Have you ever hear of the phrase, the second time will be easier than the first time? This saying did not hold true for me yesterday.

My mom had been at AP Chinese training the entire week last week and she’d made some friends from out of state and yesterday, her friend wanted to go hiking and guess where we went, Adam’s Canyon. She wanted to take her friend somewhere I’ve been so she wouldn’t get lost.

The first tenth of mile of getting up the trail, it was pretty easy but then after that, the ladies began to walk up the mountain like it’s nothing where I could barely move. My chest was pounding, so was my head while my shoes were filled with sand and I couldn’t feel my legs.

How could this be?

Last time I came, I didn’t get sand in my shoes, my legs didn’t feel like jelly, and my heart certainly wasn’t pounding this hard. Reluctantly, I sat on a hand scorching bench, emptying my shoes of sand and break out a bottle of water from my backpack. I downed half of bottle in one go and finally un-jellied my legs. “Ma,” I yelled.

No one answered. The people coming up looked at me funny like I’m a child lost in a canyon. The ladies must be pretty to not hear me calling. Damn.

Slowly, I got up and continued up. By about the half-mile point, I was dragging my feet, the first bottle of water was down to its last few drops, and my chest was pounding harder than ever before. I didn’t want to walk anymore. I just wanted to sit down but there was nowhere to sit. I’m up here, some 6,000 feet elevation beneath the 90-degree hot sun.

“Ma!” I called again. Still no answer. I suddenly wished I could text her to tell her that I’m returning to the car but I remembered she didn’t have her phone with her. With no choice, I kept pushing forward.

What felt like an eternity later, I finally spotted her pink polo. She was standing at the edge of the forest waiting for me. You’re almost there, I told myself as I struggled with my step and breathing. As I approached, she held out a hand and pulled me up. “What took you so long?” She asked.

“I got sand in my shoes,” was I could say.

Together, we walked into the woods where we soon found the other ladies rest on a thick branch, drinking water and laughing. Quickly, I took my backpack off my shoulders and brought out the protein shake I made before we left and I’m glad I had it, otherwise, I don’t know how I was going to make it back down the mountain.

We headed for the bridge and took some pictures like the one above. That’s when the ladies decided to call it quits and we headed back down. We were like flying through sand dunes. By the time we reached the car, my face, arms, legs, and even my nostrils were filled with sand and the moment I got home, I ran up to my bathroom and scrubbed my face clean of sand and dirt while the ladies conversed downstairs.

I returned downstairs and crashed on the sofa, exhausted with frail muscles, I dragged the laptop next to me and began scrolling through WordPress.