Life is a bitch. Just ask anyone and they will confirm it. No matter what you do, sooner or later life will jump up and smack you in the face and remind you that you are a relatively insignificant speck on the face of the earth, barely worthy of breathing air. And if you need any further confirmation, just ask my ex wife, she will be more than happy to confirm that little fact about men in general and me in specific.
I guess these things happen, divorce I mean. The really shitty part is that no matter how much we fought, I really did still love her, which is probably why after three years I still haven't started dating. Oh, don't get me wrong I have gone out to a bar a few times, but I just never quite got to where I felt like I could pick someone up without a guilty conscience. My friends have told me to move on, my lawyer told me to move on, even my family told me to move on. At forty-five, doing so is a lot harder than being told to do so.
I really hadn't had a vacation since the divorce, turning myself into a workaholic, but Mark, my best friend, finally talked me into getting away with him and his wife for a backpack trip into the mountains. I hadn't been backpacking since I was a kid, and I remembered the how much fun it was. I'm certainly not in as good of shape as I was back then, but he assured me that I would do fine, and that I would certainly not be a third wheel. His wife, Tina, a real live blond bombshell, had another friend going along and I would make a fine addition to their small group for the trip.
As the time approached, the trip seemed to be all Mark could talk about. The beautiful pristine wilderness, vast expanses of mountain scenery, fresh air... as he put it, all the best things in life could be found on a mountain top. I am quite sure he is ignoring the effort required to get there in the first place. But then I guess I'm a bit more cynical than he is at this point in my life, having a bit more than a dozen years on him.
He took me on a shopping trip to Bass Pro to get a new pack and certain other gear I would need, like hiking boots, smartwool socks, zip-off pants, and other assorted but equally important items. To my surprise a tent was not on the shopping list. Apparently my hiking partner was an experienced backpacker and would have a tent I could share. No point in carrying anything I didn't have to, or so he said. He also told me to go shopping and find the lightest weight underwear I could, preferably not cotton. I would only use 2 pair on the trip, one to wear and one to carry. Every ounce counted because by the end of the day an ounce felt like a pound.
I arrived at Mark's house on the appointed morning. I was dressed for a car ride, rather than hiking, wearing a pair of exercise shorts and t-shirt and not at all looking forward to the twelve hour ride to the trailhead in Colorado.
"Hey Mike!" Mark called as he came out of the house with a load of gear to pack into the back of his suburban. "I see you made it! You got all your gear?"
"Yep! All set I hope!" I called back as I dug my pack and a duffel of assorted travel items out of the back of my truck, trying hard to sound positive and upbeat. I had my doubts about this trip and had really considered begging off at the last minute, but decided that I spent all the money, so I might as well go.
"Good! You're going to have a great time!" He said as he walked over and took my pack from me with a grunt. "Damn, what do you have in here?"
"Just what you told me to pack, plus a few odds and ends."
"You may want to drop those odds and ends, or you're going to be crying by the time you get to the top of the first mountain pass. It's only 3500 feet up."
Now I was really starting to regret not begging off. "Ok. I guess I better go through it." I mumbled, taking the pack back.
"Hey Mike! Good to see you!" Tina said as she came out of the house with an arm load of gear. Now I called Tina a bombshell before, but in some ways that really doesn't do her justice. She is about five seven and all of a hundred thirty pounds soaking wet, and a good chunk of that had to be in her size D tits, which in the sports bra and pink tank top looked even bigger. She had on a pair of pink biker shorts that clung to her body like a second skin, outlining the muscles of her long legs like the frame around a Van Gogh, and the tight material gave me a pretty good clue to the shape of her pussy. Her medium length blond hair bounced, as did her magnificent tits, as she hopped down the stairs on the front walk. If she wasn't married to my best friend I would probably try to have sex with her right then and there.
"Hey Tina. Looking good as usual!"
"Oh... That's sweet. Thanks! I can always count on a compliment from you. Good thing my husband isn't the jealous type!" she said with a smile. "What's the long face for?"
"Gotta go back through my pack. You're not jealous type husband said I packed a bit heavy." I replied as I set the pack down and crouched down to dig through it and toss the items I didn't need back into my truck.
"Oh. Well I'd believe him on that one." She said with a grin. "He knows all about taking too much weight."
"Done it once or twice?" I asked her as I started unzipping compartments.
"Oh yeah!" she said with a giggle. "In more ways than one!"
I looked up at her quizzically, but all she did was look off into space for a moment, obviously remembering some event of her past.
"So how's Mike?" I heard a female voice say from behind me.
I swiveled on the balls of my feet to look behind me, and was stunned. Yep stunned was the best word I could use to describe the sight I saw. I hadn't seen Carol, Tina's sister, in quite a few years, and back then she was, for lack of a better term, a hefty smurf. The face was obviously Carol, buy the body was anything but! She stood behind me looking very much like Tina, thin muscular legs, slender build and a pair of probably C size tits that were barely contained in the short, halter top style summer dress she was wearing. If she weighed more than a hundred twenty pounds it would have to be dripping wet. She had long blond hair, much longer than Tina, hanging down over one shoulder, and absolutely gorgeous. It took me several long moments before I was able to close my mouth and not look like a dufus.
"You can put your eyes back in their sockets any time you want!" Tina said with a laugh, giving me a soft slug in the shoulder.
"I'm sorry." I stammered as I stood up and held a hand out to her.
"Good to see you again. It's been a lot of years." Carol said almost shyly.
"Um, yeah, it has." I stammered as she shook my hand gently. I had to admit it was pretty stupid to shake her hand, but my mind hadn't quite started to function properly yet.
"So you want a hand?" She asked as she let go of my hand.
"Um sure." I replied about as smoothly as sandpaper.
"I'll let you two work on this. I've got plenty of other things to do." Tina said as she got up. "Oh by the way... Carol is going to be your hiking partner, hope you don't mind!" She said over her shoulder as she headed toward the house.
