Rocky Top Research Paper

“We have a long way to go Julie. We have to push ourselves to reach the site before dark.” While true that I worried about our reaching the site ahead of the dark, my real fear was the pain from the loaded backpack. Ten minutes ago I considered it just a temporary irritation, but now it had grown into a real strain on my back and shoulders, and it was an exertion to walk, even on level ground. Rather than yielding to defeat, I felt it best to travel another mile of two and possibly sedate the pain through a softer hiking stride. Not until I had exhausted every possible option, which included a dose of extra-strength ibuprofen, did I not want to surrender to my pain, or speak to Julie about my problems. Since she was ten, we've completed about 40-day hikes in the Smokies, totaling almost 300 miles, and most of that mileage, if not all, were tougher than any we would encounter on Lakeshore Trail.
Despite reports of significant snow levels at higher elevations, it appeared to be a seasonable day and we chose to complete a day hike to Rocky Top, classified as one of the most strenuous climbs in the park. We climbed seven miles and 3,600 feet, first in the mud, and then in the snow, to reach the summit, only to be greeted by nasty winds and below-freezing temperatures. We were wet, cold, and dirty and it was the closest that I came to both vomiting and collapsing of fatigue on a hike, and the only time that I hallucinated quite a bit. But I never quit the