hot and cold

This weekend my girlfriends and I decided to play nature girls yet again. We planned to hike to Papallacta, a town where there is a resort famous for its hot spring thermal baths. The hike is through a nature park, and to get there we took a bus out of Quito to this roadside altar to the Virgin, and then walked to the entrance to the park. It was cloudy and cool, but the landscape was beautiful, and so we commenced our 5 hour hike to the other side of the park, which was just above Papallacta. We were having a great time enjoying the scenery--this area of the park was at a pretty high altitude and has more shrubby vegetation. We hiked past lakes and to the top of the mountain, stopping for a small snack. As we descended into the valley, it began to mist a little, but nothing unbearable. The misting stopped and we continued onward. However, 2 hours into the hike, it really started to rain, and then it really rained. I had neither poncho nor raincoat with me (poor planning I know) and so I was beginning to get rather cold and wet. At this point, I informed my friends that in my movie, this is the part where we call for the helicopter to pick us up and take us the rest of the way. But as it was real life and not a movie, we continued on. The path started to become very muddy, and the footing became much harder. Finally we reached the road that would lead us out of the park, and my friend kept insisting that it wasn't much further. By this point, I believe I told my friends that in my story, this is the point where the handsome man rides up on his horse and takes me back to his warm cabin. As there was no such luck, we kept walking. At this point I was just concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other, as I was soaked and cold. We continued down the road, and I was not in the best of spirits, when suddenly I slipped and fell in the mud. I stood up and said,"This is the end of Allison the Nature Girl. Get me a warm bathrobe and a glass of wine and GET ME OUT OF HERE!" We kept going and going, and I thought the hike was never going to end, when it finally did. We got to the lodge on the other side of the park, called for a truck to take us to the resort, and fairly ran (or moved as fast as our tired bodies could) to the thermal baths. We sat in the baths for a while, went for dinner, and then went back to the baths. At one point I decided I was ready for bed, and made my announcement, and then realized it was only 8:30. I was so tired that I didn't care and went to bed anyway. The rest of the weekend was pretty relaxing, but I am pretty tired and sore today and definitely will not be doing any more 5 hour hikes unless there is not a cloud in the sky.