The view from the mountains was spectacular, nay, it was breathtaking, no, more than even that... it was a reflection of just what God had in mind when he created earth, just one more way of mirroring his beauty and majesty. I was, for the first time in a long time, speechless. As I walked up the mountain, just one in a line of people climbing the hill, I could feel the sheer power of the vista before me refreshing my soul. It was incredible. It was surreal, so much so that I began to wonder, was it merely my imagination?
Suddenly we stopped, the ones trailing behind almost running into the backs of the hikers before. We slowly funneled into an enclosure, surrounded on all three sides by sheer cliff faces.
"Well, that's interesting," commented the group's leader, staring with puzzlement up at at the rocky faces, "the map never mentioned anything about a wall climbing spot."
By then the entire group had congregated in the hollow, most looking up at the cliffs with confusion quite evident on their faces.
Without warning the earth began to shake and all around, young people dropped to the ground, covering their heads or in some cases huddling together with nearby friends. The sounds of splitting earth ripped through the air, shattering the still tranquility that had blanketed the trail before.
Two of the cliffs fell away, leaving nothing but open air in their place. The trail from whence we came was littered with rubble, rendering the path back completely impassable. Before us lay the only way left, a downward sloping trail made of broken pieces of rock and earth, a series of natural steps. Of course by using the term 'slope' it really was more of an inclined fall, almost 45 degrees, and it looked dangerous.
The dust from the earthquake began to settle, and slowly the young men and women began to rise from their huddle crouches. We looked around, amazed at the changes in scenary, but eventually recovered enough to begin moving again. I realized that this indeed was reality.
I started down slowly, along with the ten other people in my group, feeling the way with tentative steps. However as I began to find a rhythm, I started to go faster, until I was literally running down the ridges of sharp rocks, flowing down the uneven stairwell like water flows down a river bed. I would leap off tall rocks, slide down flat sections, pause for long seconds on pointed pinnacles.
Up ahead there was a short uphill section and I didn't stop. Instead I sprang up, leaping up onto the rocks and pushing onwards, moving skyward, springing from right to left, ever onwards.
Suddenly the section curved, the track railed by a large rock. I slid to a stop and clambered on top of the stone to stare out at the mountain side filled with forest green trees. What a paradise, what a fun trek!
Onward I surged, moving with even greater speed and excitement, the thrill of physical exertion driving all thoughts of tiredness from my limbs. The stones blurred beneath my feet as my heart soared in the moment.
It was the most amazing feeling... one I will never forget.
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