A blog about our love of Hiking. Gear we like, tips and tricks we've learnt and walks we love

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Unexpected Curveballs

In my last post I ended by saying that we had a wonderful first day on our first overnight hike but the tranquil and peaceful afternoon and evening turned into anything but.
We have three teenage boys so to have some time to ourselves and a bit of quiet is very rare and highly sought after.
We were sitting in camp and enjoying our quiet surroundings when we started to hear a very familiar sound, children, and lots of them!

What was this? It sounded like we were sitting outside a school after the afternoon bell has just gone off. We couldn’t believe it.
It was a school group on a school hike. For the rest of the evening we had to put up with the very distracting sounds of children laughing and talking. I must say though, to their credit, they were actually very well behaved and considerate of us but it just wasn’t the peaceful time away we had envisioned when we began planning our first overnight hike.
The trip back the next day was uneventful and as enjoyable as day one.
We did learn an important lesson when it comes to hiking. All the preparation and planning in the world can’t prepare for the unexpected. The best you can do is be as prepared as possible for any eventuality and then just take it as it comes with positivity and a good attitude.
Don’t let one (or more) unexpected curveball ruin from the whole experience.