Cow Face-Personal Narrative Essay

It had looked so far away it was hard to believe I would be on top of it in a few days. Besides in the campsites, we only saw one other group of people during the entire 12 day trek and the only human sounds were our own. Each camp was an island of civilization in a great sea of wilderness, and a wonderful solace to end the day’s hike.

There was no pavement for his dog to follow. The trail is marked only by small patches of white paint on trees, rocks, or occasional posts. No signs were in Braille, so Bill Irwin had to run his hands over their etched letters to read them. Many of the hundreds of footbridges were only twelve inches wide or less and Irwin had to cross them on his hands and knees. The trail often wound its way along steep cliffs and mountainsides. He had to contend with the continual unevenness of the trail’s rocky surface, which tore up his boots and twisted his ankles. And Bill Irwin fell literally thousands of times – fracturing several ribs on one occasion. There were no inspiring vistas that would reward all those uphill climbs. He made the journey in perpetual darkness. And although the Appalachian Trail Conference has published dozens of detailed topographical maps of the trail, they were all useless to this man who couldn’t see. How, then, could he find his

“There.” I mumble to myself and drop the robe of branches responsible for ripping open my palms. Our cabin is compact, with three rooms and a brook not too long around the path I just walked. My companions are probably deep into sleep, in a world with titans, you couldn’t always expect your family to return for dinner. My stomach growls softly at the reminder. I had been out since noon without a meal. Wondeful.

Steve and I dove off the side and slid to a painful stop on the edge of the flat as the litter, now free of our extra weight, sailed majestically into space. The entire untidy mess tumbled end over end and spread pots, frying pans, rifles, fish poles, axes and a hundred other pieces of gear all over the side of the slope when it returned to earth. It was apparently the funniest thing I had ever seen because I couldn't stop my nervous laughter as I lay there scraped and bleeding. Steve's sense of humor mirrored mine and we sat there laughing like the two fools we

"The dog fell off a cliff and landed in the lake, but he's okay." I swear the dog gave me a dirty look. From my place in the back seat I could see Dad looking at me in the rearview mirror; his eyes told me he knew there was more, but he never asked.

A violent gust of wind laughed as the two girls were trying to reach the conclusion of the hike. The bitter mountain scorned at Lori and Kayla, unleashing its wrath by letting rocks fall keeping the girls on their toes. Lori and Kayla felt as though the entire world was against them. They were so sure that they picked the correct path, but after walking another three miles, the pathway was slowly disappearing from under their feet and they had no idea where they were.“What are we going to do Kayla! We are completely lost, and there it is impossible to get down the way we came. I have no idea where we came from!” Lori exclaimed. Kayla stood there silent in complete shock about what their current situation was. Kayla thought to herself, “I am supposed to be the strong one. But I don't think I can keep this up. I don’t have a plan. What if we never make it off this mountain? It will be my

As Bill took his first step in the woods, he takes a deep breath soaking in the scent of oak and fresh ash. “far removed from the seats of strife”, not having a warm bed or hot meals even a full night rest. Knowing he had one abventure ahead for Bill and Kats. Both having to hike 16 miles everyday over rocks,trees, crossing ice cold rivers, and hearding the rain outside of thier tend and the roaring of the bears at night.

After waking up at site 18, having breakfast and cleaning up, we started up the trail. In retrospect, I would have gotten ready a bit quicker, as it was getting pretty warm as we approached the peak. However, the first three quarters to one mile offered a gradual assent, mostly in the shade and along the side of a creek for a time. We paused to enjoy a small waterfall along the trail. Then it started to climb a bit steeply, and the shade became occasional places where we looked forward to stopping to relax.

I felt the drops begin to fall, and yelled, “Hurry! Help Me get the fly on!” We hoisted on the fly, then realizing the tent was going to blow away, put in some extra stakes. The next morning we woke up, dazed by the nights’ events, but excited and ready for adventure. We began our journey into the Tetons, heading to Jenny Lake, where frigid waters dared us to jump in. We began our journey up the mountain shortly after a quick breakfast, during which a man from the next campsite over gave us some extra pancake mix, which at the moment we had no time to use, and threw in the back of the car. Little did we know the lights in the car had stayed on while we went up the mountain. I headed the trip for a while, then fell to the back, drained by trying to stay in the lead and by lack of oxygen. We had to take breaks every few minutes because of the dispersed and unsatisfying amount of air we were able to breath in. All of the sudden, like flashes of lightning, Kurtis and Allison took the

The slides down the hill have destroyed what few groceries we have left. Starvation inspires larceny. Champ Bond's ski lodge is open so we let ourselves in to see if there's anything to eat. We find one nearly empty box of black licorice with three hard, desiccated pieces of the best tasting black licorice we've ever eaten. Sorry, Champ.

Me against a twelve hundred pound cow, sounds crazy right? The fury in her eyes, nostrils flared, kicking and slamming her body against the side of the trailer. I had to do this though, fair was only six months away. It was going to be a tough journey but I, had to tame the beast. Success is a feeling of contentment, pride, and excitement. All of those feelings come to mind when I think of my experience breaking my first cow two years ago. The hard work and dedication put into it truly paid off in the end and taught me a lesson in perseverance.

“He’ll be okay. Help me put him on the truck?” The man asked without replying to Bill’s remark and showed no concern for the animal. “Thanks for helping,” he replied and drove down the road with the injured dog lying in the truck bed.

Our tents were barely holding up, our equipment pile was swept into the raging river next to our home base. Without our equipment, we had no chance in surviving the next few days. I watched as our only hope slowly tumbled down the small ledge…

Perking up his ears the dog listened. “I didn’t mention it, but the other day, I had a close call, I started to cross the street and saw her coming towards me. Thinking, I had time to get to the other side; I pushed my cart off the curb. Would you believe she sped up, and roared by me in her shiny BMW, the wind dumped my cart over in the street? While I was picking up the cans and bottles, she came back, stopped and watched me. Someday, she’ll get what’s coming to her.” Sticking his head up, he barked. “Claude, you’re right, she doesn’t like us and right now she’s not one of my favorite people,” he said and smiled as the dog covered his head with his paws. “That’s okay, one day she’ll be good to me, if not it’s her loss.” Snickering, he patted him on the head, “What do we do today?” He asked, and Claude barked. “You want to take a drive. First, I need to do a few errands.” After struggling to get off the sofa, Claude went to the front door to wait. “Oh no, you can’t go, someone needs to watch the house,” he said, pointing his finger and watched the hound go out the back door. Going to the liquor cabinet,

Growing up I was told to go to college, get a career, get married, buy a house, save for retirement, live a few years longer and then die leaving an inheritance to my children. Anyone tell you to do this?