We left at 3am to drive across the state and into the mountains. In the early hours of the morning, a deer jumped out in front of the car and we spun out on the highway and hit a pole. We got the dented car to a sleepy highway gas station, where a man gave us zip ties to hold the car together for the rest of the journey. We drove the remaining five hours to hike 10 miles on my very first high peak in the Adirondacks. I had called my mom earlier that day to tell her about the accident and that I was still going. I told her the pictures I would bring back would be worth all of it. And they were.