Y'know, I'm not real sure about this whole "army lowering recruitment standards" thing. I mean, I'm 38. I was on a 4-mile hike with a whole bunch of people who were younger than me and in way better shape. If I was in a war with them, I couldn't very well stop, put my hands on my knees, breathe heavy, and say, "You go on ahead; I'll catch up later."
(Damn fit people on the hike. I knew I was in trouble when I heard some people saying they were on this hike as a warm up for a level 4 hike tomorrow. Dudes, I'm only on this level-2 hike because they don't have any level 1s scheduled.)
I'll concede it was a pretty hike. Especially when we stopped a bit on the way down to look at the view. The guide I was walking with (they put one guide in the front and the other in back -- guess which one I was with) suggested we stop for a second and look at the valley. And I was, like, "Oh, pretty valley." And it actually took a second for my eyes to really look at it -- and all these cacti just popped out of the landscape -- I mean, I'd known there were tall cacti around; I'd walked right past a few -- but I hadn't entirely focussed on the patterns that they make when you're looking from above. It was pretty nifty.
Four miles. One blister. A cactus needle in my thigh. Stepped in horse poo. Clothes covered in sweat. On the plus side, though, we went around the rattlesnakes.
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