What I Did On Summer Vacation - Part Four
Day Four: The Treacherous Descent
I didn’t want to leave the mountaintop. It felt like home, a place I could have stayed forever. But the journey had to continue. Before heading down I took my first photos of the day capturing the mountain’s peak and the surrounding landscape. These were the first moments of what I thought would be an easy day. The rain from the previous night however, had other plans.
With my cane in hand for another point of contact with the ground, I started my descent. The first fall caught me off guard, my foot slipping out from under me without warning. Thankfully my pack cushioned the impact just as it was designed to do for soldiers in the mountains.
The second fall didn’t surprise me as much but it solidified one thing, I had to slow down. Each step had to be deliberate. Once again my pack absorbed the impact but it wouldn’t get another chance.
The third time instead of falling backward I caught myself in motion, surfing down the wet rock, using a skill I had honed. Surfing the floor at work. What some had joked about being the thing that would take me down had now become the very thing keeping me upright. Balancing like a skateboarder grinding down a rail I rode the descent until I reached a small drop off. A tree no thicker than my arm stood in my path. I grabbed hold stopping myself just in time.
The rest of the descent was uneventful. I paused at the spot where I had done karate on a tree earlier in my journey intending to record a personal diary entry. However my camera decided to die halfway through.
I arrived at what I thought would be my campsite for the night only to find it already occupied. My last night was shaping up to be a repeat of my first. Fortunately a nearby site was only a five-minute walk away. Like that first night I was rewarded with a breathtaking view again this time my hammock swaying right beside the water.
With the last of my food eaten that morning I turned to foraging. Pine needle tea became my choice and I highly recommend it to anyone. My phone still barely alive thanks to my backup battery allowed me to capture a few final moments.
As the night settled in I reflected on the journey so far my mind already fixed on what was to come. Tomorrow’s sunrise would be mine to witness, mine to capture, the first light breaking over the mountains marking the end of one adventure… and the start
