Newton was right

I like the book the Little Engine That Could

     You remember:  I think I can, I think I can.
     Shel Siverstein did a take off, and the train ended up crashing.  His last line was "If the track is tough and the hill is rough,  thinking you can just ain't enough."
     Final blog entry on the mountain hut experience.
     We had the same table for breakfast as we did for supper.  But this time, it was an eat when you get there experience.  Bread, butter, cheese, coffee real milk, two types of cereal, tea.....pretty nice continental breakfast.
     We asked the man who ran the hut how supplies got there.  It seems at the beginning of the hiking season he gets a huge shipment via helicopter.  After that, he gets weekly helicopter drop offs of things like fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, and anything else that doesn't last a long time.
     This hut is on solid rock.  My other question, which did not get asked, was where does the waste go?  There can't possibly be a septic system, and I didn't see any holding tanks....and even if there were, they could never be pumped.
     I am always perplexed by that.
     Anyway, we had a good breakfast and packed to go.
     There was some thought of just wrapping me in all the sleeping bags and rolling me down.  But there was a concern I might not stop at the right spot.
     So we set off in beautiful sunny and crisp  weather.
     The little four year old girl was ahead of us, but they soon were gone from sight.  Turns out, I am just as slow going down!
     I was being careful not to slip on the wet rocks.  And whenever I stopped to look around, I really had to stop walking just to prevent a fall.
     Uphill muscles are different from downhill ones....and my downhills were not stronger than the others.
     The 90 minute hike down took us closer to 3 hours.
     The first time I fell, I had looked around as I walked.  I skinned my knee but didn't break anything.  I also realized, about 15 minutes later, that I lost my lens cap.
     We put the camera in my back pack, just in case.
     So when I fell the second time, nothing was damaged.  Actually, this fall was more a lay down.  I had stepped off a rock and rolled backward onto where I stepped off.  I started to laugh, but as I looked to the left, I realized how bad a fall could be.
     Much later a woman and her daughter caught up to us and I stepped aside to let them pass.  The lady stopped and said, "Do you have a Nikon camera?  I found your lens cap."
     The last leg (literally, not figuratively) was downhill through a cow pasture.  My fear there was I would fall and land in manure.  And being covered in manure is a no no for getting in the car.
     It was here that my legs turned to jell-o!  Seriously, they were so rubbery I had to sit for 10 minutes.
     I sat by the lake and rested while the boys frolicked....kids have a lot more energy than 66 year olds.
     We  stopped for ice cream, then headed  back to the gondola for the ride down.
     I would never consider walking up the stairs at Willis Tower.  Yet that is 412 meters high, and the walk I took was 609 meters....so in effect, I did hike Willis and a third in the four hours we were upward bound. But at Willis I could have taken the elevator down.
     Now it's Tuesday.  My legs are so sore, I could barely get up the hill to get to the patisserie for  a sugar cake.
     Which is OK, because it is going to be stormy here today.
     I am going to post a video on Facebook.  Hope you like it.
     Other than that,  for the next few hours, I think I'll just rub my legs.