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Kathy and I set out to go for a nice, relaxing walk. Andy was on his way to go check out a lake for possible fishing options, and gave us directions to a path that would be easy to walk and would be sandal friendly. Great! Off we went. Me, wearing my Sketcher's sandals:
So, a moment to be real. I actually find these sandals extremely comfortable, and can wear them on long walks, shopping, day to day stuff...but I do NOT recommend them for climbing half a mountain.
It started off innocently enough. Nice curving path through prairie grasses. Even this nice little trail map that doesn't clue us in to anything unusual.
Do YOU see a mountain on this map? Me neither...
After a nice saunter through the prairie grasses, the trail took a turn...well...up. This was the gentle beginning of the problem, but we reasoned it would flatten out "somewhere around those trees."
We reached a plateau and thought it was a brilliant time to rest, (hello, heart rate!) and met another walker who took our picture with this fantastic view. After gulping down water and getting my heart rate back to something not death worthy, we kept on climbing, figuring it would flatten out "somewhere around those trees..."
Well, as we reached "those trees," we encountered two hikers coming DOWN the path. I inquired, "At what point does the trail even out and stop going up?" Their reply?
"Well, if you keep going on this path, you'll follow it the rest of the way up to Emerald Mountain." The rest of the way up. Um...
After looking at my chosen footwear, he adds, "Or, you can take the left fork here that goes pretty flat over to a nice lookout. I don't think you'll make it any further up in those shoes." Any further up.
Clearly, my dehydrated, rapid heart rate self chose the path to the left. I was greeted with some awesome views, and a reality check about how much I had been climbing. UP A MOUNTAIN!
Kathy and I with the slant of the mountain behind us.
Holy crap, look how steep that is, and how high I am! (elevation wise, you guys. Geez...)
I called it quits. I had very little left in my water bottle and didn't want to risk running out, so I stopped. Kathy was going to go on ahead as we also got word that the Park Rangers were present along the trail putting in new trail signs. (Coulda used those a little lower down, but thanks.)
There she goes...onward and UPward! Like some kind of mountain climbing maniac! I stayed put for a while, marveling at my accidental accomplishment, and then headed back down half a mountain to camp. Kathy arrived safely some time later, and funny enough...returned with ANDY, who did NOT go to his stated destination, but instead, after meeting the same two hikers we met, decided to climb Emerald Mountain! (We all scolded his unsafe hiking choice.)
Well, there it is. The exciting tale promised to you at the beginning of this blog post. I hope it entertained you!
Thanks for reading, and happy camping!
Peggy
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