A friend of mine just hit her goal for the year this past weekend by hiking 1 MILLION vertical feet… and she finished it one month early!
What an amazing challenge accomplished 100% on foot. We’re talking over 90,000 feet of elevation per month on average. The mileage numbers are equally insane: 2,500 over 48 weeks is an average of 52 miles per week. I often struggle to find time for 30 miles in a month, let alone doing over 200.
I remember first hearing about her goal in January when I started the Utah Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge. The day I ventured off alone to do a Grandeur Peak Yo-Yo, I later learned Andee and friends did a Grandeur Yo-Yo-Yo that same day (up west, down east, up east, down dragon, up dragon, down west). Yes, a Grandeur Tripple!
Two weeks after, I ran into her again on Squaw Peak. While a few of us did a Rock Canyon Combo, Andee was doing the RUFA. I think she ended up summiting Squaw Peak X times that day.
As Spring rolled in, I got to join her for some mountaineering up Cold Fusion and White Baldy from Silver Lake. If there is somewhere cool to hike, you will find Andee out there doing it. Always happy, full of positive vibes and the most extroverted introvert I know!
My summer then splintered off to chase my own hiking goals for 2021. Our paths didn’t cross again until Fall, when I returned to local peak bagging. I heard she was doing a Timp Traverse that I’ve wanted to do for a long time. That was another epic adventure, full of tales from her Teton Crest trip and several others. All the while, right on track to meeting this goal of great magnitude.
As the small group of us hiked her last 5,500 ft of elevation up South Thunder on Saturday, I asked about her hardest day. It was a 50-miler with 12,000′ of elevation back in October, when she and another group of hardcore hikers did a Grand Canyon R2R2R in one shot.
There was also injury and illness to take into consideration, like a broken rib and sprained ankle that each lasted a month. A sinus infection even threatened her big finish last weekend but she pushed through it anyway (which is probably how I was able to keep up).
What an example of setting goals and staying focused. There really is no other way to do hard things but to put one foot in front of the other and move forward, literally in this case. The things we are capable of are beyond imaginable if we just set our mind to it and stay positive along the way.
Still Employed
I often joke about her having a job. No, she’s not retired nor independently wealthy. Andee still works full-time while maintaining this level of adventure.
Big trips definitely helped accomplish this big number. But the consistency of smaller local hikes was the ticket. An after-work hit up Olympus was the favorite. She also did Grandeur X times this year.
Nice job Andee, you totally crushed it! Can’t wait to see what you do next year.
