I woke up with the natural sunlight blinding my pupils; the sight of the dust rushing through the air looked like floating glitter. I still had the same allergenic red eyes, still had the stuffy nose, and still had the ringing ear. I never got sick. The last time I was sick I was 6. Four years later, I was there thinking why I let this take over . The 6 hour plane ride over to Oregon got me, and I was paying the price. Crawling out of the firm guest bed was rough considering I was sore, everywhere. I strutted down the windy stairs, feeling worse than ever. I missed a step, and fell down with a heep. I see my dad outside, on the porch looking out at our near future. I opened the door, it seemed to be heavy. My dad said to me ¨Mornin, you see that right there? By the end of the day, we will be up there.¨ He was talking about the outlined shape of Mt. Hood in the distance. From where I’m standing, the sky was a light pink and blue, I hear a breeze in the trees, but it is muted from the loud noise in my ear. I was thinking to myself, how am I going to hike this mountain?

At first, I was not ok with this, I explained to him that I was sick but he insisted we were going in an hour. I hadn’t prepared for this mentally yet, and I definitely wasn’t prepared physically. I went back up the stairs, flopped on my bed, with no hope of feeling better. I stayed there for at least 30 minutes staring at the clock. Minute by minute. Lying there made me notice things I wouldn’t have before — the white paint on the ceiling, the old boxes, the scent of the blankets. It was all new, yet familiar. I hear a knock on the door, it wasn’t necessary because he walked in anyways. ¨Hey Ry, you ready to go?¨ my dad said gesturing to go down the twisted staircase. Is this real? Or am I just thinking the worst? I tell to myself as I hunch up with emphasis, then walk out of the room.

I got on my clean new boots, which I had just bought for the trip and I was proud of, got my small backpack, and got in the car. Right behind me was a nice dog named Cona. Cona was in the trunk, but it wasn’t closed off. Occasionally he would come over and lick me on the cheek. Cona made feel a little more comfortable. I hope he doesn’t run off I thought to myself. I was in a negative mind set, so I was thinking the worst. The windy, off road ride to the mountain was unsettling for my vulnerable stomach. After a 10 minute drive, we arrived at the utterly large base of the mountain. My self confidence was down the drain for thinking I could conquer this; knees weak, butterflies in my stomach, and a heavy neck.

When we started hiking up we realized there were different stages in the mountain. The first one was an all burned out forest. The ashes covered the ground and the old staggered trees stood hunched, lacked life. I was in wow because I had never seen anything like it. My eyes opened wide to gaze. By then I had a slight feeling of comfort, but it was only a tease. A little taste of feeling better, but I brushed it off the first time. The negativity was still attached to me. Once we got out of the cindered area, it was much brighter and more lush with colors. The change in atmosphere was drastic. We walked through the tall absurdly green grass, which enlightened me. There were no trees were I was in that moment. It looked liked they had been pushed to the side, like they were making way for me. That wasn’t true, but it was ok with me. Science wouldn’t work like that, I whispered in my head. Suddenly, the ringing in my ear was gone. I dashed over to my dad and told him. He said ¨must be the change in altitude.¨ I had a feeling it was something greater, but I wasn’t sure at the time.

Cona ran over to me since I was ahead, he nudged me in the leg and gestured to go back to where ever one else was. We had a race. It was refreshing to feel new air in my lungs. The view from where we were was amazing already, but I kept going. The grass started to fade, it turned into gravel rocks, the incline got much steeper and there weren’t any more trees, just sky behind our heavy packs. My pain started to fade away completely.  It started in my fingertips, then made its way inside and out of my body. Time seemed to stop in that moment because nothing was moving around me, not the snow farther up, not the wind level with my face, not the clouds in the sky. Nothing. All bad thoughts of sickness were gone. This was the first time in my life I was completely satisfied with my well being. I squinted my tired eyes out ahead. It didn’t matter what I was looking at, but I knew I could conquer it at that moment.