My friend and I tagged along with a mountaineering group on a hike back in college. To be clear, we weren't members, but they were inviting anyone who wanted to join. I don't know why I thought it was a good idea at the time but I was excited and not at all worried that the hike was going to be in two days' time.
I had zero prep and I was not athletic by any means. I don't exercise and the most I walked was to the store and back. On the bus ride to the mountain I learned it would take 3 hours or so to reach the peak for fast climbers and maybe 4-6 for slowpokes.
I was in the middle of a 15-person line of hikers but somehow I ended up alone midway up the climb. It had begun raining and I thought I was following the correct trail. My legs also started locking up, I'd been trudging for more than a couple hours by then.
I successfully didn't panic at all. My heart just went a bit too loud like it's competing with the downpour. I realized I have an issue with vertigo when I started glancing around too much. It occurred to me I haven't been this alone since being dateless at prom. I decided sticking to the muddy ground without grass and trees was probably the correct path.
Around half an hour later I finally spot people behind me. Turns out my friend was in this last group of turtles and I was only slightly ahead of the stragglers. We were both exhausted by the time we arrived at the camping site near the peak.
In the tent we agreed this was a truly bad idea and we should never have gone without training. We went on two more hikes after that.