Congratulations Couch or your successful summit. My wife and I have tried to summit as a day hike each of the last three years (not counting this year). and failed each time. We did get farther each year and last year we were probably less than a half mile from summit when I just completely gave out of energy and knew we had a long way back. I was so glad to get back to the trailhead. We are both 65 and live at sea level in North Carolina so don't think another attempt would be any better. Each year was a good adventure and the hike was beautiful until exhaustion set in. We enjoyed meeting other hikers on the trail and one shared an energy bar that was better than anything I had and probably eating it is the only reason I got back to trailhead before dark.
