The view was spectacular —but the climb itself was my milestone.
Six months after ankle reconstruction surgery, I had hiked to the top of Handies Peak, one of Colorado’s fifty three “14ers.”* In the previous week, my ankle had carried me high into the San Juans, up vertical 
climbs to impossibly blue crystal lakes and over treacherous rock slides to exposed wind swept crags.
With my surgical scar hidden beneath the strap of my hiking sandal, none could see the evidence of my three bone and ligament grafts acquired in November of 2012. The few determined hikers we encountered around Durango, Silverton and Ouray saw only a like-minded mother and daughter, paused only for photos and occasional gasps of the thin air.
OK, I may have smiled a little more than the average hiker as I crested Handies —but it’s tough to contain the exhilaration of beating “you can’t.”
* Mountains with an elevation of over 14,000 feet.
For more inspiration, read the free download sample of “Stuffing Sandwiches Down My Shirt… Strategies and Inspiration for Crutch Users.
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