i went hiking and camping and didn't hate it

that's right folks. i not only went camping (in the winter!) but i also went hiking and i must admit, i didn't hate either one as much as i thought i would. now granted, my two months of living without electricity probably helped open my mind to the camping idea a bit, but i have never liked hiking in my entire life. i do it from time to time cause usually there is something amazing to see at the end of a hike, but i hate the entire time it takes to get to the amazing thing and the entire time it takes to get back. i am too fat to be a happy hiker.

so the two volunteers who live in bergville, kristen and jamie, decided that they wanted to go hiking over the weekend. jamie's boyfriend was coming into town and he had a friend from american visiting, so showing him the drakensberg mountains was important. the group of us headed out to the cathedral peak area after work on friday and set up tents in the campground at the bottom of the mountains. we all sat around cooking dinner, drinking wine, making s'mores and trying to stay warm as the temperature dropped lower and lower. i must admit that sleeping was difficult and that i spent a good 12 hours not being able to feel my toes. however, that is the price one pays.

the next morning we woke up bright and early and packed everything up and headed to the start of the trail. we were doing a hike called rainbow gorge, which follows a river and leads, in the end, to a huge rock that has fallen and wedged itself into the gorge (the amazing sight at the end). the beginning of the hike was very steep and i was out of breath in about 5 mins. i thought i was going to have to tell them all that i was too out-of-shape to do the hike when kristen told me it got better. this is another reason i hate hiking- i am always the fattest or most unhealthy and it makes me feel like shit. everyone i seem to go with is skinny and fit and could probably run the whole hike (like the group i went with this time and the norwegians, to name a few).

anyways, she wasn't lying and it did get better. the hike probably took 5 hours total and involved some climbing on big rocks and a lot of hopping on stones back and forth across the river. i only fell in once and only with one shoe, so i consider it a victory. i must admit, the boulder at the end was beautiful and with the sun and the water coming down, it was well worth the hike there (probably not the hike back though). but throughout the whole thing i was laughing and having fun. maybe it was the company. maybe it was the fresh air. or maybe i have changed and i am the type of girl who now LIKES to camp and hike. i don't know. i don't want to know.

it was a good weekend.