THE THREE RULES OF MOUNTAINEERING
It’s always further than it looks.
It’s always taller than it looks.
And it’s always harder than it looks.
-~Author Unknown~

I’m an outdoor enthusiast by nature.  Hiking, fishing, camping, hunting (scouting – I don’t do guns), cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, canoeing, climbing, 4-wheeling…if it involves wilderness and great expanses of open-spaced-outdoors I’m there!  My dad was an outdoor guy too so from my days of infancy I was exposed to anything and all things that involved being outside the confines of a dwelling.  I learned the importance of enjoying nature and seeing the beauty and adventure that awaited around every tree or winding path.  The serenity and adventure called to my dad often which would lead him to disappearing for a week here and there to embark upon a journey of epic proportions.  (At least this is what it seemed like to a child with a vivid and wild imagination).  Now that I am older and understand things a little better, I believe he did hear a voice calling to him.  I believe that as much as he enjoyed the outdoors and alone time, he felt a pulling or a yearning for something (Someone) greater – the Creator of what he loved.  God shows Himself to us in many ways, the biggest is through creation.  Two things were always for sure about his escapes:  he brought fish home and he somehow transformed into Grizzly Adams (a gene I am glad I did not inherit).  It has been a great blessing to have a daughter that is also an outdoor enthusiast.  I now have company to do the things I love and my stories are now a little more believable.

This summer, we decided to hike two mountains (one in our home province and the other in the USA – both part of the Appalachian Mountain Range).  Maybe one day we will hike the entire trail, but we all need to start somewhere.  Now, I had slacked a little in the spring on my fitness routine so I wasn’t in the greatest shape, but it’s not like the first mountain was Everest.  There we were at the entrance to the trail.  We were all set with our gear and fresh with anticipation.  Thus began the ascent.  Now, I have never thought myself klutzy, however, I do get distracted easily and sometimes by depth perception can be a wee bit off.  It happened at about the ten minute mark.  I left the ground!  I could hear R. Kelly singing “I Believe I Can Fly” as I, in slow motion, soared fifteen feet through the air.  The music abruptly stopped as a suddenly dropped about five feet to the ground with a thud.  I was very concerned that I had broken the camera.  Apparently, I wasn’t aware I was the one who tripped over the huge root, had fallen and hit the ground – just the camera went through this experience.  My daughter, who was quite concerned for my well-being instead of the camera’s, helped me up and off I went.  Then it hit me – like the ground.  I did in fact have a body to earth meeting.  My knees were all scraped up and I had hit my steel water bottle off my head while flailing on the way down.  I have always said if you are going to do something do it well…even if it is falling.  All was good, just walk it off.  Our pace out of the gate may have been a tad fast as we found ourselves dragging our feet and asking how much further an hour into the hike.  This is when the trail became more challenging.  It had become rockier and more narrow as we were reaching the top.  This is when Daughter put her unsuspecting foot on a loose rock that was hiding a crevice just big enough for a foot and leg to go through.  The gash was a good one!  Blood was gushing and I thought I would need to do surgery right then and there using a pine needle and my boot lace!  However, we did not want to risk infection as we had no way to sanitize the area so we just walked it off.  A little further and we reached the top.  We were finally able to see the 10 million trees we were told surrounded us!  I had made it!  Daughter was laughing as she watched my happiness turn to wide-eyed wonder when she informed me we were actually not at the peak yet.  We still had to climb over and up what appeared to be two more mountains…WHAT?!  However, I have discovered looks are deceiving when climbing a mountain…WHEW!  Oh, and in case any of you are wondering at what altitude you could experience problems from thinning air while climbing a mountain, it isn’t at 2,690 ft.  Silly me got anxiety from heights mixed up with the thought of the air thinning.  Just another thing to get the daughter laughing.  Mountain climbing can be very educational.  Finally, we reached the peak and WOW! what a sight.  It really was breath-taking and pictures could not do it justice.  I truly was thankful to have experienced this mountain, but there was a part of me that was sad as I knew Hubby was missing such an amazing thing.  God knew my thoughts and He lifted my spirits as there was an answer.  Daughter turned to inform me she had a cellular signal on her phone.  The next thing I knew Hubby was up on the mountain peak with us capturing what we were seeing all while being miles away in our home.  This moment was the highlight of the journey for me.  I left that mountain knowing a bigger God than when I arrived.  I had overlooked that even the smallest cares to me are significant ones in His eyes.  This mountain adventure was just a taste of what awaited us next.

 

In August, we decided to try Mountain #2.  It was bigger.  It was meaner.  And we were determined to set our stake at its peak.  We also decided to bring along a third person in case one of us fell off a cliff or needed rescuing from a bear…our track record isn’t the best and one should always be prepared.  Enter:  Buff Bro-in-law.  This guy was serious about our endeavour – practicing weeks in advance by trudging up and down the landscape around home with a backpack loaded down with books.  He was as fit as a Stradivarius.  However, this mountain was going to prove to us just how out of shape we were.

Our day started quite early as it could take anywhere from eight to twelve hours to complete our round trip.  Because we were so physically able we set a time to beat of ten hours.  We started off with vim and vigor.  We marveled at the nature around us.  There was plenty of chatter and laughs.  Then the steps and rocks became steeper and bigger.  We were expecting a nice earthy walking trail that zigzagged to the top not a granite agility course that challenged our legs and coordination with every move.  After about two hours of this intense climbing, we reached a plateau with a beautiful breeze and refreshing pond.  We took a much needed break.  Upon getting our second wind we gathered our gear and went in search of our next trail.  This is the part of the climb that branches off from the main trail and gives you many options of paths up to the top.  Some are easier, some are harder.  We, of course, chose the hard one…Cathedral.  Just the name should give you an idea – straight up.  (If you look at the photo from the beginning, I am looking straight across at our trail).  Boulder after boulder we climbed our way to the top.  Speed went from rabbit to turtle in a very short time.  We were soaked from sweat, we were exhausted, we sounded like three big bad wolves with all our huffing and puffing – there are no beauty queen pageants in the realm of outdoor activities.  It is a come-as-you-are party…check your deodorant, make-up and jewelry at the door.  And just when you think, “I can’t out-hike my own stink and I’m pretty sure my breathing can be heard over on the next mountain, but hey, we are making good time” a wiry late fifties, early sixties “billy goat” comes bouncing by you as though the boulders are fluffy white marshmallows.  No panting and not a bead of sweat.  Almost makes you want to find a hole in the rocks and hide away forever.  Yes, that was a HUGE self-esteem boost.  However, we all had determination and we were not going to let this mountain take us down!  We pressed onward and upward!

 

Blueberry bushes were miraculously scattered throughout the toughest section and they became my little oasis in the dessert.  My love for blueberries is very strong so the search for more little juicy morsels kept my feet moving.  Each step felt as though our feet had collected rocks along the way.  The concrete blocks attached to our legs tried to pull us down, but we fought.  Fought hard.  When our legs wouldn’t move on their own, we used our hands to pull them into their next step.  We had come too far to turn around now.  Then the misty fog lifted and shining in the glorious sun rays was the the sign we had been waiting to see.  The sign that said we had reached the top…5,267 ft.  Was all the work worth it?  Absolutely!  The views from the top of the world were amazing.  Nothing we saw was put there by chance.  It was definitely created and placed there by something greater.  Even the most creative of humans could never have imagined the vistas before us.  The landscape with hills and valleys.  The blends and tones of colours.  The soft brown earth and the hard granite rocks.  All spoken into existence by a great, powerful, indescribable, uncontainable God.  This is the God we saw from the peak.  And that was worth every strenuous step.

 

 

Our descent back to the vehicle took us on another trail.  One that was to be slightly easier then the one we came up.  Well, it did give us a break from the amazing quad and glute workout, however, our knees now took a beating.  How people do this on a regular basis, I don’t know.  Probably about half-way back I saw a spot I thought would be perfect to take a rest.  Upon loosing my balance I sat down upon a rock that was angled.  I then slid into the bush resting against a tree.  One of the branches pushed my hat over my face and I thought I would stay there for awhile.  Of course, my companions thought I was in trouble and disturbed my slumber.  And as I like to do things to the best of my ability, I made sure there were others around to witness this show.  The two onlookers were concerned as well, but I assured them I was quite fine asking them what score they gave me out of ten.  I believe my points for technical were higher than my performance on the first mountain, but my style may have been lacking on this one.  I will keep working on my routines – practice makes perfect.  After a very long day we arrived back at the vehicle weary, worn and filled with great memories.  Annnnnnnnd we made it in nine hours and thirty minutes.  All in all it was a fantastic day.  Would we do it again?  Absolutely!  Perhaps we would try a different trail and maybe we would camp half-way and take it slower.  There are options…a choose your own adventure trip.

What mountains await me next?  Time will tell.  Adventure is always calling.  They don’t call it the great outdoors for nothing.

P.S.  The next few days saw us all moving quite gingerly.