The Hike

Previously posted on Believing is Seeing, July 5, 2014

My husband is trying to kill me. Oh, I’m sorry, did I say that out loud? I meant to say, my husband and I went on a hike today. We always try to do fun things together when our kids are away at camp, and killing me, I mean, going on a hike, is one of his favorite things to do.

We found a local trail that had several hiking options and settled on a 1,000 mile 8-mile hike. He looked at the map and noticed that some of the trail seemed a bit boring looking, and a bit close to the road (read flat) and decided to add in a loop that was more interesting looking (read hilly).

So, we packed up our water, food, dog and set off. It started out as a beautiful day—a nice breeze, lots of shade and very flat terrain. It was beautiful. But then we kept walking, and walking and walking. A log crossed our path and the dog jumped over it. We came to another log and she decided it was time to go back and tried to turn around. Ha!

Finally, we got to mile 1.8. Really? That’s it? We found a nature conservancy and took our first break, ate a little lunch and if you were me, sat in the shade while my husband wandered around a bit. Then we continued. The next part of the hike was actually along a road. It was flat and easy and we passed this huge estate, at which point my husband pointed ahead and told me the trail was up there.

The “trail” was an animal path. It was not meant for humans. It was barely meant for dogs. It was the kind of trail that if we’d come across an animal, we’d be in the wrong for infringing on their spot. But my husband thought this was the interesting part, so we continued. Up hill. Continuously.

I’ll admit, I complained a little. Really not a lot—I was trying to save my breath. But it was hot, my hiking boots were hurting, and I thought I was going to die in the woods without anyone being able to find my body. Finally, after what seemed like three days, but was probably about an hour, we returned to the part of the path near the nature conservancy.

I really wanted to wait there and send my husband for the car to come and get me. I really, really wanted to do that. But there was no place to lie down, other than the grass, and I didn’t want bugs crawling into my ears (in case you haven’t figured it out by now, I am not an outdoor person). So I walked back with my husband to our car.

I didn’t die. And when we got back to the car, he drove to an ice cream store and bought me Death by Chocolate. J