I was through hiking the Appalachian Trail. It was September 13th and my 19th birthday. We had just reached the White Mountains in New Hampshire and summitted Mount Washington. I had to call my mom and let her know I was okay and thank her for giving me life.

In the midst of sharing stories and laughter with my mom, I lost track of the time. It was suddenly 4 pm and had been getting dark earlier, but the weather had been so nice (50's and 60's) that I didn't think twice about heading out to hike the next five miles to get to the Madison springs hut.

About an hour later, I was watching the sunset over Madison and the temperature was quickly dropping. I was above tree level at 6288 feet; it was now pitch black out and the winds were whipping at 40-60 mph. It was cold, and starting to snow. I could no longer see the blazes on the rocks.

I began my hike in Georgia and had been on the trail for about 7 months and over 1500 miles and this was by far the scariest night I spent on the trail.

Being raised in Florida I had hardly ever seen snow, let alone hiking through it in the dark. Needless to say I really did not know what to do, and felt quite unprepared (in the back of my mind I remembered the warning sign about how fast the weather changes at the base of Mount Washington). Thankfully, I wasn't alone. I had my trusty four-legged companion (trail dog named Elk), and my home on my back.

After spending hours trying to find the blazes and continue hiking I realized I couldn't go any further. My fingers, toes, and face were all numb and frozen and it had been miles since I had seen a blaze so I wasn't even sure if I was still on the trail.

Thankfully, I was outfitted very well with my Sierra Designs Mist 0 degree sleeping bag and my Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight tent. My home (my tent) was very easy to set up and in minutes I was sung and warm in my bed (my sleeping bag) for the night.

The next morning I woke up to thick ice covering all the rocks. There were icicles on the signs frozen out sideways from the wind. I had also traveled about 300 feet off the trail so it was good that I stopped where I was because I could have gotten very lost.

Thank you Sierra Designs!! Because of your products I'm alive today! A friend and fellow through hiker died that night of hypothermia on the trail a few miles north of where I was located.

I continued on and summitted Katahdin and completed my hike October 8th. Now I am celebrating LIFE every chance I get.

Click here to see how Sierra Designs was used by Nashira Tuting and other people in the know.

Soaking in the views

Nashira and her four-legged companion, Elk

The journey ends here...