Shasta 2017
“Sadly, this was a love, hate adventure. My first experience in mountaineering. In this backpacking expedition, I done extensive research. I went to classes. I printed itineraries from various resources. I even read my favorite travel book from Andrew Skurka: his guide to multi-climate adventures. I was scared to approach this mountain, but I was blessed to have friends who were up for the test. I was surprised. All of them were definitely prepared. At this point, I considered these guys a true team, especially for future plans. The hike however was a slap on the face. We faced record snow. We battled through slushy, excruciating snow, limited sleep within 2-3 days (I didn’t sleep at all for 2 days), the night was very cold, and we didn’t hike early enough to reach the summit. Yes, we did not make the top. This isn’t the first time I quit. I quit my first attempts on Mt. Langley and Mt. Whitney, in which I had my redemption. I hate to redo this one tho, due to it’s remote location up north, facing another long trip, but it is truly a beast I would love to tame. My photos however was a struggle to capture. I ended up just resorting to my LG G5 camera phone. The hassle of climbing a very steep, 35 degree mountain slope for 6 hours was starting to hurt. It was a struggle to even carry my light camera on a very wet environment for me, as a first timer. Next time, you will definitely see a different story. ”