Stay Away From Cliffs, Kids ~ Near Death Experience Part 2

It was in early February, when Abi and I stepped out our door into a bitter, overcast day.  We had just arrived in Germany a month and a half ago.  Now that we were settled into our new home, we decided to explore our new village.  So, without further ado, she and I hiked up to the castle (or Chateau, if you're French, but we didn't live in France) that was perched on the top of the hill.  As we crested the top of the hill, we did a reconnaissance trip and made a circle around the top of the hill.

The castle was built right into the cliffs that rose up suddenly from the hill itself.  When we got to the back side, we actually saw something that could've been a path that hugged the cliff face.  We couldn't see where to climb up from, but we thought that maybe we could see it from the top and try it from there.

Now, I should take a moment here, and tell you that it had snowed before we had gone out exploring.  That's an understatement..  When we first arrived in Germany, there was about two feet of snow, and this snow hadn't gone away yet.  Instead, it had solidified into something more like ice.

So, as we circled back around to the gate of the castle, we looked at each other and grinned.  We were actually going inside a castle.  You could just feel the history oozing out of the centuries old stones.  As we walked through the archway, we looked around and saw that some of it was still in ruins.  After surveying our surroundings, we turned and headed right up the side of the cliff that sloped down to the castle.  You could tell what the builders had in mind, it was a veritable natural fortress.

The ascent was made difficult, due to the fact that it had a foot of snow on the ground.  But after much huffing, puffing, and sliding back down, we crested the peak.  As we stopped to catch our breath, we looked around at the view.  You could see for miles around, despite the fact that it was so cloudy.

Once we shook ourselves from our reverie, we walked to the backside of the cliff and peaked over the edge, scanning for the path that we had thought we had seen from the base of the cliff.  Then, I looked down..  It was probably close to a thirty foot drop.  Sheesh.  

I did a double take.  Ah-ha.  There it was.  

I slid to a smooth part of a snow, and then scooted another foot.  Then, the snow caved in.  And I lost my stomach... still wondering if I ever got it back again.

On my way down, my head thumped against a boulder.  But then my body landed into the snow.  Thank goodness for that.  I heard Abi over my muffled groans.  "Are you okay??"

I replied, "Yeah, I think I'm still alive," as I made my way unsteadily to a park bench.  When I reached the bench, I looked around and saw Abi trying to make her way down the supposed path.  I told her to go back, but she refused, because she couldn't remember exactly how to get back to where we could go to meet back up.  And with it being a strange new town, I don't blame her.

For a moment, it looked like she might actually make it down, but only for a moment.  Pretty soon, she followed my example as the snow fell out from under her.

Of all the times that she could follow my lead, this was the time that she decided to follow my example.

Surprisingly, we both made it out unscathed.

Moral of the story: Stay away from cliffs, kids.

Careful, falling cows.