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“ My friends all went running ,” Kozel said . “ My brain was back there with them , but because I can ’ t turn around , I was stuck . … I think some kind of noise came out of me that I would never be able to repeat , and ( the bear ) stopped . And it gave me enough time to turn around and back up a little bit .”
Her worst moment : trying to ascend the 5,267-foot Mt . Katahdin , the final summit at the very end of the trail .
“ Many hikers said it ’ s the toughest part of the whole trail ,” said Kozel . “ I went there a year before to hike it , and I didn ’ t make it to the summit that day . But when we came down , I told my
friend , ‘ I don ’ t care , I want to try to hike the whole trail . I didn ’ t care if I had to crawl to the summit , I was doing it .’”
And that ’ s when she ended up doing . A year later , on her third try , fighting through wind , bitter cold and rain , Kozel , ascended to the top of Mt . Katahdin on her hands and knees .
“ I kept falling ,” she said . “ My hands were so frozen and numb I couldn ’ t grip my trekking poles . … I was just exhausted . … But I remember thinking of the people who were counting on me . I think God definitely had to be there helping me through . My fingertips are still numb from that hike .”
With her quest completed , Kozel is still processing what she just accomplished .
“ I still don ’ t know if I have wrapped my head around this , especially the ending ,” she said .
Reflections Fall ’ 16 | 19