In my life, I have been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to do many things that many people cannot say that they have done. One of these experiences was being able to climb Mount Washington a couple summers ago. This hike gave me the chance to not only view the world in a different light but, also myself in a way that I had not seen myself before.

In March of 2016, my best friend Emma had asked me to accompany her on a three-day hike in the upcoming June through some of the Presidential Range and Mount Washington. Of course, I said “yes!” because going on a hike with my best friend was something that seemed like an overall great time.

Mount Washington is located in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and standing at 6,288 feet it is the tallest mountain in New England. The thought of this, when I had first heard of how high this mountain was kind of scared me. I wasn’t someone who had a lot of familiarity with hiking, just a few of the trails in Maine prior to this hike. Being me though, I always love a challenge and for the time in my life, the summer right before senior year started, this sounded like the perfect challenge.

The very first thing that I remember about this hike, was the process of preparing myself for it. Going shopping for the extensive list of essentials I given by my friend’s dad, was an experience in itself. I remember when shopping for a backpack, the salesperson pulled out this bag that was around two and a half feet, and I was in complete shock. In no way did I think I would ever have enough things to pack to fill a bag that large. I ended up needing every little space in that bag, with the amount of gear, food, and water I would need for a three-day hike.

When Emma, her dad, and I arrived at the mountain it was around 11 in the morning and perfectly sunny. It was neither too hot or too warm, perfect hiking weather. We began at Pinkham Notch and started on the Old Jackson Road Trail to the Madison Gulf Trail. This began our first day of hiking to an elevation of 4,825 feet and was a hike that lasted around 7 hours.

The first hour and a half of hiking was arguably one of the most challenging things I had ever done. Getting used to the feel of walking in hiking boots, as well as adjusting to the climbing elevation were two things when combined made me feel like I wasn’t going to be able get to the first destination on our hike. The trail was incredibly scenic and the smell of the air was so clean, which made up for the feeling like I was going to collapse.

At one point, we approached an incline that was almost completely 90 degrees. I had not realized how intimidating climbing up that was, until halfway up the incline I had looked behind me. What was behind me when I looked, though incredibly beautiful, was scary.

I felt so insignificant, the amount of nature that surrounded me was so vast, and not like something I had ever seen before. This feeling was humbling, I had never understood until this moment what it felt like to be completely surrounded by nature, and it felt surreal. After making it up this incline, we soon reached the hut on Mount Madison, where we would be staying. That night, after our day-long journey I fell into a deep sleep feeling very accomplished with the amount I had hiked that day.

The next day on the mountain we planned to hike to the summit of Mount Washington. For this, we took the Gulf Side Trail and again the weather was perfect, completely sunny neither too hot or too cold. This day, I learned the important lesson of sunscreen because when we had reached the summit of the mountain, Emma and I had realized we were sunburned to a crisp.

At the summit of Mount Washington, the view was completely incredible and being at the top of such a tall peak, just looking down at the Earth around me. I came to realize how important nature is. Clean air is what stood out to me on the summit, the air where I am from in Warwick, Rhode Island is absolutely nothing like this air.

Again, this experience was humbling because here I realized how important it was to take care of the Earth. I wanted my own hometown’s air to smell like this completely new air I was exposed to. We departed the summit and began our journey to the next hut.

The hut that we stayed in that night was called “Lake of the Clouds,” an appropriate name for it because it was located right next to two gorgeous lakes that were etched into the side of the mountain. Before eating dinner we went swimming in one of the lakes to cool down our sunburnt bodies. Never in my life did I think I would have the chance to swim in a lake at the top of a mountain. Again, a feeling of insignificance arose inside me.

I just couldn’t wrap my head around the concept that I was part of this whole world and I was so small compared to everything around me. Before sleeping that night, we watched the sunset from an outlook next to the hut, and soon the stars came out and it was a truly magical moment. The night sky was clear, and the stars felt like they were just right there, like you could reach out and touch them.

Going to sleep that night, I was overwhelmed with the beauty I had experienced that day. Until the moment right before falling asleep, I suddenly appreciated how important nature and the Earth were. The next day soon came, our last day of hiking. This feeling was bittersweet, I was excited to return home and sleep in my own bed, but at the same time, I wanted to experience more of the range.

After a full day of hiking, our journey came to a close and we were heading back to Warwick, Rhode Island. The whole car ride home, we reflected on the hike and recalled our favorite moments from it.

Hiking to the summit of the tallest mountain in New England gave me a newfound appreciation for the world around me. Not only did it bring me closer to my best friend, but it also brought me closer to the Earth. Although the trail was challenging at times, with steep inclines and harsh sunburns I had made it through and was able to say “I did that!”

Having this experienced changed my life in many different ways, one of these being that I now believe that no challenge is too great for me to overcome. The mountain taught me the lessons of humbleness and awareness of my surroundings, lessons that I do not believe I could’ve learned anywhere else. I now see myself as a person who understands the importance of the Earth.