Walls of Jericho

I pouted about this for at least an hour, and honest to God almost cried because hiking the Walls of Jericho is hard. I told him it was a terrible idea. “My last two meals were pancakes! I will die,” I wailed.

I may have listened to one too many who-done-its, because I did think to myself that Michael might be trying to murder me. He knows I could never make it up and down that mountain alive, I thought.

When we pulled into the parking lot I felt a certain nostalgia. I’ve hiked this trail so many times before, but none of those times has been with in the past nine years.

We started the hike down and even though it wasn’t my dream date I was happy to be back in one of my favorite places.

The heat wasn’t so bad. It’s always cooler under the canopy.  We hiked along and a lot of thoughts ran through my head.  I told myself it wasn’t so bad. I told myself it was going to be real bad hiking back up.

When we got down to the water at the bottom of the mountain, we decided we’d go ahead and walk to the cemetery. We got such a late start, and I felt so out of shape, that I didn’t really think we would make it all the way to the walls and back. There was a small incline and I said “nope.” My legs were burning and my heart was beating fast just from that. So, we just turned around and started heading back up the mountain.

The first time I ever made this hike I wore blue jeans. I thought I would die then at 21 or 22 years old. I could hardly walk for a week after that hike, and I had been young and surely in better shape.

I’m not exaggerating about being scared. I really was convinced I’d have a heart attack or pass out.

The only way I made it up the mountain that first time many years ago was by pushing forward and telling myself I could do it. And on Sunday, that’s what I had to do again. If a steep incline came my way, I just charged up it. A few times I had to stop and let my heart catch up with itself. There were other times when my legs hurt so bad that I had flashbacks of a track meet when I got cramps so terrible I basically had to walk across the finish line.  I said, “If I’m not skinny when we get back to the car I am going to be royally ticked off!” 

About halfway up the mountain I heard a rattlesnake buzzing at us. I looked over to see the biggest rattlesnake I’ve ever seen in my life.  He had about 40 something rattles and he was thick as the top part of my leg. That’s sort’ve a tall tale, but he really was a thick ol’ fella.

If you have ever wondered if adrenaline is a real thing, I’m here to tell you it is. I snuck around that snake, and then I took off running up that mountain with such intensity that I didn’t feel any pain in my legs or my lungs for a good little while.

Landmark after landmark told me I was getting closer and closer to the car. The more I walked and the more I didn’t keel over the more I began to realize that I must be capable of a lot more than I had thought. The hike really wasn’t any worse on me than it ever had been in my twenties. I wasn’t any leaner by the time I got out of the woods, but maybe I was a little stronger.

Danielle Wallingsford Kirkland is a former Sentinel staff writer and  current correspondent. She can be reached at danielle.w.kirkland@gmail.com.