Our first day of backpacking on the Via Alpina was completely wonderful. We hiked from Oberstdorf to the Prinz-Luitpold Haus, starting the day with a ride up the Nebelhorn cable car. It cost €37 for two and was worth every penny in time and enegry saved. At the top, we started along our path for the day, the infamous Laufbacher-Eck Weg. I had great anxiety concerning this path. I knew there was a via ferrata along the way, and I had seen pictures of a trail barely hanging onto the side of the mountain. But walking the trail put my fears to rest. Yes, this trail clung to mountain, but the grass gave me a great sense of security and the the trail was actually a fairly easy, level walk for the first half of the day. It was kind of like hiking through the Lord of the Rings. Without orcs. Or Viggo Mortensen (whose absence in Middle-Earth could have put a downer on any day, but it did not on this day). And do you know why? Behold:
After 4 miles of this, I was sure that the via ferrata was a figment of the Internet—that was until we reached a place where before us we could see the path cut into the rock face of the mountain. I kid you not, it was a sheer drop to one side. I had the sinking feeling that I was about to lose my breakfast and not out of the uppermost region of my body either. I could feel the panic taking over. And then I witnessed a scene that I will never forget. Standing along the cliff on the edge of the trail was a man yelling patiently and encouragingly at his wife. His wife had taken a few steps backward and was cowering in a posture of defeat. I could not understand a single word they said, but at the same time, I knew exactly what they were saying. It went something like this:
Man: Come on, you can do this. Just hold onto the cable with both hands and don’t look down. It’s not that steep.
Woman: That is so easy for you to say. You aren’t afraid of heights. You can do everything, but I will fall to my death. I can’t do it. I won’t go on the trail. I hate you for bringing me here. I hate you.
Man: Damn it woman. You will not fall to your death. You will be fine.
Woman: I will be killed!
Man: Well, what would you have me do?
Woman: You just go on. Just leave me here. I will be fine. I will go back the way I came—crawling in shame and fear, and alone—but just go on without me.
So there I was, on the verge of having the same frustrating conversation with my husband. And all of a sudden, I knew that it was my moment—it was my moment to be strong for all of the women of the world who were being yelled at by their spouses because they were afraid of heights. So I had Jason attach my poles to my pack; I had him promise me that he would be right behind me and would not leave me; and I grabbed that via ferrata cable like my life depended on it, and I went forward. In my family, we call this Taking the Bull by the Horns, and it looked something like this:
That’s right, you don’t even need proper calf muscles to do this. All you need is the proper motivation, also known as Imminent Humiliation. So I rounded the corner of the trail to safe ground and felt a sense of accomplishment I had never felt before in my life on a trail. And 2 minutes later, the woman who was too afraid and in a state of distress rounded the corner as well, and I really felt as if I had done a great service to humanity.
Oh, and my husband was totally proud of me too.
Margaret...you are Brave. Woman, I salute you.
Posted by: Kate | October 25, 2011 at 02:22 PM