We did a lot of balancing acts, hoisting ourselves, and scaling rocks the whole afternoon. I prided myself on my Girl Scout savvy hiking skills. (Using protuding roots to pull myself up a steep and potentially treacherous hillside? Check. Swinging down to the river by wedging my arms between two rocks? Check.) I did not have one mishap... until the last ten minutes of the hike. We had gone down a wrong (and possibly unused?) trail that parallels another trail, down by the river. This trail was higher up the side of the hill. Instead of backtracking, people decided to lower themselves down at this one point so we could get to the trail by the river that leads to the parking lot. I want to go on record that I thought the idea was sketchy in the first place. I couldn't see how the trails hooked up. That wasn't the case though... and that would have been preferable to what happened.
I happened to be at the back of the line at this point, so I waited while everyone else got down, no problems. Then Karen went down and stepped in a different spot than everyone else. Apparently she stepped on a bee hive because she got stung three times (her first stings of any kind she claims). The bees were swarming at the spot that I needed to go down and I was the only one left up top. I told Mandy I'd backtrack and meet them later, but she convinced me to go further up the path (and further up the hill) to the section of the path where these enormous tree roots cascaded down the hill to the point where everyone else was. I told her I would just take a closer look at it and then plan out my way to come down (as I did with every other physical fanagling that day). Well, when I got to the roots, my foot slipped and I ended up sliding down the slick roots on my stomach, feet first (probably the safest way). I kept thinking, as I was sliding, that I would catch myself and then I could figure out a safer way to lower myself, but that moment never came. It seemed like I slide forever, and it was pretty scary. Meaghan says she thought it looked to be 10 feet at least. I wish I'd taken a picture for proof.
I landed on my knees, shaking like crazy. My camera stayed in one pocket, but my cell phone and ID flew out of the other. Thankfully Mandy retrieved them, because my mind was going every which way and I probably wouldn't have noticed until much later. My legs, arms, and stomach were almost black with ground-in dirt. Dirt was crammed under my fingernails. Somehow my face and neck missed being scratched (Good thing my insticts said to keep my chin up!) but my legs are another story. It could have been much worse. I didn't break anything, and my scratches are shallow. I'm sore still from the bumpy ride, and bruises are starting to pop up (To my Europe friends: Remember the bruise Michelle had after running into the barrel at the winery? I have a bruise like that forming on my right leg, beside my kneecap. It's a hard lump of a bruise that is only now beginning to purple a little.), but it was probably a best case scenario. It was mostly just my pride that was injured. My legs looked like a 3rd grade boy's.
I know it's a story I'll probably laugh at later, and even today I can see some humor in it, but at the moment I was not in a great mood. Luckily we were at the end of the hike and the shower back at Rockcastle helped a lot. Enjoy some pictures!
Me, Sarah, and Mandy
This is after I got somewhat cleaned up in the public bathroom at the park, so not quite the full effect!
PS. We came back to find that Carl and Grace had returned from Disaster Relief, a day early than planned! It's good to have them back in the valley.
- Special shout-out to 4-year-old Ellie for her delightful phone call this afternoon! I DO get a cell phone signal here, so feel free to call or text.
- Lost AND gained a housemate in the span of a day. Mandy dropped off Meaghan at the airport this afternoon and brought back Lauren, the newest long-term volunteer who I haven't actually met yet. She's been unpacking all day.
No comments:
Post a Comment