Everyone has an Achilles Heel – for me it’s my knees – a result of poor genetics, years of basketball, Texas twirling, and two surgeries in the late 70’s. A few years ago my doctor suggested that it was time to consider knee replacement, predicting that if I didn’t act soon, within a year I would have a total knee blow out. I weighed my options and decided to wait, reasoning that with time there were sure to be advances in technology.I also subscribe to the philosophies of “No pain, no gain” and “If you don’t use it, you loose it”. Which means I’m determined to continue doing the things I love, expecting my knees to get with the program and cooperate.
One of the things I love is travel – and even though I think everyone should see the great cities of the world – my real passion is walking the back roads - always choosing the road less travelled. This often means long extended treks that get me to the places I really want to be.
Occasionally I find myself hiking with strangers, and used to believe in the full disclosure rule. I would explain the situation to my new travelling companions, telling them not to worry if I chose to do a crab walk down a steep mountain slope, as it was only a knee thing. I no longer do this, as once when hiking in the Bugaboos I started to feel like the special needs hiker in the group. I couldn’t help but notice that my fellow companions would get right in my face - talk in a slow, clear voice - assuring me that they were very proud of me - and knew I could do it.
The other challenge with hiking with strangers is the pressure to keep up with the pack. This is important for several reasons, the first being that the slowest person sets the pace for the entire group. I never want the condition of my knees to have a negative impact on anyone, so my personal goal is to always position myself in the middle of the pack. My rational being that I don’t have to lead, I just want to ensure that I am not responsible for slowing everyone down.
The other frightening thing is Tom’s theory of “Bad things always happen to the Last Native”. He often points out that you only have to watch a B movie to know that the last person in line is doomed. This applies to all genres – war movies, science fiction films, and especially Tarzan shows. The last person will inevitably disappear from his platoon, be abducted by aliens, or eaten by the lion.
Trust me on this, you never want to be the last native.
2 comments:
Another little pitfall about walking/hiking with strangers for me is that I often find myself talking to myself.....and actually even laughing out loud at what I just said.....perhaps why I find myself " alone" in the group!
What about in horror movies...the couples who have sex usually get killed first...the virgin is always the one who makes it out alive. The moral of the story: Don't have sex with strange hikers! :)
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