My alarm rang repeatedly until I had enough effort to shut it off. It was 7 am of the day my friend and I were going to climb the mountain “Flatiron.” I rolled out of bed, pulled and tugged my clothes on, brushed my hair and teeth, and packed up my bag to meet my friend Cal downstairs for breakfast.

I ate oatmeal while Cal had some eggs and toast. I filled both of our waters for us along with snacks and a lunch to eat once we made it to the top of the mountain. We gathered our things and headed out the door.

We hopped in the car, and I felt the excitement rush through my body. We played some music and enjoyed the beautiful view of the Arizona desert in front of us.

We pulled into the national park and hopped out of the car to look at the mountain. It was beautiful. It stood there gleaming in the sun, blue backdrop behind it, with groups of clouds hovering above it. From where we were standing it looked like a long haul, but we were ready for it.

We started up the mountain, and for a long duration of the time we were curving through the desert. It almost felt as if we weren't getting anywhere and the mountain was getting further and further from us.

We made it to the more difficult part of the mountain which required climbing. I looked up before I took a step, and saw the beautiful, curved, perfectly drawn out path ahead of us leading to the top. I could see the flat piece of the mountain peeking out behind the rocks. Cal and I took a deep breath and began our ascent.

While we climbed, we would take a big step, then grab a rock above to pull us up. As we got higher and higher, my muscles became sore. All the rocks began to look the same and feel the same. They were cold, hard, and all a little unsteady. I held my breath every tug we took. I could feel the air getting thinner, my lungs getting weaker, and my muscles starting to feel like noodles.

We took a water break right before we got to the steepest part of the climb to catch our breath. I looked up and saw rocks piled on top of each other. Each rock stuck out disproportionately.

After our water break, we began climbing again. This time, the gaps between the rocks were larger, so for me, being short made it a lot harder to maneuver my way up the rocks.