Not THAT kind of hiking

Today I went on a really hard hike up in the mountains of the Southwest. I love hiking.  This summer, I went hiking with my son in the Shenandoah National Park.  It was GREAT!  I went hiking with my sister in the mountains of Vermont. It was GREAT! Today......not so great!  I mean I am ALIVE so that is GREAT but let's face it.  I am only BARELY alive.  First, I went hiking with a bunch of hiking enthusiasts.  Meaning they hike all the time.  Second, those hiking enthusiasts were evidently a bunch of billy goats. Meaning they clamored up steep gravel mountainous inclines with little effort.  Third, I went on a hike unbeknownst to me on a trail that was called "Rattlesnake Canyon".  Anyone want to take a guess at what was LYING ACROSS THE TRAIL WE HAD TO WALK ON?  Yes.  A GIGANTIC RATTLESNAKE!  ACKKKKKK!  I HATE SNAKES! So now, I am in total fear as I am hiking. I am breathing like a freight train, straining to climb up the mountain, desperate to keep up with everyone because I don't want to be left behind in RATTLESNAKE CANYON!  I fell behind with every vertical climb and then had to RUN to catch up with everyone every time I reached a plateau.  Did I mention that I was hiking in the Southwestern United States?  In the blazing sun?  My face was literally purple.  All I could think was "Don't leave me here in Rattlesnake Canyon!!!"  I saw snakes and GIGANTIC wasps and GIGANTIC beetles and there was NO shade anywhere.  So I love hiking......just not THAT kind of hiking.  Thank goodness I survived!