Hiking

Today is our free day.  Kerstin, Esa (pronounced EE-saw), Kate and I decided to hike some of the trails on the mountains behind Tauernhof.  Another organized group drove to another hike, but we stayed closer to school because Kerstin needed to catch a train back to Germany in the afternoon to become the Godmother of her 6-month-old niece. 

At the top: Sharon, Esa (from Germany), Kerstin, and Kate

We looked at the map and decided to head up towards Planai, a famous ski area in Schladming.  How hard can a hike be?  Oh my, I had no idea that we would literally be hiking up very steep mountain faces.  The first 25 minutes of our hike felt like it was straight up to God.  And the air is different here because we are at a higher altitude, so it's easy to get winded -- and that I did.  It was nice to be with Esa and Kerstin because they are both experienced in hiking.  The trees are marked with the Austrian flag, but at times, it looked like we were in the middle of the forest, but we'd always find our way.  There are several different paths and you can choose choose as you hike along.  Once we got to the top of the mountain, I caught my breath not only because we had such a challenging hike, but it was simply stunning. 

We continued on and I thought that we were off the trail, but Esa and Kerstin found the path and we continued on.  We went up, down, and crossed over ski slopes.  There were still patches of snow on some of them!  In the middle of our trip when it wasn't so steep, we were able to talk.  Esa spent 7 months in Israel helping the mentally and physically disabled before coming to Tauernhof. She went to church on Christmas in Bethlehem and said that it was amazing.  She is headed to Tanzania after this for a few months to continue helping the disabled.  We also talked about the differences between denominations in Canada, the US, and Germany -- over 90% of Austrians are Roman Catholic (not to be confused with Catholic, which really means the church) and many Germans are Roman Catholic as well.  We talked more about the different denominations but felt a common bond between us.

The way down was challenging because it's very steep in spots and at points, you're walking down a ski slope -- we did a little salem walking so that it was easier on our knees.  At one point we passed a stable of horses on a road and a big house built into the hill.  It looked the home for the Hobbits.  Really.  As we headed back to home, it was 3 hours later.  I am so tired but never felt more at peace by just hiking in God's creation.  I can't wait to try other paths.