I've been doing a lot of climbing lately.
Well I guess I've actually been doing more hiking than climbing.
Either way, I've been doing a lot of starting at the bottom of the trail and heading up.
And I'm being literal here, not making some metaphor about life.
But I really like hiking.
I like the fact that I'm staying healthy without living in a gym.
I like being outside and in the mountains.
I like ending up in cool places, like the base of a waterfall or inside a cave.
I like when 9 year old kids tell you you're almost to the top when they meet you on their way back down.
(even when you aren't even half way)
Mostly I like to hike with other people.
Take Keesha for example.
She has been on all my hikes this summer.
She's pretty fearless.
It scares me to death. But I'm glad she is.
Sometimes she takes off on what may or may not be a trail that may or may not lead to the top of a waterfall.
Sometimes it takes her a long time to come back.
Sometimes she comes back looking like she just escaped a bear attack.
I guess sometimes that's okay.
Because now we know to take band-aids when we go hiking.
She is afraid of some things though.
Caves.
It took months to convince her to go through Timp Caves with me.
You see, she's very claustrophobic.
And caves can get very small.
And you're under a lot of mountain when you're in there.
But she did it.
And I only had to hold her hand once.
So I guess she's still pretty fearless.
I also like the random people you meet on hikes.
Like the aforementioned 9 year-olds.
Old couples who suspiciously know we're from Wyoming.
An aunt who spontaneously stops in the middle of the trail to give her nieces and nephews an impromptu pep talk on doing hard things.
And a dad with highly entertaining cures for a bloody nose.
("turn him over on his side, keep his left foot elevated and punch him repeatedly in the kidneys.")
Sure, there are things I don't like about hiking.
mosquito bites.
muscle cramps.
and blisters.
But all in all, I think I'll keep climbing.
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