Story Behind The Photo 20

I went on a hike today at Echo Mountain in Alta Dena today. Cam and a few people she knew and worked with came so we all gathered food for a picnic at the top of the mountain and then got going. My brain is all off because we went on a Friday morning which I am not used to. Every other time we went it was Saturday mornings right after I got off working graveyard shifts. So we start the hike and it is rough. The higher we get the more trouble I am having. Not in the normal ways like having sore legs or a bad back. I started to just feel off.

We got past the one mile point and I groaned. I know a mile is nothing but its all uphill and with winding paths. It looked great but as we kept going I started sweating more. Cam suggested I take my sweater off but I wasn't feeling normal hot. I had water and she gave me a Gatorade which is another reason why she's my best friend. After we got to these huge towers I leaned against it and my body was like “Stop here.” I rarely listen to my body and push it further than I should but its usually mentally. Physically I'll do dumb shit I shouldn't and get hurt like a few months back with broom ball on ice.

This time my body wasn't having it.

I started seeing spots in my eyes and my blood felt like syrup. I could feel my pulse in my ear and it was loud. I wondered if it was because I was up so high that I couldn't take a deep breath. I tried and it felt like I was barely getting anything in. Everyone asked if they should stop where I was at and I told them to keep on going. I didn't want anyone ruining their hike because some dude they didn't know couldn't keep up anymore. I told them that I would wait for them.

As I sat there I took pictures and waited for the spots to go away. I ate half my sandwich and drank water. People walked by having conversations I was glad to not be a part of. After a couple of hours everyone came back and we headed back down and I just kept talking. Talking kept my mind off of the fact that I felt like I was about to die. Don't think for a moment that the idea of my brother who died of a heart attack and was three years younger than I am now and far more athletic than I am.

After the hike we went to a place to get gelato which I've never had before. It was good and then I grabbed two boxes of Fruity Pebbles to eat tomorrow morning. I will try and figure out what went wrong with my body and try going on another hike. Dashuh told me to hydrate more which I didn't do before the hike.

Chocolate chip and vanilla.

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