One of the things I was really looking forward to on my ’36 things’ list was ‘Go Hiking’. Not only did we pick a beautiful autumn day to go, but it would be the first opportunity to really play with my new camera.
In hindsight (& trust me… this trip was overwrought with opportunities to appreciate hindsight) bringing the camera was not the best idea of the day… unfortunately it was also not the worst. That honor was reserved for whomever it was to make the decision to abandon the (easier) base trail for another more difficult trail. Although I never actually saw the name of the new trail on one of those cute little woodsy trail markers, I suspect it was ‘trail leading straight up the side of the mountain’. I could be wrong.
Notice there is no effort on my part to accept responsibility for this little geographical blunder- that’s because you can’t blame me for something that happened when I was dragging up the rear of my hiking party, completely oblivious to what was going on up front.
Somewhere around marker 6 or 7, I realized as our hiking group was getting further apart, so were the soil & the trees which were replaced by giant rocks. It was at this point that I began to need both of my hands to climb the rocks. (This is where you wonder why I took my camera & roll your eyes. Go ahead, do it. You’ll feel better. I did.)
While trying to distract myself from the twitching in my leg muscles, I became acutely aware of a couple of things: the markers, placed maybe 1/10 of a mile apart suddenly seemed to have much greater distances between them & I was beginning to empathize with each & every crying child who was begging to go back down the mountain as we passed on the way up. I was really beginning to think they had a valid point.
While contemplating the recent decision to purchase a 2 story house & wondering how to clean myself without the ability to make it up the stairs to the shower for the next few days, I stopped walking. I put my hands on my hips & turned to look wistfully down the mountain. Then I turned & looked grimly up the mountain. I was much closer to the top than I was to the bottom. I made a decision.
At this point, you probably assume that the theme song from Rocky started playing in my head as I narrowed my eyes, got a second wind & charged triumphantly to the top of the mountain.
You would be wrong. This is not a movie, this is my life. I looked around, shrugged my shoulders & sat down on a rock & took pictures. It was lovely & I enjoyed myself immensely. So no, there was no music from Rocky in my head, & as I sat happily taking pictures as all of the other summit seekers passed me by, if I had not been so busy enjoying myself I might have heard a more apt song for my hike.
Another one bites the dust.
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