Tag Page PostSummitFeels

The View Didn’t Fix the Ache in My Legs

I hiked 22 miles up Half Dome because I thought the summit would give me something I was missing. On the way down, the sun cut through the trees and the valley opened up—one of those views people post with captions about feeling alive. My legs were shaking. My water was gone. I kept thinking: this is supposed to be the moment I remember, right? But all I could focus on was the ache in my knees and the fact that the descent felt longer than the climb. The view was beautiful, but it didn’t erase the exhaustion or the quiet letdown that followed. Sometimes, the hardest part isn’t getting to the top—it’s coming back down and realizing you’re still you. #Travel #HikingTruths #PostSummitFeels