Edun did not want to go on a hike. She especially did not want to go on a long hike in the mountains that led to a tiny cabin (小木屋) with no electricity and no running water. She wanted to stay home reading a book instead while wrapped in a warm blanket.

“Ready?” Mom asked cheerfully after breakfast. Edun looked out the window and only saw rain, lots of it. “We should go another day,” Edun suggested. “Maybe a hundred years from now.” She worried she would get tired on the hike. She worried about getting bored at the dark cabin. Mom said it was time to stop worrying and get into the car.

Edun’s brother, Will, was waiting in the garage, who wore a camera around his neck. Will was four years older than Edun and had climbed many more mountains. He’d started hiking when he was two and loved it.

Because it was raining, Edun had to wear her rain pants, her rain hat, her rain jacket, and her waterproof boots. Her jacket had a rough material on the inside. She didn’t like how it felt against her skin.

After about half an hour’s drive, they parked at a trailhead (登山口). The rain had stopped but the ground was still dripping wet. “We’ll be there by afternoon!” Mom promised. The afternoon sounded far away.

Will identified a bird sitting on a nearby branch—“Fox sparrow!”—then he raced down the trail and was soon out of sight.

Edun rested under a pine tree. “You can’t force me to walk,” Edun said. “You’re right,” said her mom smilingly, standing under the tree, too, “But you will never know what may lie ahead and amaze us.”

Daniel and Lucas are twins. They are teenagers, studying in the same class. Their teenage life is rich and colorful. Tony is their grandpa, whose age is 70 this year. The two grandsons like to take exercise with their grandpa and even go out on adventures.

In the summer of last year, they paid a visit to Stone Mountain Park with their grandpa. They had the opportunity to spend the day with their grandpa, seeing the various beautiful sights and attractions. One thing that three of them had really desired to do was climb to the top of the mountain. Stone Mountain isn’t a very high mountain and fortunately there are some walking routes to the top of it, but for the two teenagers, along with a rather old grandpa, it’s a difficult task.

Daniel and Lucas were much more interested in the walk than their grandpa, and they viewed it as an exciting adventure. But climbing the mountain was a rather big challenge for Tony, who was old and thin. He decided to start the slow walk up to the mountain.

It seemed like that Tony was taking forever to climb just a short distance, but considering his personal safety, he had to remind himself that it took him two steps to equal his grandsons’ one step. When he walked closer to his grandsons, he had to stop for a while to regain energy, and then tried to catch up with them, over and over again.

Tony was very tired. He just wanted to arrive at the top of the mountain as soon as possible to enjoy the beauty of the mountain top. But the twin grandsons were not focused at all on the trial of climbing the mountain. On the contrary, they were simply enjoying the journey of the walk. They enjoyed all that they had seen and all that they had heard along the way up to the top of the mountain. They stopped now and then to look at every large rock and observe the unusual plant formations. Suddenly, they found a strange plant. Daniel called out, “Grandpa, here is a special plant. Come and have a look.”

Tony was hurrying towards his grandsons when he fell down.

Daniel and Lucas wondered how to get their grandpa to the top of the mountain.

My adventure short story took place in Nepal, where I did the Mohare Danda Trek — which was no easy feat; however, in my opinion, it is truly one of the best hiking trails in the world. The Mohare Danda is one of Nepal’s newest treks, opened in 2010 as an Eco-trek to help support and develop the Parbat and Myagdi districts.

I’ve always enjoyed such kind of hikes as my friends and I conquer one destination after another. As you gaze upon the mountain peaks, interact with locals, and take in the nature that surrounds you, it’s hard not to feel immense gratitude for such adventures. This is particularly true when we reached the top of Mohare Danda at 3,313 meters (10,869feet) and realized just how far we’d come.

It was a stunning hike, though my first day got off to a difficult start as I found myself violently ill. Ascending（爬升）higher and higher，sweat pouring down my face and my backpack threatening to pull me to the ground, I stopped constantly to gasp for breath and throw up quite a bit — until we reached the high altitude tea house where we’d be staying the night. The accommodation was rough, to say the least, which was a small family-run hotel with squat toilets, spiders, and no showers.

While the group went in for tea, I laid on the ground, nearly crying from the physical pain from the challenging hike and discomfort from the sickness. At that moment, I truly didn’t think I could do it. But then I opened my eyes to the beauty that surrounded me— scattered wild flowers all over the mountains, feasting yaks and buffaloes, high-altitude villages and the stunning terrain of the Annapurna Himalayas, which were the type of beauty you truly can’t find anywhere else —and realized that if I gave up now I’d never forgive myself.

The hotel owner was very kind, who brought me warm water and some medicine. He also suggested that I bring some oxygen just in case, and I did so, which turned out to be life-saving.

An Unforgettable Travel Experience