Bellevue resident Sandra Dyer, along with a group of friends and family, climbed Turtle Mountain on Saturday, September 17th, completing a personal challenge two years in the making.
The group departed from Bellevue at approximately 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning, beginning their hike at around 8:45 a.m.
Taking their time getting up the mountain, due mainly to struggling to find footing on the loose stones and shale which make up the majority of the mountain’s surface, the group arrived at the summit between 12:30 and 1 p.m.
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| Photo submitted |
| Bellevue resident Sandra Dyer at the main summit of Turtle Mountain. |
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“It was hard to figure out where to put your feet and where you were going,” said 48-year-old Dyer, who completed the climb with a group of six friends.
She said the other main challenge to not only them but also other groups of hikers on the mountains were the high winds.
“The wind made it quite a challenge,” said Dyer.
After reaching the main summit which is marked by a Canadian flag, the group stopped for group and individual pictures, followed by lunch, before making their way back down.
“Coming down was the hardest part,” said Dyer.
“Going up was kind of a struggle with trying to find the right place to step, but coming down was terrifying.”
Dyer said she held on to her brother’s backpack the majority of the way down, stepping where he stepped and taking things slowly and carefully.
The group arrived back on solid ground at roughly 5 p.m., after eight hours of hiking.
“When you get to the bottom, your legs are just like jell-o,” said Dyer.
“My whole body was stiff for two days after, but it was so worth it.”
Dyer said she decided to do the climb as a personal challenge to herself, after recovering from a broken hip which she sustained two years ago.
After falling on her way into the doctor’s office in September 2009, the then 46-year-old proceeded to walk around on a broken hip for over three months, with the aid of a walker, before doctors caught her injury.
