The Angel of Mammoth Mountain 4

A hero is someone who is admired for his noble deeds and qualities, someone who is known for his courage and warm heart.  A hero is strong, selfless, and even better than what is considered superior.  A hero is a true role model. 

However, heroes are not made in a day, nor are they born that way - heroes are developed, cultivated slowly overtime.  People become true heroes after a long process, a journey.  And although I am no hero, I did experience an adventure much like this journey on my trip to Mammoth.  And as we all know, every journey cannot completed alone.

My trip to Mammoth Mountain was completely daring, something that I had never ever done before.  It was mountain biking.  Even though I expected it to be challenging, little did I know that I would struggle so much with the trails.  I felt so unsure on my mountain bike and had almost no control when it came to bumpy roads and downhill slopes.  I was constantly swerving off the trail, and even hit the ground quite a few times.  Our second day, after one particularly shaky slope, I skidded to the edge of the trail narrowly missing a tree trunk that came dangerously close to my face.  Standing there with my bike leaned against my leg, my breath coming in broken little puffs, I had no idea how I would catch up with the rest of my peers who were so far ahead of me.  My heart started to fall...until I felt an angelic figure stop his bike right next to mine. 

"Tie your shoes," my chaperone told me.  With those words, I was brought back to reality in an instant.  He told me everything I was doing wrong and what I could do to not die every time I reached a downwards slope.  Stop breaking so much, don't rely on the front break and stand up a little to absorb the shock, he said.  As I processed this (and practiced with a lot of trial and error), I slowly became accustomed to the proper mechanics of mountain biking.  Everything finally clicked.  I caught up with the rest of the group and the remainder of the trip was a complete blast.  If my "supernatural aid" had not come to my rescue that frightful day, I can undoubtedly say that my trip would have been completely different.  To me, it was just as important as Cinderella receiving magical gifts from her fairy god mother or Dorothy obtaining red ruby slippers from Glinda the Good Witch.  This stage from the hero's journey was extremely prominent in my outdoor education trip, and I shall remember it always.

 

 

Photo Credit: ischgl.com