It was the worst kind of day to be lost and alone on a mountain. The forecasted thunderstorms started hours earlier than the weatherman promised. I was still above tree line. No place to take shelter from the jagged lightning criss-crossing the sky. A loud crack of thunder had me dropping face first onto the rocky trail. My forehead collided with a pointy piece of granite. I stayed still, waiting for the torrential rain to start falling, but for now, the only thing falling were drops of blood from the open cut on my face.

Some challenge this was turning out to be. I wanted to prove to myself I could tackle this hike on my own. Thirteen miles round trip—piece of cake for me, but the eleven gain was tremendous. I had been training on shorter, steeper hikes the past month and finally felt like I was ready. Hell, I even started an hour early to give myself a buffer if my legs tired or cramped.

Another crack of thunder shook the ground beneath me. It took all of my willpower to not start bawling my eyes out. Because crying wasn’t going to solve any of my problems, right? Pull yourself together, Tasha. You’ve been in tough situations before and survived. Now is the chance to prove what you’re really made of.

I rolled my eyes. The pep talk my inner voice was giving me made me want to vomit. But she did have a point. I needed to decide: am I giving up or am I getting off this mountain?