This is my second instalment in my adventures in Hiking series. My first story provides a slightly more detailed intro so I would suggest reading it first, however this is a complete stand-alone story. I've never written for pleasure before. Sure, I've waxed poetically on a few reports and assignments over the years, but I haven't written fiction since high school, many, many years ago. I have been enjoying reading the stories on Literotica written by many talented authors and thought why not give it a try. So here it is. If you'd like leave constructive criticism, please do. I've sometimes struggled between deciding where the line lies between too much detail and not enough, so your thoughts and feedback would be appreciated. Thanks.
Adventures in Hiking - Mountain Hike
Hi, my name is Joe White and I have recently taken up hiking to help me keep in shape and fill some of my days. I turned 56 a few months ago and decided it was time to retire. If you read my first adventure, you'll know that I'm 6'1" with broad shoulders over a slim waist and a fairly thick chest. Despite my age, the intense physical demands of my former job meant that my 190 lb body carries little or no fat and I'm in top physical condition despite my age. I keep my salt and pepper hair short and my strong chin usually sports a short, well trimmed beard or at least a few days of stubble. While my startling blue eyes have dimmed some with age, women still comment on them as being one of my more remarkable features.
When planning, I tend to like choosing the more challenging trails which are somewhat off the beaten path. If the hike incorporates other activities, such as swimming or camping, then I consider that a real bonus. The trail I was planning for this hike was an up and back trail that meandered twelve kilometres up the side of a mountain. It culminated 548 meters up in a look-off that provided a spectacular 360 degree view of the nearby lakes, mountains and valleys. Near the peak there was a flat area that allowed for some ruff camping. I had packed my bag with all the necessities for an overnight at the look-off. Despite paring down to the absolute essentials, my pack still added about 35 lbs to my frame.
It was early Wednesday morning when I pulled into the empty parking lot at the trail head. Being mid-week, I didn't really expect to have to share the trail with many other hikers. The length of the climb, the steepness of the trail, and the roughness of the terrain combined to discourage all but the most serious hikers, despite the payoff of the view.
I strapped into my pack, took a look up towards my eventual destination, and started out on the trail. The first few kilometres were not too difficult, despite the many tree roots and protruding rocks along the path. I was about two hours in, on what I estimated would be a five hour hike to the top, when I reached a rocky outcrop that looked back over the tree tops and down on the parking lot well below. As I was looking back, I noticed a small red car pulling into the lot and parking next to my truck. With a two hour head start, I figured I wouldn't be seeing whoever was pulling in until we were both on the top of the mountain.
I turned and continued my journey up the trail dismissing any thoughts about whoever was on my back trail.
The trail became quite challenging, and sometimes progress was made by climbing on all fours, or traversing rock faces with the aid of chains bolted into the rock. An hour after the first look-off, I came out onto a ledge that again looked down my back trail. The view was more tree tops than anything, but occasionally you could see exposed parts of the trail. While I was gazing back, I thought I noticed a flash of colour in one of the exposed areas more than half way up the trail.
"Crap," I thought, "if that's the person I saw from the first look-off, they are making great time. I just might see them before the summit after all."
I took the opportunity to enjoy the view, eat some lunch and hydrate before moving on about fifteen minutes later.
As I started out, I began thinking about the person on my back trail. I thought about their approximate location and reckoned that in the three hours I had been on the trail, they seemed to have erased about half of my two hour lead. Now I gotta tell you, I was damn well impressed. I may be fifty-six, but I'm no slouch when it comes to stamina and speed. My long steady gait usually eats up the kilometres, although due to the conditions, this particular trail pretty much negated the use of my long stride. But still, I was impressed.
About an hour later the trees were thinning considerably. Bare rock and scrub brush was quickly becoming the dominant feature along the trail. I figured I was making really good time and probably had about a half hour left until the top.
That's when I saw her. She was about five minutes back, running and jumping from rock to rock like a god damn billygoat. I could not believe my eyes. She was not running up the trail so much as flowing up the path. Her motions were smooth with an incredible economy of movement. She wasted no motion. Her sure footed strides set a pace that seemed to almost double mine. I was absolutely flabergasted! How could anyone be moving like this after four hours of gruelling up-hill climbing.
I stood there mesmerized by her rapid progress, I'm sure my mouth was hanging open in awe. As she closed the gap, I started to notice the details of this young phenom.
She appeared to be slightly above average in heigh - maybe 5' 6' or 5'7", blond hair tied back in a pony tail that swung somewhere around mid-back. She didn't have a skinny runners body, but rather more of what one might think of as a lean and well muscled yoga body. She wore a very small tight sports bra over firm, probably B sized tits that were held firmly in place. As she closed the distance to thirty meters or so, I could see evidence of decent sized nipples pushing out the fabric of her sweat soaked bra. Her mid-rift was bare displaying impressive ab muscles. She wore skin tight yoga shorts that barely reached beyond the intersection of her legs. And legs! Wow! Long, lean and muscular. All this I noticed in the few minutes it took her to close what I thought would be a five minute gap.
Since she was carefully watching her footing, I don't think she became aware of my presence until the last 15 meters or so. She looked up and her eyes widened in a startle response. This response showed off her lovely hazel eyes over high cheek bones, a button nose, and perfect pink lips. Her startled response was shortly followed by a huge smile that lit her entire face like the morning sun. I have to admit, I was instantly in lust!
"Hi" she said, "I was wondering if I might over-take whoever was in front of me."
"Hi", I responded, "well I saw you pull into the parking lot from the first look-off, so you gave me about a two hour head start. That's a pretty impressive feat to make up a two hour differential in the four and a half hours I've been hiking. I am hugely impressed."
"Yeah, I like to push myself to my limits when I hike."
It was then I noticed her relative lack of gear. She wore a small fanny pack and what appeared to be a hydration backpack and that was it.
"You travel light I see. Obviously not planning on staying the night?"
"No, I'll take a rest at the top to enjoy the view, eat a snack and hydrate. Then it's a run back down the mountain."
"My God, that's friggen incredible! I am in absolute awe of your ability to accomplish that!" I gushed.
"Hey, the feeling is mutual," she said. "Here you are at your age lugging what equates to a small child on your back up this mountain trail. That I wasn't able to catch you until almost the summit - I'd say that is pretty impressive. So we're pretty even on the mutual admiration front. That being said, I'm gonna continue on to the top. I'll see you when you get there and we can share a protein bar and some water. Oh, by the way, my name is Jill."
"Hi Jill. It's nice to meet you. I'm Joe. Yeah, don't let me hold you up. I'll see you at the top."
With that Jill passed by me at a run and soon disappeared over the next crest, but not before I got to admire her tight bubble butt and lovely thigh gap between her shapely, well muscled legs. It wasn't three minutes later when I heard a shrill scream from up ahead. I immediately dropped my pack and put on a burst of speed to see what had happened. I could hear Jill sobbing quietly as I crested the trail near the top and found her laying on the ground.
"Oh, thank God! Joe, a snake bit me when I stepped over that rock," she said, as she pointed to a medium sized flat topped rock just up the trail. "I panicked and then rolled my ankle when I jumped back," she cried.
I quickly looked around to make sure we were safe, but any snake that might have been around had now slithered away. Since there were very few poisonous snakes in our area, it was unlikely that Jill was in life threatening danger, but I couldn't sure, so better to err on the side of caution.
