Me vs. Mountain

Last week, I had an idea for Jeremy and I to go hiking on Saturday. Well, my idea of hiking is walking up a mountain with a comfortable, yet challenging, incline that can give us a workout but also be enjoyable. Evidently, Jeremy had a different idea of what hiking meant because he took me to......Blood Mountain. I mean, the name says it all!! We were freakin' mountain climbing! For a second, I thought I might run into a goat or wild horse somewhere. My heart has never beat as fast as it did on the 1 hour and 45 minute climb up that mountain!! The incline was about the steapest you can imagine and the trail was all rocks and steps going straight up. We were lucky if we were at a level spot for more than a minute. The rest of the way was all up-hill! I mean, within the first 5 minutes of the "hike," I questioned the sanity of my husband! He was a good encourager though! He let me rest as much as I needed to, which was about every 2-5 minutes, and he carried the backpack the whole way!

Although the hike was incredibly difficult, it was worth it to see how beautiful the scenery was at the top! It was a great reward to know that I defeated this stupid mountain and to see miles and miles of mountains at eye level!! We were nearly 5,000ft up! Shortly after a Power Bar and water break, we signed the guest list, which Jeremy signed, "The Cochrans Beotches!" we were on our way back down! I was excited about this part because of course, I thought it wasn't as hard. Well, little did I know that going downhill can be just as difficult as going up but just in a different way! About 1/4 of the way down, my legs started shaking and I couldn't stand still for more than 2 seconds. When we got to about halfway down, Jeremy took a fall and sprained his ankle. He twisted his ankle in both directions and was in so much pain the rest of the way down!

When we finally made it back to the car, after 4 hours of hiking, we were so proud of ourselves. Of course, Jeremy's been on this trail several times and has completed one way in 45 minutes before (show off!). I was just thankful that I didn't give up and that I still had a husband. There were times when I thought I might push him over! ;o) When we got a look at his ankle, it was so swollen! For the rest of the day, we were so tired and hungry! It didn't take much to put us to sleep Saturday night. Unfortunately, Jeremy's ankle still isn't better but I'm enjoying taking care of him and being a good little wife.

Although I'd probably hate myself, I think it'd like to go back and see if I can do better next time, now that I know what to expect! The mountain will not defeat me!!!! I will put pictures up soon! Beautiful scenery!