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One of the best things about living in the Carolinas is the fact that in a few hours time we can be sitting on the sand with our toes in the Atlantic or hanging over the side of a mountain enjoying the spectacular view.
On this particular day, we were hiking and hanging over and enjoying the view from the top of Crowders Mountain. The trail begins in Kings Mountain, NC about 45 minutes outside of Charlotte. The trail takes about a half an hour to hike and the last 378 steps are up a man made staircase. There are also a few places along the way that registered climbers can climb up the side of a cliff or repel down from the top. The uphill trek and never ending staircase was enough for me.
That day, I realized that even though I love this type of adventure, I am much more comfortable when my children are very close by or preferably not there at all. Seeing them run up ahead and look over the edge and climb up a little higher turns me into a nervous Nellie. I am not a scardey cat. I am protective and seeing my dearest loved ones no more than 6 inches from falling hundreds of feet to the ground below...it can surely turn my tummy inside out. My children see my nerves and assume I am scared of heights or wimpy or non-adventurous.
At one point, we followed a climber and his dog. I kept thinking about the poor dog falling and how devastating that would be. The man assured me that the dog was much safer and more aware of the surroundings than any of the rest of us. I'm sure he was right. Even still, my day hike would have been much more relaxing without the kids and that dog to worry about.
The hike down involved a lot of trotting and running. The older folks, like me, were complaining about our knees. At one point we trotted back and forth across the mountain, like snow skiers do when they want to slow down. The kids beat us down the mountain just as they had beaten us on the way up. We found them at the bath house, playing with a pay phone. I'm not sure that they had ever seen a real, working pay phone.
A few minutes later, while we were enjoying some cantaloupe and cheese crackers, a police officer arrived and walked over to our picnic table. Someone had dialed 911 from that interesting pay phone and hung up when the operator answered. No one confessed, but all of the children got a lesson in 911 emergencies and the importance of only calling when there is a real emergency. The officer had been stationed in the park all day and did not call the ladder trucks and medics, thankfully. When the operator had called back, someone else answered and told them that there were some children playing with the pay phone. I'm certain that Zac thought someone was going to jail. If it was him, he will not ever do it again.
A mountain adventure with a reminder for me. While youngsters have little fear, growing older makes me weak in the knees and it turns my tummy inside out.
It is just me?
Linking up here with Ms Jenny for another edition of alphabe-Thursday! G is for Grown-up scardey cat..and gulp..and geeez...and get-back from the edge of that cliff pleeease!
