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Category: Trails
Hiking is humbling. It is the only place where one can feel infinitesimal and yet mighty at the same time. Here are our trail stories . . .
It seems only fitting that on New Year’s Day, a day of celebration and new beginnings, I would reminisce over the last trail I’ve taken in awhile, the one that comes almost a year after I first bought my hiking boots and set off into the wilderness. And while this trail wasn’t filled with terror or death-defying adventures, it was nice to simply stroll up a mountain with some of my most true friends.
And that’s when it happened. The worst of the worst. There was no relief, oh none at all. Only a mistake. One big ultra-horrible mistake.
Once we reached the top and jumped state lines, we stood together in the opening among trees where blue sky burst forth to our vista, which was worth it, which was incredible.
It definitely looked like smoke. It even smelt like there was wood burning, which really panicked both of us so we needed to hustle and get out of the forest because we were in the most serious hiking trouble we’ve yet to be in.
No matter what happens in life, we all just need to keep going. Sometimes you’re given boosts and sometimes people can grab your hand. And sometimes, you have to make it on your own. But in the end, the journey — oh, that journey — is absolutely worth it.
“STOP IT!” I tell him as I try to make it back up the mountain because in that moment, I’m done — I’m done judging his dance moves, I’m done being shoved by him, I’m done and I simply want to avoid breaking my ankle. Then he says, in the most serious viscous verbal-machine-gun way, “BEARBEARBEARBEARBEAR!!!”
To say we felt barely holding onto life, to say we felt drained in all mental and physical states, to say we felt like champions by the end — all of that, an understatement. Except for the champions bit. We were, we are champions.
Mercy sakes, this hike was a doozy. To prove that, here are a few-words preview: an almost bear mauling, a haunted campsite, trouble with the law, and let’s just say icing on the cake. I couldn’t exaggerate even if I tried. Promise.
It’s true. This hike was perfect, one of the best honesty. So perfect that after we watched our first hiking sunset and fell asleep on the cliffs of a mountain under the stars.
What I learned from my first wild camp is priceless. It’s more than experiencing the wilderness or understanding in pitching a tent to live outside, roughin’ it. It is more.
This hike was the opposite of my last — Opposite in every way opposite can be. But that equaled calmness, exactly what I wanted right now. Plus, it had two vistas, an awesome shelter location, and even a plane crash site.
The only way to summarize this hike is through a quote: “Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes. True love. Miracles.”
Alright, I’m setting a loose and lofty goal of going on at least two hikes every month. Lucky for me, I made new hiker friends and was able to pack my pack a second time, just seven days after my first hike.
It got to a point where I was wondering if I would survive. It got to a point where I was wondering if I should have been honest. I was after all just a girl that purchased new hiking boots and socks and a pack.