We made it to the crux of the entire route, and made a move to get out of the Trough and get onto the Narrows. There were plenty of folks log jammed at this point in the hike. Becky had to take a hand to get up, and I gave Regina a good push up on her bum. Then I had to take a guys’ hand to complete the move because I was having issues with the final handhold.
So we made it to the Narrows which is my favorite part (yeah right). The first steps onto the Narrows yield the highest amount of exposure. You must shimmy an angled rock to get by with about three feet of path and a good drop to the right. Me no likey (look at the picture of Regina). We made the move and continued through the Narrows. Our views of Wild Basin were excellent. We made a class 3 move to get out of the Narrows and into the homestretch.
At this point the wind has not been too much of a factor like it was at the Keyhole. I was proud of Becky and Regina. Undertaking Longs is the same mentality of doing a half or full marathon. I think Regina was going back and forth regarding how her stomach was feeling, but seeing the summit so close invigorated her to push forward.
We made our way up the homestretch with wonderful weather and not much wind. We were all at the summit by 9:30am. I typically do not show much emotion on the summit arrival because I am normally very anxious. However, I let out a hoot and a holler and announced myself. I was happy; Regina and Becky were not far behind.
We sat on the summit for about 20 minutes while we ate snacks, gummy colas, chatted, and hydrated. The works! I wanted to be off by 9:50am and the ladies did not seem to mind.
We started making our way down and the gravity of how far we had to go (7.5 miles) set in. We made it back through the Narrows and through the exposed move. Even did the good old butt slide down the crux of the Trough. Then it was slow going down the Trough. We were all on our alert for knocking rocks and yelling “Rock!” So much so that we started yelling “Pebble!” The more caution the better as small rocks can hurt just as well.