, over rocks, through bear-inhabited wilderness FOR FUN." Do I sound bitter? I'm really trying to be a bit more "glass half full" on this blog, but I think this post may just need to be a teensy exception.

So.

Here we go, on a pleasant, uphill stroll. Not bad, took lots of breaks, had some water, paced ourselves, chatted about babies, enjoyed the view, all while carrying every single one of our layers that we didn't need because of the unusually nice weather. Fun, right?

Some rocky bits

After some rocky terrain, more switchbacks, maybe 10 minutes of blissful level ground, we reached what we figured was halfway, where we crossed under the gondola. Feeling tired and hungry (what else is new), I felt pretty good about getting halfway and suggested we turn around. Someone else thought differently. "We're so close to the top!" "I bet we're more than halfway." "It's maybe another hour, tops, we'll make it in time for sure."

Are. You. Serious.

Here's the thing. In this sort of situation, I know I'm fighting a losing battle. My headstrong baby daddy wanted to get to the top. This really fuels the fire. I know the only way to finish this hike is now to get to the top. So I take off. Amazing how much energy is generated by frustration! Off we went, up and up and up, me smacking my hiking pole against each rock, scarin' bears. It was a silent good part of an hour, other than my insanely loud breathing.

Our last "let's actually think about taking some nice photos" photo.

The altitude and chilling weather made the air thinner and thinner and as the sky got darker, I really started to think how stupid this idea was. I'll save you from the even more long winded account of our treacherous final ascent... It was pretty bad. I was honestly pretty terrified we weren't going to make it in time. The sun turned into cloud, forest turned into a barren, rocky, steep incline, and before we knew it, we were being pelted with crazy winds and freezing rain (apparently it was snowing at the summit). My legs have never been so sore in my life. I literally felt like I couldn't take another step, which was NOT an option seeing as the clock was ticking down and I could vividly picture us finally reaching the top only to see the last gondola pull away. THANKFULLY, we bolted into the station with time to spare, and after a few quick (gross) photos, downed a bowl of hot soup which was probably the most fantastic thing I'd ever tasted. I now regret not taking more photos, or some video, of this adventure, but in our end panic, bringing out the camera in the pouring rain was the last thing on our minds.