Hiking with a clumsy friend 101
January 6th 2009 14:43
Hiking is one of my favorite adventures in the wild. I love to conquer a mountain from time to time and enjoy the view at the top. Recently, I invited a friend to hike up Chick Hill with me, a relatively easy hike in my opinion, that follows an access road right to the top. There were, however, a few problems to note: It was rather icy in places on the road, my friend is one of the clumsiest persons I have ever met and she is also 6 months pregnant.
So we get to the mountain and start up. Mind you, she isn't even on the icy parts, just the snow, and she already starts tripping. I immediately offer to call it quits and we could just go for a walk at one of our houses. She says no, and we press on. I chalk it up to the pregnancy, but she denies it. She claims that she has always been clumsy. She continues to trip every few steps and I start to wonder how she has made it this far in life without dying or at least causing herself serious brain damage. I have not tripped or slipped once and I am the one walking on the icy parts so that she can walk safely in the snow!
We stop a few times so that she can rest, pee, take off her jacket, have a snack and we even observe some deer and moose tracks in the snow. We finally reach the top. It is a gorgeous view. As chilly as it is this winter day, it is even worse however, at the top, as there is no shield from the wind. We take a few pictures and head back down.
I am nervous as we start to head down, thinking that she is bound to hill herself going down this thing if she had trouble coming up. I am regretting bringing her up here and thinking that I will burn in Hell for all eternity if anything happens to her. As I am beating myself up all the while down, she is striding down without a hitch. I am in shock! I am going slowly and carefully to make sure she is okay and she is getting ahead of me! Fair enough, so I start to increase my stride, confident that if she is not tripping, I'll be just fine.
I may have done just fine heading up, but challenging myself to keep up with my "clumsy" friend on the way down proved hazardous to my health. This time I was slipping and tripping several times over. She kept asking me if I was alright. I told her no problem, just trying to keep pace with her. Luckily, we reached the bottom with no injuries to either one of us, especially me. I guess it just goes to show...
... be careful hiking in the winter, especially with clumsy friends and clumsy selves!
So we get to the mountain and start up. Mind you, she isn't even on the icy parts, just the snow, and she already starts tripping. I immediately offer to call it quits and we could just go for a walk at one of our houses. She says no, and we press on. I chalk it up to the pregnancy, but she denies it. She claims that she has always been clumsy. She continues to trip every few steps and I start to wonder how she has made it this far in life without dying or at least causing herself serious brain damage. I have not tripped or slipped once and I am the one walking on the icy parts so that she can walk safely in the snow!
We stop a few times so that she can rest, pee, take off her jacket, have a snack and we even observe some deer and moose tracks in the snow. We finally reach the top. It is a gorgeous view. As chilly as it is this winter day, it is even worse however, at the top, as there is no shield from the wind. We take a few pictures and head back down.
I am nervous as we start to head down, thinking that she is bound to hill herself going down this thing if she had trouble coming up. I am regretting bringing her up here and thinking that I will burn in Hell for all eternity if anything happens to her. As I am beating myself up all the while down, she is striding down without a hitch. I am in shock! I am going slowly and carefully to make sure she is okay and she is getting ahead of me! Fair enough, so I start to increase my stride, confident that if she is not tripping, I'll be just fine.
I may have done just fine heading up, but challenging myself to keep up with my "clumsy" friend on the way down proved hazardous to my health. This time I was slipping and tripping several times over. She kept asking me if I was alright. I told her no problem, just trying to keep pace with her. Luckily, we reached the bottom with no injuries to either one of us, especially me. I guess it just goes to show...
... be careful hiking in the winter, especially with clumsy friends and clumsy selves!
| 21 |
| Vote |
Subscribe to this blog
