Grit and Glory at 14,000 Feet

I’ll never forget the Gatorade bottle. It made me think I might not make it.I was crouched over, head down, in a half-run shuffle, eyes on my muddy running shoes. I stood up only when the trail snaked between large granite boulders that I had to reach to climb up and over. Heavy snow was falling, the flakes in my eyelashes making it hard to see.