The big hike (part one)

I wake up by the sound of my alarm, ready for a big day. Today I am leaving home to hike the highest mountain in North America, Mt. Denali, in Alaska. It’s 6 am, and I already finished packing my backpack with all my essential items. I left my house in Fort Nelson, BC, at 6:40 am to reach the airport in time. Even though we’re early August, the air is cool and windy. When I get on the plane, it’s not the plane I expected. The plane I got is a small Beechcraft G36 Bonanza. There is barely enough space for my legs, nor for the four persons beside me to sit. When the engine starts, the plane begins to vibrate and green lights come on in the cockpit, including the seatbelt one. When we take off it’s 8:30 am. After a few minutes, a muffled voice echoes through the speakers announcing;

- Greetings passengers. This is the captain speaking. It’s a nice day to fly. If this weather continues, we will reach our destination at approximately noon, in 3 hours. Enjoy the flight. Over and out.

I must have fallen asleep because when I come back to my senses, I can see the community of Talkeetna, and I can feel that we’re landing. I can also see the massive Mt. Denali becoming considerably bigger as we get closer. I take a look at my smartwatch, it's 12:22 am. The same muffled voice comes on again saying;

- This is the captain speaking again. We have reached our destination at Talkeetna, Alaska. Enjoy your beautiful surroundings and have a nice day. Over and out.

When I get out of the plane, a freezing wind blows on my face. I’m surprised when I see that the temperature outside is barely 37 degrees and, we are still in the summer months. The first thing I did when I got into the airport was to ask for a helicopter transit to take me to the base of Mt. Denali. A kind lady in her late 40’s told me that if I want, I can get a cheap helicopter ride by walking to K2 Aviation and asking for James Morris. She said it’s a short 20-minute walk down the road in a small boutique dedicated to Aircraft. By now, it was past 1:30 pm. I gladly accepted the offer and went on walking. When I got there, it was barely 2 pm. I did as the lady had told me to do and asked for Mr. Morris. When I asked for James Morris, a tall man that must be in his early sixties walked over to me and said;

- Shyla said a guest was coming for a helicopter ride to Denali. I didn’t expect that guest to be a fifteen-year-old boy. But I would still be glad to bring you up there for three hundred bucks.

I snorted and said;

- First, I’m seventeen, and second, You said it would be cheap!

He replied saying;

- It is cheap! If you went to Talkeetna Air Taxi, you would have paid over five hundred US dollars, if not more. So, do you take it or leave it?

I replied saying;

- I’ll take it for one-fifty. Deal?

He agreed to the deal. The helicopter that James owns is an Enstrom F-28, and it has a fair amount of space in it. When we’re all buckled up, James says to me;

- Okay kid, you ready? From now on, I want you to call me Jay, and I brought my stuff so, I just might accomplish this long hike with you. I'm up for the challenge.

I grinned at the thought of the grey-haired sixty-year-old man hiking a mountain that is 20,000 feet high until I realized that he was deadly serious. He legitimately wanted to go for the hike with me. It took about an hour to get to the southeast side of the mountain, where we landed on a cleared field. Before coming out of the helicopter Jay says;

- So, I'll leave the helicopter here, and I brought with me a satellite GPS linked to a tracker that I inserted in here. Once we reach the snowy top, we’ll be able to find our way back here no matter how stormy it gets.

I nodded, grabbed my backpack, and when I got outside, the air was brutally cold. I looked at the temperature and the time on my smartwatch, and it was just shy of 20 degrees and already past 5 pm. Jay turns off the Aircraft's engine and comes to join me in the cold evening air. After two minutes of organizing our stuff, we start our long hike by walking uphill for what seems like hours. After more than three hours of walking, we decide to take a break. It's 7:30 pm, and we reached an elevation of 11,450 feet, and the temperature is barely 15 degrees. I threw my small popup tent and, I think I fell asleep for about 4 hours. When I woke up, I was astonished by the beautiful green lights illuminating the skies. As I got out of my tent, the green lights were swirling and flying around, known as Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights. I turned my head to see that Jay was also outside, looking at the sky in amazement. That night reminded me that magic does exist as the world itself is magical.

* This story was written by a 12-year-old boy, under the pseudonym Zeek.