Mary Jo Bellner Swartzberg
The sign in front of the Space Mountain ride in the Magic Kingdom theme park read: If you have high blood pressure, neck or back problems it is recommended that you do not go on this ride. But my brother said that it would be fun and, besides, the sign was just for effect. So we said yes. We did not realize that the ride was a space-themed, in-the-dark, indoor roller coaster.
As we were being jerked from side to side and backwards to frontwards I recalled that warning sign. Perhaps it will only last another two minutes? Actually, it seemed an interminable amount of time before the ride came to a stop. Stepping out of the space module I felt my legs buckle. And, well, a bit of nausea overcame me.
According to the Thrill Level on the Disney webpage Space Mountain is considered a dark, big thrill ride (with) big drops. It goes 28 miles per hour. While we will never go on that ride again, it was over and we did it!
And that brings us to horseback riding in Montana.
We were asked if we would like to go horseback riding while in Montana. The ride would be horses walking pell-mell on a trail around Glacier National Park. It sounded wonderful – so we said yes.
On the appointed day we went to the stables and, subsequently, we were given a Horseback Riding 101 primer and then were helped into our saddles. We started down the trail, riding amidst tall, stately cedars and hemlocks. Soon we were amongst aspens and white birch trees.
And then we started getting into some serious elevation changes, which brought steep 45 degree inclines with hairpin turns. Deep crevasses were on our right. Our supposedly simple day of horseback riding turned out to be three hours up the mountain, to an elevation of 6,300 feet, where the Sperry Chalet, a rustic, early 20th Century lodge, is located. It is accessible only by horseback or by hiking.
For the last hour going up the mountain we had to traverse steep, jagged rocks, which our horses stumbled and slipped over with their metal horse shoes. I kept praying: “Lord, if you protect us I will give up wine. But, if it’s time for your horse to die”—so I sort of reneged on my promise to give up wine. (I hope you can understand!)
Our trip down the mountain, another three hours in the saddle, was even more harrowing. Our horses had to again walk down the steep rocks, causing them to significantly slip down the trail. Our white knuckles belied our initial bravado.
We finally arrived back at the stable. Dismounting, we each felt that our gluteus maximus was ruined for life. But after three days all was better! And, we did it! Sometimes one never knows his/her limits. This I have learned.