Friday, January 17, 2014

What NOT to say to someone... ever.

While sitting in my tent, half crying, half just being angry with myself for not being able to make it because I'm too darned slow... and now, petrified and panicky about the big rocks I  kept falling over... one of my team mates came to see me.

He said that he was amazed at how strong I was, and commended me for being able to keep going for 15 hours a day, etc., etc... quite a few niceties... then he dropped the bombshell.

I don't remember his exact words... I wasn't so much angry as I was dumbstruck. Who would ever say these things? A teenager? Not a 37 year old man, surely.

He asked me what my plans were for the next day. I said I was going down the mountain as soon as it could be arranged.

"You need to get off this mountain as soon as you can. You are endangering the rest of us, taking our guides, our porters, and making the trip unsafe for the rest of us."

Whoa. Did you just say what you think that you did?

I had PAID for my own porter since I was being little miss slow poke/needy one. We were down one guide because HE had to go down for a personal emergency. I explained that there was a process to getting me off the mountain... park rangers, rescue truck, etc., and he told me that it was MY responsibility to get up and get to work on those things before the guides so that they could still leave on time in the morning.

Without phone, internet, radio, etc... having walked 15 hours and barely able to stand on my own two feet? YEAH.

I cannot tell you how dumbstruck I *still* am.

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