My friend Brette and I decided to go hiking in the Wichita Mountains for Spring Break. A nice mini road trip to the mountains for an afternoon of hiking with a meal at Meer's to top it off was the perfect plan! We invited some friends to join us and our little group of six made our way to the Wichita Mountains around 3:00 in the afternoon. We stopped at the visitor's center to talk to someone familiar with the trails and get a good idea about where were going and what we wanted to see. After another short drive to the beginning of the trail, we took off up the mountain. Nate, who had been camping there that weekend, led us at a brisk pace up the mountain. The trail felt like a massive stair case, and I soon became winded, but we all pressed on enjoying the beautiful day and the gorgeous scenery. Being in the wilderness made us think of The Hunger Games (if you haven't read the books DO IT TODAY!!) and our conversation circled around the books and the movie. This mostly consisted of me trying to convince Nate and Ryan that Peeta is better than Gale... I did not succeed in swaying their opinion, but it certainly was not for lack of trying.
Brette and I taking a break! :)
Once we got to the top of the mountain, the guys wanted to climb up on some of the boulders and we soon left the trail behind us to explore the area.
Ryan and Nate
The Girls!
After climbing numerous boulders and wandering quite a ways from the trail, we decided to head back to the trail and continue on in hopes of finding a waterfall that my dad told me about. Well.... we had a difficult time finding the trail. We followed some kids around until we made it back to what we thought was the trail we took, but after a ways we hit a dead end. And another dead end. And another dead end. We continued walking in circles, trying to find our way back, laughing and joking about Peeta and Gale the whole way. We finally came to one side of the mountain where we could see the trail, the parking lot, and even our cars below us! So all we needed to do was get down the mountain... easier said than done! On this particular area of the mountain, there was no trail or path. It was pretty steep, and we were pretty high up. By this point, we all just wanted to get down to the bottom and get some burgers at Meers, so the guys went first and decided that it was doable, and Brette, Bethany, Jessica and I quickly followed them down.
Me and Brette, going rouge!
Bethany, Jessica, and Ryan ended up on the right side, while Nate, Brette and I were on the left. After making it about halfway down, it became apparent that this was not the easiest path to take. I ended up slipping and sliding down part of the mountain, and Brette slid on purpose because there weren't many options. This resulted in some scraping of the arms but no serious injuries :). Once we made it down to the ground, we had to go through a little forest to get to the trail. From up above, this didn't look like it would be too hard, but once on the ground we could see that the trees were pretty short and they grew out instead of up.... if the trees were people and the branches were arms, they were all holding hands!! So we had to push our way through trees that were so dense we could not even see Ryan, Jessica, and Bethany who had already made it through and were waiting for us. Finally, we pushed through and after a little more climbing down and around, we made it back to the trail! What a relief!! Looking back up at the mountain we had just climbed down was crazy!! I was shocked at how steep it looked from down below! What fun we had on this little adventure.
We made it to the trail!
Leaving the trail and eventually climbing/sliding down a steep mountain side and pushing my through trees is not what I had in mind when I suggested we go hiking, nor is it something that an anchor usually does. Anchors use maps and stay on the trail. But that day, I let sails lead me on an adventure that I never would have taken myself, and I'm so glad I did! We had so much fun and the experience of looking back at the mountain we came down was priceless. Realizing that it's ok to haul in the anchor and let the wind take you was a lesson I am thankful I learned. I am looking forward to many adventures that life has in store for me!
The mountain side we came down... and the devil forest!
Reflecting on this idea of anchors and sails, I think that anchors and sails work best together. Plans are good and being prepared is never a bad thing, but letting loose and going with the flow is also good, and it can lead to experiences and memories that might have been missed if you always stick to the trail.
No comments:
Post a Comment