Overcoming Myself - La Plata Peak

Turkey Jerky? check. PB&J? check. Trail mix? check. Snickers bar x2? check. Cliff Bar? check. 4 course dinner? check. The list goes on… 

I had a decent amount of food in my backpack that day and if I had my way, not a single bite of it would have been eaten!! Luckily that did not hold true. Lets rewind…

Several years ago I set out to hike La Plata Peak with my brother. He had been living inside the front range mountains for years doing various, awesome jobs: ski patrol, fire mitigation, bike patrol, etc…. I was still a flatlander, not moving to Colorado until 2017.

As a novice hiker making my way up my first fourteen thousand foot summit, I would learn a very valuable lesson that I still think about to this day: DON’T ruin it for yourself. Now this could look different for each person. But for me, in my quest to hike big trails, maintaining my energy levels with proper nutrition has always been my biggest battle. Asking myself to stop and take in some food would be a hard lesson for me to learn. As I’ve began to seriously hike and take on bigger trails, my ‘trail nutrition’ soon became a focus of mine and has gone from a weakness, to a much welcomed strength. 

So back to the trail. We hiked in the day before and set up camp by the creek a couple of miles from the trailhead. The next morning we would start out before sunrise and summit La Plata. 

It was June 28th at 4:40 am. I notoriously have abundant energy in the morning. I am a morning person and early starts do not phase me. But on this day we left early enough for me not to eat breakfast at camp. I was relying on the (near) 32lbs of food in my pack to fuel me. This would have been an okay idea but when we began our hike, we proceeded at a pace that would have impressed the local mountain goats. I found myself quickly out of breath and working hard, not quite the time for stuffing my face with food, but enjoying the beautiful trail.

A mile from camp and we were cruising up the climb. I was nervous for what this trail would bring, but I was feeling great at the higher altitude and in good spirits. When my partners stopped for a picture a chat and a bite to eat, I did not even think about eating, drank some water and took a rest. This was the first moment that my brother asked me to eat something. “Hey Jason, you gonna eat some of that food you brought!?” - I laughed, “Im good for now.” He already knew what was coming, because over the years he had become accustomed to my eating habits when I was in a nervous or exciting situation. 

Fast Forward -- 2 more miles, up another 1800 feet -- we’re past tree line and I'm starting to fade. Still with no food in me for the day I began to move like a zombie. My brother, now being impacted by my stubbornness, had asked me to eat that entire stretch as I got slower and slower. He even offered me some of his food, as if my ample snacks were not sufficient. I got aggravated at all the advice (and good intention). I was upset that I couldn't move faster. On a beautiful day and a perfect summit day, I felt like I was pulling a carriage behind me. 

The trail never let up and I got slower and slower. Finally I stopped. If I couldn't hike any better than this, I wasn't going to hike, so I had a seat. Above treeline on La Plata is remarkable, and this is where I decided my summit would be. I sat down by myself and accepted that I was done climbing for the day. My brother, who knew I was frustrated and could have easily finished the hike at that point, sat down and waited for my next move. 

15 minutes of silence. 5 minutes of small talk. In total - 20 minutes of feeling sorry for myself, looking at the beautiful La Plata County sky scape. Having calmed myself and caught my breath I decided to eat that PB&J sandwich. Now you would've thought that God parted the clouds and shone down his very own glorious light on me at that moment. It could've been God, but I’m pretty sure it was just the sandwich. God had bigger fish to fry that day. Next the snickers and the jerky got pummeled. 

After another 15 minutes or rest, and some food in me I popped back up to start moving again. My brother said something along the lines of “you look better, lets finish this” and so we turned upward and began again.

Now granted my pack was lighter due to the amount of food that was just removed from it, but I felt better than I had felt all morning. Even at the start. We made quick work of the rest of the mountain. We descended back down to camp and had a good meal that night. 

Around the fire my hiking partners all honestly shared that they thought there was no way I was going to make it up the mountain when I sat down up there above tree line. Im thankful to have had patient hiking partners that day who reminded me of the essential things I needed in order to complete my hiking goal. 

I now take food for myself and anyone else that may be having a difficult day out there… share the love my friends. 

Happy Trails… :) 

Jason McEwen