I thought I would never reach the summit of Prairie Mountain. Honestly a few times I thought about turning around, and I had only been hiking up for about 20 minutes. Let me tell you, there was a lot of inner dialogue that sometimes turned nasty.
I don’t know what was in the air (besides mist) because I just couldn’t get a grip on the snow and ice. Once I put on my Kahtoolas, I thought my footing would improve. No such luck. I was slipping and sliding most of the way up. It is a wonder I didn’t hurt myself. My muscles were working overtime to keep me upright.
I knew I would keep pushing along no matter how long it took me. I just couldn’t understand why I was such a mess. It was like my first time on the trail.
Thankfully after what seemed like hours and hours, I was out of the trees and no longer slipping and sliding. A few runners were doing repeats so I saw them when I was still climbing.
On my way down, I chatted with a runner about the slick trails. She didn’t seem to think they were that bad. I told her my Kahtoolas were not helping whatsoever. She took a quick look and helped me straighten them out.
It was only until I stopped near the trees on my descent that I took a closer look at my Kahtoolas. Sure enough, I screwed up. I had been wearing them upside down the entire time. I had the grippy, spiky part turned in so they were gripping my sneaker, not the ice. Ugh. Now wonder I had so much trouble hiking.
Fixing my grips made all the difference going down. While I wasn’t winning any speed contests, I felt much more comfortable and safe plodding down. I can only say this is what happens when you haven’t worn your Kahtoolas since last winter.
In retrospect, I probably should have paid a little better attention when I was putting them on. I knew something just didn’t seem right but I thought it was just my early morning brain.
I considered for about half a second about going up a second time. But my ascent took so much longer than I had planned, and it was getting late. Snow was on the way and I didn’t want to be stuck on the highway in a snowstorm.
The roads were pretty slick driving back to the city. And once I walked into my door, it started to snow here in Calgary. I definitely made the right call.