Last weekend, my BFF and her hubby flew in from  Missouri for a visit. While they were in the neighborhood, and had not seen Lake Tahoe in person, we planned an overnight excursion and booked a suite at the “Rustic Cottages“, in Tahoe Vista. We could not have found a cozier or friendlier place to be.

While exploring around Lake Tahoe, we were at a ‘Vista Point’ and saw Emerald Bay with its castle and private island. My BFF and her hubby are hiker’s, bicyclists, and campers. Once we found out that there was a trail you could hike down and tour the castle, those two were practically drooling.

If you know me, and some of you do – you know that mountain climbing is a really bad idea for clumsy and directionally challenged me. But you know how it is. Everyone else wants to go. And they are looking at you with pleading eyes.

Wanting to be spontaneous and fun, I hiked with them on the trail down the mountain to the bay. The trail was not straight down the mountain, so, it took a  l  o  n  g time to reach the shore below. The park ranger that took our $10 (?!) parking fee, told us that it was a mile long hike to the castle.

She lied.

The mountain or the bay could have been a mile long, but the trail had many switchbacks and you could only see the section you were walking on unless you leaned over the edge. I was fine with that information passed from hubby. I did not have to see it for myself – I’m not from Missouri.

The castle was very cool, but I could not enjoy it fully because I had started to realize the danger I was in.

I knew I used all the carbohydrates in my body. And that was walking downhill. I would not be able to hike back up, unless I had some fast sugar and something to eat.

I won’t go into the details about insulin to carb ratio’s, or use any medical terms here, but the bottom line is that low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) is way more dangerous than high blood sugar. At least in the short-term.

That being said – I always carry a little juice box in my purse for when I need to raise my blood sugar in a hurry. However, four ounces of apple juice was not going to get me back up that trail, and our snacks were in the car, along with my bottle of water. After digging through my   purse, I found 2 packages of ‘Smarties’ candy.  Whew! I sucked on them as we began to climb.

It was embarrassing how often I had to find a place in the shade to rest. The high elevation in Tahoe did not help. It was a struggling and torturous climb for me. After absorbing the Smarties, I felt better and I could pick up my pace, but it was a brief repast.

Half-way into the ascent, I felt the symptoms of low blood sugar – I was nauseous, hot, shaky, weak, and irritable. Luckily, I kept myself from panicking. My BFF came to the rescue – by dumping out her purse and finding little boxes of ‘Nerds’ and a banana ‘Laffy-Taffy’.  BTW: They  tasted wonderful, even when eaten for medicinal purposes. And they probably saved my life. At the very least they saved me from seizure or coma.

I did make it up to the parking lot, and got home to blog another day. I am still kicking myself for not thinking things through. Diabetics that are ‘brittle‘ like I am, can’t  be very spontaneous. It sucks, but that’s how it is.

Every meal, snack and activity has to be planned and prepared for. My daily supplies (insulin, needles, glucose monitor, and juice) must be calculated out for the expected itinerary, and packed with me when I travel. This girl can never ‘pack lightly’ again. I did not have enough juice/food with me, because I did not factor in a long hike that day.

Thank God I was not by myself!

Wait. a. minute…

If I was by myself, I would not have gone hiking in the first place…   😉

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photo credit: bunchofpants via photopin cc