For four days, a team of Y.E.T.I. students, staff, and volunteers made their way up Mount Baker.
At 10,781 feet, the summit is a long way from where many of our students first began their Y.E.T.I. journeys. Reaching it took months of preparation, training, teamwork, and a whole lot of grit.
Four students ultimately stood on the summit. Others made it partway up the mountain before deciding they had gone far enough.
We asked two students, one volunteer, and a supporter who helped make the expedition possible to reflect on what the experience meant to them. This is what they shared:
"I was capable of so much more than I gave myself credit for."
For Khaleja, the moment she will never forget came on summit day.
After days of rain, fog, freezing temperatures, bugs, and exhaustion, the team finally broke through the clouds.
“Seeing the peak in sight brought a wave of pure euphoria,” she said. “I had actually made it.”
For a long time, Khaleja said, standing on top of a mountain felt like a “fever dream.” After turning back on Mount Adams the year before, she had nearly convinced herself that mountaineering wasn’t for her.
Mount Baker changed that.
The hardest part, surprisingly, wasn’t the climb up. It was coming back down.
After reaching the summit, a teammate reminded her, “You’ve finished the optional part. Now comes the required part.”
The descent meant heading back into the whiteout. Every step became a physical and mental battle. To keep moving, Khaleja imagined herself as an Arctic explorer on a grand mission. When that wasn’t enough, she relied on a simpler thought:
“Future me is already back at camp resting.”
One step at a time, she kept going.
Mount Baker taught Khaleja a new level of perseverance. More than that, it changed the way she thinks about what she is capable of.
“While life has its obstacles, self-imposed limits aren’t something I have to accept,” she said.
On the hike back to the parking lot the next morning, her body was aching, but her mind was clear.
“I realized that life will have climbs and descents as grueling as Mount Baker was, but I’m simply not a person who quits after one try.”
"It was better to accept it with a smile."
For Sahib, the most memorable moment happened before the team ever reached the summit.
On the first day, as the group approached Railroad Camp, they hiked through a meadow covered in gray mist, stepping carefully across wet stone. Trees and flowers appeared through the fog.
For Sahib, the scene created a sense of mystery and curiosity.
“It was an overwhelming beauty that slows the mind down,” he said.
The weather, however, was another story.
Rain followed the team throughout the expedition, making everything harder, especially setting up camp. But eventually, Sahib realized there was nothing they could do about it.
“We could do nothing about it,” he said. “So it was better to accept it with a smile because it cost the same as being miserable.”
That became one of his biggest lessons from the mountain: learning to accept the things outside of his control with a good mind.
Sometimes, grit looks like pushing forward.
Sometimes, it looks like knowing when to turn around.
And sometimes, it looks like standing in the rain, accepting that you can’t change the weather, and finding a way to keep going anyway.
"It was beautiful to watch."
Mark joined the expedition as a Y.E.T.I. volunteer. He is also a Guardian of Grit.
One of his favorite moments from the trip was a small one.
A student asked, “Anybody got any water?”
Program Director, Sean, responded, “How much water did we say to bring?”
“Two or three bottles,” the student answered.
“How many did you bring?”
“One.”
A few moments later, the student asked again if anyone had water.
“I got you, man,” another student replied.
For Mark, that exchange captured something bigger about the expedition.
He was impressed by how positive the students remained, even when the conditions were difficult. Students took care of themselves and each other. And when some students decided to turn back, they did so without complaint.
“The instructors and guides hung out in the background to let the students experience the journey themselves,” Mark said. “It was beautiful to watch.”
Mark explained that the outdoors can be transformative, and Y.E.T.I. creates opportunities for students who might otherwise have fewer chances to experience them.
“It was great to see, in person, a diverse group of young students achieve goals that they could not have even imagined two years ago,” he said.
"The goal doesn't have to be the summit."
For Claire, a Y.E.T.I. Board member and Guardian of Grit, the value of an expedition like Mount Baker goes far beyond reaching the top.
There is something magical and grounding about setting a goal and preparing yourself to achieve it, she said. The perseverance, commitment, and collaboration that happen along the way don’t disappear when the trip is over. They follow you into everyday life.
And, of course, there’s something pretty incredible about being able to look up at Mount Baker while exploring the Northwest and say, “I was on that mountain.”
Claire knows firsthand the joy and pride that can come from summiting a mountain. That’s why she wants other young people to have the chance to experience it, too.
She hopes students leave with a sense of pride in what they accomplished and in the community they built along the way.
“The goal doesn’t have to be the summit,” she said. “But rather an experience that they have for a lifetime.”
That’s the heart of Y.E.T.I.’s Mount Baker expedition.
Four students reached the 10,781-foot summit. Others made the difficult decision to turn back. Every student faced challenges. Every student had to dig deep. Every student experienced the mountain in their own way.
And every one of them has a story to carry forward.
Maybe that’s the real summit.
Not simply standing on top of a mountain, but discovering that you can do hard things. Learning to rely on your team. Finding joy in a moment of beauty. Accepting what you can’t control. Knowing when to push forward and when to turn around. And realizing that a goal that once seemed impossible might actually be within reach.
Mount Baker gave our students a mountain to climb.
What they take with them from that mountain will last much longer.
