Just One of Those Days!

Last summer, I took my kids to upstate New York for our annual summer trip east. The Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York are absolutely beautiful. The kids and I enjoy many hikes while we're there although, I must admit that sometimes they'd prefer to hang out at the cabin and watch tv. I have to cheerlead them on every hike and once we are about a half an hour on the trail, they are fine and they get motivated to get to the top. On this one particular day however, it took a lot of cheerleading to get us all to the top. We were all set to hike St. Regis. I woke up with energy, made lunches, cooked breakfast and nothing was going to sway me from my agenda. The kids were less enthused and they grumbled, dragged their feet and made excuses as to why we shouldn't hike that day, along with pointing out that, "It is a bit cloudy out today mom and it's probably going to rain!" "Ahhh, a little rain won't stop us, besides"...I continued, "the trees on the trail protect us and we won't get wet." I sweetened the deal with a bribe to go thru Dunkin Donuts drive thru on the way to the trail and they proceeded at a quicker pace and got into the car with a little more enthusiasm. We got to the trail and although it was cloudy, it wasn't raining. The first 20 minutes was uneventful as we were chatting and enjoying the silence that the forrest offers. In the silence, I started hearing rain drops but the trees were in fact acting like an umbrella and shielding us from getting wet. I happily gloated to the kids that I was right and a little rain wouldn't stop us. My kids did try one more appeal at that point to turn back. "But mom," my daughter explained, "The sky looks pretty dark and I think the rain is getting stronger." "Nah," I said as I smiled, "Nice try..but we are continuing." It wasn't long before I started to notice that the rain was getting stronger and in fact, I was starting to get wet. I was hoping the kids didn't notice and I prayed the rain would let up and prove me right that the rain was just sprinkles. Oh no, the rain wanted to have a good laugh at my expense and next thing I know, a torrential downpour began as if the skies just opened up directly overhead and the tree cover was no match for the strength of the water. My daughter didn't even have to say a word as she just shot me look that said it all! I half laughed as water was dripping from my forehead and I said, "Well, I guess you were right and it is raining!" My 9 year old son then chimed in. "Mom, I thought you said the trees would keep us from getting wet!" In a matter of minutes, we were drenched. We scrambled to put our sweatshirts on because the temperatures were dropping and it was getting cold. I really had to cheerlead at that point and press them to continue on. They whined on and off for the next hour and a half until we reached the base of the peak. At that point they REALLY wanted to turn back. We were soaking wet and shivering and we were now at the hardest part of the hike. This is where my bribes had to get bigger and better. I definitely had to sweeten the deal if I was going to get them to the top of that mountain. Look, I didn't really want to climb that peak either at that point but I wanted us all to push through and complete what we started. I explained to them that just because things get hard doesn't mean we give up. I added that there are many times in life, things will seem impossible but those are the times to press on. I reminded them that it wasn't dangerous, we were just dripping wet and the rain is taunting us is all. "No biggie...we can do this!" They weren't thrilled, nor were they inspired but they took advantage of the moment and called in their bribe requests. Smart kids. We started our uphill climb and the rain was relentless. I have never before experienced that type of rain on a hike. I bet that's why we saw NO other hikers on the trail that day. It was a tough climb in the rain, since the trail was muddy and parts of the trail looked like a waterfall. Our shoes were covered in mud and our socks were soaked through. We pressed on and on. We made jokes, we helped each other up rocks and held each others hands so that we wouldn't slip. We became focused on getting to the top and I must say, it seemed like time was standing still, or moving at molasses speed. It honestly seemed like we'd never reach the top of St. Regis, like the top of the mountain kept getting taller, just as we approached the top. We kept thinking we were almost there..but then no, we weren't. Finally, we got there! Hallelujah!!! We were so tired and so very happy. We collapsed on a wet rock to finally enjoy our lunch. We gobbled up our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as fast as we could and managed to take a few quick pics of us on the top. Due to cloud cover, we couldn't see anything except each other. There was no view to enjoy and in fact, now we had zero tree cover, so the rain had a direct line to us. Usually we stay on the top of peaks a little while but this time, we wanted off that mountain as quickly as possible. We knew we had about a three hour return trip down the mountain and we wanted dry clothes and an ice cream cone (our reward) as soon as possible. The trip down was the best trip down a mountain I've ever had. The kids and I had settled into the fact that we were wet and muddy and we managed to laugh hysterically about it at that point. In fact, we started laughing so hard that we were in tears! My kids said they were glad that I pushed them to the top and little did they know, I had to push myself as well, every step of the way! We talked about school, slid down muddy patches, sang songs and told stories. Once we got to the car, we peeled off our shoes and piled into the car and jacked up the heat! We were exhausted but we felt great. We headed to our favorite ice cream shack and they definitely called in one of their bribes, that they could order any size they wanted. They truly earned it. I'm not exaggerating one bit that they truly are glad that I pushed them to complete that hike. They felt proud of themselves for not giving up. They did understand my point afterwards, that you shouldn't give up just because something gets hard or challenging. I should know better than to give them pearls of wisdom while rain is pounding down over our heads! Hiking St. Regis that day is one of the best and most rewarding hikes we've done so far and I'm very glad that the lessons they learned on that trail will help them throughout their lives. With difficult terrain comes profound wisdom.