"Hike Every Mountain...Slip Very Low..."

My class and I went on a hiking field trip last week to our local mountains:

I'd never been hiking. This particular hiking trip has been described as "gentle" by a web site. The park ranger said it was more at the moderate level, but NOTHING we couldn't handle. So, hearing this, I thought all would be okay.

You could imagine my surprise when, about five minutes into the walk (with me leading a long trail of kids), I was almost out of breath. I couldn't believe it....and we still had about 40 minutes to go to get to our goal, which was a cave near the top of a mountain.

First thing I thought was 'OMG...I am NOT going to make it!.' But what can I do...I had 26 sets of eyes looking to me for guidance...and I kept trudging on. Every few minutes I had to stop to catch my breath....this was pretty embarassing consideringmost of the kids looked fine.

Let me tell you, there was nothing "gentle" about the trail. It got steeper, it got very rocky, and a bit dangerous to a sorta-out-of-shape woman like me. At this point, even some of the kids were having trouble hiking up. There was a small moment there where I thought I was going to have a heart attack...seriously. I was that out of breath and that exhausted.

Well, to make a long story short, we finally reached the cave. The kids were hyper and excited to have reached the top. I was grateful to have made it alive. I would have enjoyed the view more, but I was already trying to figure out how I'd maneuver through all those slippery rocks and pebbles on the way down.

Well, on the way down I slipped on some rocks (as did one or two other kids...luckily with only so much as a scrape). In order to stop the slipping I slammed my palms down on two big rocks. Ouch! It hurt like heck. The kids froze as they saw their teacher slip and slide down, and finally land on her bum.

I sat there silently for a few seconds, then said, "It's okay...I'm okay. Just give me a minute." It was horrible and funny at the same time, actually. I can only imagine how I looked as I went bumpety bumping down the rocks.

It was an exhausting day. I think I'd like to go back when it's just me and one or two other people...I think I'd be able to take my time more and get a better feel of it. I don't think, though, that I'd ever do this again with a large group. Too stressful.

Kudos to you outdoorsy, hiking-types. Maybe I should step out of my front door more.

p.s. sorry for the choppy writing...did this in a bit of a hurry.

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