Hike the tallest mountain in North Africa? Why not!
Hiking trails in Wintergreen, VA that take an hour was not nearly enough preparation for the 7 hour hike to the half way point of the mountain and then the other 4 hours to the very top. The plan was to leave on Friday after school in one of the school's cars, drive to Imlil a town near the Mountain and then hike half way up to the Refuge spend the night and then hike the rest and then go all the way down.
That was the plan, but on the way to Imlil we realized we lost the paper directions. So we decided to use my iPhone that i recently got internet on. Thank goodness, I thought! But little did I know, there are two Imlil's in Morocco and we arrived at the wrong one around 10 pm. We arrived to one that was four hours away from the one we wanted to get too. So our driver decided to use Moroccan GPS, which consisted of stopping every half hour to ask someone for directions. Finally around 2 AM we arrive to our destination. It was a cute Riad in Imlil. The next day we left around 10 AM and started our hike. 4 hours into the hike, I felt like giving up. I was considering rolling back down the mountain and spending another night in Imlil. The hard hike combined with my cold that I was slowly getting over, made the hike seem endless.
Thank God for friends. My friend from Rabat offered to carry my backpack, but with his terrible balance, my friend and I thought he would legitimately roll down the mountain. So my good friend from school carried my back pack in addition to her heavy backpack the rest of the hour or two up the mountain. I don't think I will ever be able to repay the kindness she showed me that day. I was considering sleeping on the mountain and going down the next day if it wasn't for her help. My friend from Rabat was also great about encouraging me and helping me the entire way. The last hour was specially hard because it started to hale, rain and thunder/lightning. I was terrified I would get struck by lightning. I am never doing this again... I thought.
We finally got to the Refuge and my friend from Rabat and I decided to hike down the next day while my other friends hiked the rest of the way up and then down. All in all, I survived, but I realized hiking a mountain is not my ideal vacation.
The next few weeks after the hike were tough with my students. They like to tattle on each other, and bother each other a lot. I find myself struggling to decide should I try to discipline the students who are tattled on or should I ignore it so I don't have people always looking to tattle on others. This is an issue I am still trying to work with. My patience for their bullying is running thin, so the upcoming break is keeping me going :)
Hiking trails in Wintergreen, VA that take an hour was not nearly enough preparation for the 7 hour hike to the half way point of the mountain and then the other 4 hours to the very top. The plan was to leave on Friday after school in one of the school's cars, drive to Imlil a town near the Mountain and then hike half way up to the Refuge spend the night and then hike the rest and then go all the way down.
That was the plan, but on the way to Imlil we realized we lost the paper directions. So we decided to use my iPhone that i recently got internet on. Thank goodness, I thought! But little did I know, there are two Imlil's in Morocco and we arrived at the wrong one around 10 pm. We arrived to one that was four hours away from the one we wanted to get too. So our driver decided to use Moroccan GPS, which consisted of stopping every half hour to ask someone for directions. Finally around 2 AM we arrive to our destination. It was a cute Riad in Imlil. The next day we left around 10 AM and started our hike. 4 hours into the hike, I felt like giving up. I was considering rolling back down the mountain and spending another night in Imlil. The hard hike combined with my cold that I was slowly getting over, made the hike seem endless.
Thank God for friends. My friend from Rabat offered to carry my backpack, but with his terrible balance, my friend and I thought he would legitimately roll down the mountain. So my good friend from school carried my back pack in addition to her heavy backpack the rest of the hour or two up the mountain. I don't think I will ever be able to repay the kindness she showed me that day. I was considering sleeping on the mountain and going down the next day if it wasn't for her help. My friend from Rabat was also great about encouraging me and helping me the entire way. The last hour was specially hard because it started to hale, rain and thunder/lightning. I was terrified I would get struck by lightning. I am never doing this again... I thought.
We finally got to the Refuge and my friend from Rabat and I decided to hike down the next day while my other friends hiked the rest of the way up and then down. All in all, I survived, but I realized hiking a mountain is not my ideal vacation.
The next few weeks after the hike were tough with my students. They like to tattle on each other, and bother each other a lot. I find myself struggling to decide should I try to discipline the students who are tattled on or should I ignore it so I don't have people always looking to tattle on others. This is an issue I am still trying to work with. My patience for their bullying is running thin, so the upcoming break is keeping me going :)
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