‘Nope, he really did use a rhyming couplet,’ he sniggers.

‘Wow,’ I say, trying to stifle a laugh.

Scott shrugs. ‘I keep trying to come up with new ways of getting people to drink.’

‘Noted.’

‘You can come up with a new drinking slogan for me if you like, but until then – drink.’

‘You know what,’ I say, putting the mouthpiece of the water bladder to my mouth and taking a swig, ‘I actually think that last attempt had a bit more oomph about it.’

‘It made you drink, that’s all I care about,’ he says, before turning to the others with a satisfied face as he sees we’re all doing just that.

We start walking again and I’m relieved when we stop going up and start plateauing out on level ground. That comfort lasts only a few minutes as we then start going down. You’d think heading in a downward direction would be easier, gravity is on your side, yet the opposite is true. My body naturally wants to lean forwards so I can see what’s going on, but doing so makes me too fast and throws me off balance, so I lean backwards into the ground behind me as I go.

‘Not long now,’ Kevin says behind me.

His words fill me with relief and excitement, foolishly leading me to be clumsy with my footing. My right boot goes down on a loose rock which wobbles and falls away, my weight is thrown off-balance as a result, and my arms flail helplessly as I land heavily on my backside, my body skidding down the mountainside.

‘Fuck,’ I scream, curling into a ball when I stop. I take a breath of relief when I realize I’m safe and not still plummeting down to my death.

‘Shit,’ calls Mike, rushing over to help me just as Kevin does the same. In the foggy distance I see Vicky and Scott stop where they are and turn back to see what’s caused the commotion.

‘I’m OK!’ I shout, leaping to my feet before anyone can get to me, giving myself a dusting off and gesturing for us to keep going.

‘Slow down,’ urges Mike, holding me by my shoulders to steady me further.

‘I just slid down, that’s all. I’m good,’ I protest, aware of how much my body is already aching from the heavy impact of my butt on the ground, and not completely sure why I’m shunning help when I’m in pain and feel like bawling my eyes out.

‘You sure you’re OK?’ asks Mike, rubbing me down before easing his grip.

‘More than sure,’ I say, as Scott comes bounding up to us, his experienced legs not faltering at all on the terrain.