Day 4 - Mountains are easy!

Mountains are easy, it's the passes that are difficult.

We woke up next to the rushing flow of the Zig Zag River ready to take on the challenge of climbing Mt. Hood. Everyone had been telling is how challenging the 7 mile trek up would be, but we were prepared and ready.

As we climbed, we stopped at different times to take photos. "Man, you can't capture this!" Catey exclaimed after looking at a picture she had taken.  And boy, was she right.

The joy of climbing the mountain was going to be made even better as we would coast down the other side and slide into Warm Springs.

When we finally made it to the top, we captured the moment with a photo. I even called my parents to tell them of our accomplishment (man I love my family).

We coasted down Mt. Hood, but suddenly we were climbing, and climbing. We ended up taking a pass that was just as high as the mountain. Again, we coasted down, only to climb even higher this time. The excitement we had gotten from conquering the mountain quickly vanished as we continued to coast and climb these incredibly challenging passes.

I began to realise that there was an analogy between this experience and my own life. I love taking on challenges (like climbing mountains), but I frequently get bogged down in the drudgery of the "little" and "continuous" challenges of everyday life (those pesky mountain passes).  I'm hoping that this trip will help me focus a little bit more on perseverance and the joy of the continuous little victories rather than just taking on the glories of the "big" ones.