Climbing Mission Peak

Every Sunday morning I get up before dawn to climb Mission Peak. It is a six mile hike, up very steep terrain, to reach the pinnacle. In my opinion, there is no finer way to start a day than standing at roughly 2,500 hundred feet above sea level looking down at San Francisco Bay. The feeling of accomplishment is profound. The rest of my day, for that matter the rest of my week, seems like a piece of cake. No task is too big to accomplish, no html programming can get the better of me! I have scaled the peak and viewed the world with clarity and from a new perspective.

Mission Peak is practically in my back yard. I have contemplated the mountain from its' base for nearly four years, frequently wondering what it would be like to stand at the top of it's crest. When I discovered that a group of my friends had started to tackle the hill every weekend on a routine basis, I was truly amazed. That these friends, all of them mothers and working women, would willing choose to rise out of their warm beds at 6:30 in the morning to go hiking up a wickedly steep mountain was incredible to me. I needed to join them to find out if I could do it too. Once would be enough, I told myself, to prove to that I too had the stamina for the rigorous climb. I did it once, and then was hooked. Since then, I have climbed the peak for nine consecutive weeks in a row and have no plans for stopping.

We climb in the dark. We climb in the rain. We climb in the face of gale winds. We even climb despite the happy California cows that sometimes block our way. (I have a whole new appreciation for the cow population these days!)

Often times I start my hike in dense fog. As I ascend the steep slope I begin to rise above the mist, until the rays of the sun illuminate the tops of the clouds. I feel like I am in heaven. I feel strong and validated. This is a gift I give myself everyweek. A tough climb, but the reward is well worth the effort.