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Published: December 15th 2017
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I'll admit that I'm not a hiker by nature. I prefer to stroll down flat country roads with my babies in the stroller. I don't love the idea of breaking a sweat and climbing a hill. Yet, I cherish any time I get to spend with my siblings, so when my younger brother suggested that the three of us (him, my sister, and I) all pile into my old Volkswagen Vanagon with our respective significant others and head out for a hike, I told him I was in.
Since having my two children, I haven't been very physically active outside of the home. While I do bend, pick up, and dance with them on a daily basis, my endurance isn't where it needs to be. I had a week's notice before our hike and I knew that definitely wasn't long enough to make up for lost time. Still, I started stretching at night to warm up!
On the day of the hike, we met at my workplace. All of us gathered for a quick picture before heading out. I should mention here that I didn't have too much to eat that day. I should have
fueled up, but work got
ahead of me and the day got busy, so I scarfed down a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at my desk around noon and that was it.
The Ascent: So Many Stairs, So Little Energy We drove for roughly one hour from my office in High Point, NC to Hanging Rock State Park in Danbury, NC. It was a crisp fall evening and the sun hadn't even begun to set when we arrived. The ascent up the mountain took us about 45 minutes. I started out great! It was a nice, paved flat area that was definitely do-able.
Then, everything changed.
We reached a point called The Stairway, which is exactly how it sounds. It was one giant, natural "stair" after another, which forced you to lunge and almost jump onto every one. It might have been fine for someone full of energy, but remember I was totally drained. Around the 15th step, I started feeling faint and a little light-headed. By the 30th or so, I was seriously wishing we'd brought some sort of
hiking GPS zone finder so the rescue workers could locate me. I was certain I couldn't make it to the top. (Can you
tell I was in drama in high school?)
Thankfully, my sweet husband and brother-in-law fueled me up with some granola and water and we kept going. We only had about 20 minutes left to go until we reached the top. When we finally made it, everything I'd suffered up to that point was definitely worth it. Our beautiful state lay stretched out under the overhanging rock formations. The sun was setting slowly and I had everyone important to me circled around me. We shared sandwiches and snacks and talked until it was time to head back down.
The Descent: A Newfound Sense of Pride You know how they say the trip back is always quicker than the trip going? That was totally true in this case. I almost skipped the last part of the way back to the car, I was so exhilarated. Or, maybe I was just ready to get back to my warm home!
Either way, this short trip proved three things to me:
1. I can do way more than I give myself credit for. My body is strong and capable and I'm blessed to be able to bend it. Even
when it hurts or I think I've pushed it past its limit, it reveals to me a new strength I didn't even know I had.
2. Traveling and leaving the comforts of home can be scary and sometimes intimidating, but it's almost always worth it. This was just a little day trip, but it revealed to me that you never know where something exciting might lie. It might surprise you in the most unlikely places, like halfway up a hike when you think you're going to pass out.
2. Family is everything. I would have never chosen to go on this hike alone, but with my family and friends by my side, I conquered it happily.
My siblings are both avid hikers, and they've been on a few other local
Triad hikes since this one. As a stay-at-home mom, it's not exactly in the cards for me to jet-set every weekend to take in a new vista, and that's fine by me. It's a season of life that I'm in, and I know I'll one day I'll reclaim that sense of spontaneity.
However, I'm forever grateful for that one evening we had together under the setting sun. I'm even thankful for the minor mishap along the way. It ended up being something that we can laugh about, think about, and remember together, and to me, that's what a great trip is all about.
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