A walk in the woods
When we first found out we were going on a hike, my cousins and I were not excited.
I remember how we were all trying to find reasons to get out of it. All we wanted to do was get drama from each other and play Just Dance. The only reason we decided to go was because we were promised ice cream and drinks afterwards. We weren’t expecting to have any fun and we were counting down the hours until we could go back into town and get the treats we were promised. However, by the time we were finished with the hike, our low expectations for how it was going to go were completely crushed.
Getting out of the car, Maia, Marie, and I were looking at the trail with despair. It looked like a barren, dead landscape in our eyes. We had given all we had to try and get out of this trip, so we figured we might as well go and get it over with quickly. I began walking up the road, kicking the rocks beneath my feet with Maia and Marie in tow. It was early July but there was still snow everywhere on the trail. The sight of snow automatically brought Marie into good spirits, and that was the beginning of our collective mood change. The crunch of snow under our feet helped Marie keep moving, which in turn kept me and Maia moving. At every patch of snow we saw, Marie had to stop and pick some up. At every stop we took, I was able to stand and look at the things around me.
I noticed things I had never paid much attention to before; the sound of cracking branches, the sound of the creek, and the footsteps behind us. When we continued walking, I was able to notice even more things. I heard the sound of birds high up in the trees, the breaths of my cousins, and the sound of snow turning every time Marie picked some up. I was so focused on the things around me, I hardly noticed that we had gotten to Bennetville.
When we got up to the first cabin, Marie bent down to pick up some snow to rub on her arms and all of the sudden we had a barrage of snowballs thrown at us. We all scattered behind trees as we prepared to fight back against the snowball perpetrator. Then, before we could even make a decent amount of snowballs, we heard the sound of heavy footsteps as my dad came running at us with his hands full of them. He threw them at us mercilessly, and the peaceful rustling of the forest had now been replaced by the sound of us yelling and snowballs colliding with trees and people. After our throwing and laughing subsided, we walked into the old Bennetville houses. We didn’t want to fall through the rotten floorboards, so we were careful of where we stepped. We were a little bit nervous walking into the house because of how creaky it was. Every step was planned and precise; we were not taking any chances.
After our excursion into the house, we walked out and were met with a new group of people. We didn’t know who they were and hadn’t seen them on the trail coming up, however we were all but hesitant to go meet them. They had a super, super cute dog. He was a puppy, but already twice the size of my dog. He looked like a short haired Bernese Mountain dog and he was the sweetest dog ever. He walked up to us with zero hesitation and licked us as soon as he was within range. The group of people he was with were also really nice, and they offered to take a family photo for us. After we had finished talking to their group, we continued our hike to Shell Lake.
It took us 5 minutes longer than it should have to finish the walk because of the amount of snow. There were maybe three or four spots of dry ground on the actual trail and we had to walk on slick, icy snow. Even though it was hard to walk on, we still managed the difficult passage across the snow. When we got to our usual spot in front of the lake, we stopped and ate snacks while skipping rocks. We had a competition to see who could skip rocks the farthest, and as soon as somebody skipped a rock, everybody went quiet and all you could hear was the tapping of the rock on the surface of the water. After an underwhelming final between myself and my Aunt Patti, in which I won, we walked back down to the car.
The hike down was a much more easygoing experience than the hike up. Maia and I were much less on edge and we were all a lot more quiet. We could hear the sounds of rocks moving when somebody stepped on them and you could hear the creek rushing much clearer.
It was easier to look at the surroundings, and because of that we saw chipmunks in the rocks and an osprey circling above. We ate lunch when we got to the bottom and we took more photos, and after we left we still got our promised and drinks.
While the only reason my cousins and I went on the hike was for the treats afterward, it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had hiking. I was able to thoroughly enjoy the scenery and the sounds around me with the company of my best friends. I’m really glad I went on the hike that day and I’m sure my cousins share the same sentiment. It was an incredibly enlightening experience in which I was able to appreciate the place where I live to the full extent, and it made my cousins infinitely happy. Watching my cousins marvel at the snow, mountains, trees, and water, helped me to realize that I shouldn’t take what we have around us for granted, and I am forever grateful for that day. ice cream
(My name is Mia Dublino and I’m a sophomore at Lee Vining High School. A few things I enjoy doing are playing volleyball, reading, and spending time with my friends and family, especially my cousins. I was inspired to write this narrative because while hiking isn’t my favorite thing in the world, this hike was an experience I am able to look back on fondly. My dad has inspired my love of writing.)