On Monday, the day before school started, we left at noon and arrived at the mountain in Canmore at around 1pm. It was hot 28 degrees (83 fahrenheit). We filled up our camelbacks with water and snacks and began the hike. Ten minutes in my daughter was struggling. I put her thick hair back and gave her some water. Ten minutes later she wanted to rest again, so I gave her some food. Five minutes later she fell down on a log and exclaimed that she couldn’t go any further.
We stood over her and thought about what to do. Certainly we couldn’t continue up the mountain with her stopping every five minutes, so once again we decided to turn around. Apparently it was too hot, she wasn’t well rested, or she hadn’t eaten enough. I was pretty sure it was all of the above.
We had promised the kids we’d take them out for dinner in Canmore after we completed the mountain. Being faced with having to try to do a mountain again on another day and no dinner out, my oldest son insisted he could carry his sister up the mountain. He took off his back pack, gave it to his dad, and put her on his back.
He carried her for about ten minutes and when he put her down she raced to the front and led the way. I think a lot of her problem was more psychological than physical. (I can relate to that).
Whenever she got tired her brother carried her and when he got tired, he put her down. When it got too steep for a ride her dad pulled her up the mountain.
So after two hours and twenty four minutes, and a tough scramble at the end, we made it to the top. It was a beautiful day and felt great to complete another mountain.
It took us an hour and half to get down. Me and my husband were so sore. His ankle was throbbing and my calves burned. As for the kids, when we got to the bottom, they ran to the car.
It’s so not fair.
8 comments:
Congratulations! I think it is so cool that you do that as a family. I would probably keel over before I got to the top. :)
Susan: It was a long haul and I was completely spent at the end. In fact my kids kept looking back and asking me if I was okay.
That is so great! Beautiful pictures! :D
Jenn: It was definitely a beautiful day.
I knew you guys would do it, but I didn't realize how soon. Awesome!
SW: We wanted to get it done before school started and since both boys are playing football and basketball our Fridays and Saturdays are full.
Faaaabulous! Well done!
Thanks for sharing this story and photos. Sounds like a great adventure. Love the look of your blog! You must be a scrapbooker? A Canadian scrapbooker?
terry
Canadian. Scrapbooker. Hiker. Writer.
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