Mt. Nebo

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Mt. Nebo. 9.3 miles. 3,589 elevation gain. Hiked October 17, 2020. Zoom on the picture for a better view of the spine between the two peaks.

There are some hikes in the world that you should only do once. And then, there are some hikes I can do over and over again and be quite content. This. Is. Not. One. Of. Them. Leti and I tried to summit Nebo last year, but by the time we got to the first peak, Mt. Nebo was in a cloud. As the weather wasn't great, we pulled off. When we hiked it this year, the weather was great, minus the wind. It was a beautiful day for this hike, but wowza! It was a real test of faith! 

We started up the trail and made great time. We did the first 3.5 miles in under 2 hours. The last 1.5 miles was a learning experience. :) 

To ascend the North Peak, the trail is quite steep. It is .4 miles, but gains 800 ft. of elevation. We took our time and made it up that, no problem. As people came down, we asked them about the trail. Some summited. Some did not. Wind seemed to be an issue. As a general rule, we hike until either Leti or I feel like we shouldn't go on. We have pulled off 4 or 5 hikes with this program, Mt. Nebo being one of them. So, we kept hiking. Prior to getting to the base of the North Peak, we had stopped and prayed. Leti asked for the wind to be stopped. It didn't stop, but it did slow, making it so we could summit. 

Here is Leti at the spine of the hike. We are on top of the North Peak. She is smiling because we are on our way down.

At the spine, Leti and I decided to keep going. The wind was less fierce than those before us had said. And, I kept thinking that I hadn't come this far to come this far. As good fortune would have it, a hiking pair passed us at the spine. They were super helpful to us on the way up, giving us tips as we went. It is a lot easier to follow someone than it is to try to find the trail yourself. We asked several people if the trail was safe, and they all said yes. Looking back, I find that to be a bit of an odd answers. I digress. 

The spine was a bit sketchy, shall we say. For such a skinny little area, there were multiple trails. We asked hikers coming down where we should go, and they gave us all good directions. Once we had crossed the spine, which we were told was the sketchiest part, we kept going. We both drew blood on the last part. I had one glove in my backpack, and Leti had no gloves. The rock was unforgiving, but we managed! My one gloved hand faired better than the other hand, if you can imagine. As we made the final ascent, I kept thinking about the guy who had posted about this hike on alltrails.com. He said just to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Which I did. I finally made it to the top, and thought I would be so relieved. The top was by far the scariest part for me. I was just sitting there looking over the edges! It was terrible. I stood up for one picture, but the rest of the time remained sitting, trying to calm myself! Leti was calmer at the top and could take photos. Also interesting to note, the wind died down at the top. Very strange. 

Here I am at the top. That smile is in fact fake. 100%. I am terrified. In the corner of this picture is the hiking pair that helped us up the last part. Bless them! 

That smile is not fake! Here is Leti standing at the top. You can kind of see the drop off there on her side. Yikes! 

That's the trail we came up. :) 

This is behind us. You can go to another peak, but what's the point really?

And, here are Leti and I at the top. It was really cold. But, look at the views! You can see for miles! Look at Yuba Lake behind us. Very fascinating!

Because I was standing in this picture, it means I was ready to go. The cold and the edges made our stay at the top quite brief. While we were "enjoying" the top, the wind had picked up. So, that added another element of interestingness to the hike. It was the strongest wind I have felt all year! It blew my hat off multiple times. And, it made me a bit unsteady on some of the trickier spots on the descent. But, again, we followed the hiking pair down, and they once again gave us great tips. 

Once we made it passed the spine, we felt home free. But, we did have that .4 miles and 800 feet to go. It took a long time. My knees still hate me today. Neat. And then, at the base of the North Peak, we felt so relieved. Prior to this point, I had not been able to eat. I was calm, but just not interested in food. So, we ate, and headed for home! We also thought we saw mountain goats here. Inasmuch as they didn't move, it was probably just white rocks... The hiking pair did point out mountain goats while we descended the peak. I looked for a second, and then couldn't look over the edge anymore. 

We hiked and hiked and hiked and hiked. And, I think the last 3.5 miles was actually 7 miles. We were so happy we made it to the car! I had previously sent a text to my parents telling them we were hiking Nebo. Dad researched it because of course he did. He said that many said the hike was brutal. We informed him that he was indeed correct. For all of its scariness, it was another hiking adventure in the books. We were so grateful for the hikers around us and the fact that the wind died down. Mt. Nebo in the books.