At 3AM on Sunday morning of Week Six, I roused the ladies for a Move Out drill, and we moved out. I bundled the ladies into the van, told them they could go back to sleep, and we drove for three hours over lonely roads high into the mountains. What I took them too looked like a mining ruin on the outside, and a rehab center with a good exercise gym on the inside.
"Ladies," I told them, "in a week we go on a long trek. We will be doing some serious hiking. You have a three day hike to accomplish. I've brought gear. You must now get it broken in so you don't get blisters, and get your legs back in shape for several days of walking."
"A what?" was the response.
"It is time to move on. You can't live in a one-room hideout forever. It's killing you. I'm taking you to a new place where you'll have more room, more freedom, and more meaning. But, the journey will be very difficult, so you must prepare, and harden."
They had developed enough feminine instinct that they now didn't object.
~~~~~
The next week was stressful. The girls worked on a physical regimen that kept them physically active most of the day, and me, too. I would be going on this hike, too. We all got hungry, tired and bitchy, and slept like logs. I wanted to do more touchy feely, more bonding, but I was just too tired. We exercised inside, and we exercised outside. We stayed outside a lot, because we needed to acclimate. That made me nervous because one or more of the girls could decide to "get legs", and I would be very busy chasing them down. I explained the importance of acclimating to the girls, and they took it to heart. I heard a whole lot more whining and moaning than I ever want to hear again (except in bed, when certain things are in progress), but the girls stayed put. They acclimated, they became proficient at wearing wool shirts, jeans, packs and hiking boots, and they became diligent about changing their socks every four hours. By the next Sunday their feet were toughening, and they were ready.
We started out just before dawn, and we looked for all the world like the seven dwarfs headed off to the mines. We all had backpacks, walking sticks and nondescript hiking clothing.
The trail we followed was a steadily rising one. It was hard on the muscles and lungs, but easy on the joints. For the first day we followed a river valley. We walked through cottonwoods and willows, and it was pleasing scenery from the western US area. The river was a wild one, but not totally uninhabited. There were camp sites along it every few miles. These we skirted. It was too late in the season for much camping, but I saw no point in taking chances. Campers enjoy their privacy, so there was a decent trail that avoided the sites. By noon we came to the end of the canyon. I scouted out the last camp sight, and it was empty. We commandeered its picnic tables for lunch, and stayed for an hour to rest up. Above us was a high, peaceful waterfall. We enjoyed watching that, and I was now feeling relaxed enough that I gave the girls some backrubs.
"This is nice." said Melene, she was the first, "I'm glad you're feeling better again."
"You noticed?" I said.
"Oh yes, we all noticed. And we were worried that you where getting too much stress. But... we were pretty tired, too." she sighed and leaned into me a little. "Yeah, this feels good." she repeated, and she rubbed my leg a little while I rubbed her back. She gave me a sweet kiss when I finished, too. The other girls were pretty sweet, too. I was feeling a lot more Alpha Male by the end of that backrub session.
After lunch we started up a switch-back trail that took us out of the canyon. We had walked an hour, and we were hot, tired, and nearly to the top of the switch-backs when my luck ran out. Christ! Some hikers were coming down! There wasn't much I could do, except be the last one in line, and watch to see if the girls tired to give them some kind of message. If they did, I'd have to decide if I was going to do something drastic. We were on a cliff, so drastic was easily possible.... The hikers were an older couple, a pair of those old-but-still-fiesty types that you see a lot of in national parks when it's off season and no one else is around. They would not be hard to deal with if they got suspicious. I hoped... I really hoped the girls would see that, and not try something stupid!
As the couple approached, they heartily greeted Suzanne, who was leading. Suzanne was pleasant back. She sounded hot and tired, which she was. We all stopped and took a break to chat! Oh God! Oh God! But Suzanne was a marvel. She explained that we were on a school outing, and then kept the conversation turned so that the couple did all the talking. When she found that they were retired Amway people, not some kind of retired scientists, she started talking about how this was an ecology field trip, and launched into a marvelous jargon-filled description of the wonders of alpine ecology. It took only two minutes for the couple to realize how late it was, and continue on their way. Amazingly, no names or locations were passed. Suzanne was a marvel, and the other ladies followed her lead. I was really happy: the five weeks we had spent together were making a big difference.
The trail switched back up and up until it reached a plateau that was above the waterfall. About thirty minutes in from the edge of the plateau as a picturesque alpine lake, and beside it a simple hut with four rock walls and a wood roof. It was built there for hikers like us, and we used it. We would rest for the rest of the afternoon, and then spend the night. At this altitude and time of year, the night would drop below freezing. I would have loved to push on further, but, even with our week of toughening, we had pretty much walked our limit. We were done for the day.