A Hike to Remember

Once upon a time, a group of white(or somewhat white) people went hiking on their little island. I'd say the hike was no fairy tale, but even Little Red Riding Hood got chased (or eaten, depending on the version) by a wolf. So fairy tales are sometimes more dangerous than expected also. Are you enjoying the suspense yet? Well, our hike was full of suspense too!

It all started with a friend of our team leader who suggested that we climb the tallest mountain on the island. It's only a little over 5,000 feet high, and we'd be starting at a decent elevation, so it sounded like a fun adventure. Plus, many people said you could see all the surrounding islands from the top of this mountain. Most of the rest of the team though it sounded like fun too, so we started planning.

Reports from islanders about the trip were varied and vague. Would it be 3 hours roundtrip? Six hours? We planned for the longer estimate, figuring that at the latest we'd be back mid-afternoon. Would it rain? Maybe. Would it be an easy enough hike to bring kids along? Better assume not-- so a couple adults stayed behind to look after the kids.

So, early(ish) one morning, we loaded into a van along with an islander friend and a couple guides, and set out for the mountain. After an hour of twisting, winding, bumpy, and treacherous roads we arrived at the trail head. Really, it was just a track that local farmers use for getting to their fields in the hills. With 2.5 liters of water, a camera, change of clothes, flashlight, first aid kit, sunscreen, bug repellant, and snacks, I was ready for the trail.

As we began hiking, it was peaceful. There were berries along the trail that we recognized and enjoyed eating. The view was pleasant, walking not too difficult, and conversations were enjoyable.

It started getting more difficult, but we were rewarded with views like this one to encourage us along the way. If this was what we were seeing at lower elevations, what would it be like at the top of the mountain?

Eventually we reached a lake. Many of us had heard of this lake. Islanders have numerous stories about the dangers of the lake, related to evil spirits or bad luck. We decided to enjoy the lake from a distance, speculating on the number of fish living in such a place.

After the lake, the climb became just that: a climb. It was more difficult, and we were watching where to step carefully. Well, this will be fun on the return trip, I thought. Still, there were beautiful things along the trail, like this fern-like plant with its curly ends:

Soon, the climb became a scramble. Rather reminiscent of following elk trails back home. We were using roots, rocks, and sturdy plants to help pull ourselves up the steep incline, still buried in tropical forest. There were occasional views to see, but mostly we were just staring at dirt and roots, trying to pick our way up the trail. Huh, this trail is going to be really challenging to go down, I thought. But it was fun! I'm not a grunt hiker... I prefer for things to be tricky and technical, rather than just sweaty and tiring... so it was just the sort of thing I liked. My quads were trying to cramp at one point, but it was still fun.

At one point I looked out from the mountain and could see this: 

Oh, I hope there aren't clouds blocking our view at the top!

Haha. Yeah. After 5 hours of hiking/climbing, we reached the top!  [Yes, 5 hours one way.] And this was our view:

Can you see that? Trees and a dead bat. One of the guys climbed a tree to see if there was a better view to be had, but even that produced more of the same: trees, trees, trees. So much for a lovely view!

We hung out at the top for a little while, snacking and enjoying the cool breeze. Like my victory face?

Then it was time to return. Now in most fairy tales, that part of the story is the shortest. "So they all went home and lived happily ever after."  Not so with this tale. No, going down was more difficult.

It was more treacherous.

It was more mentally challenging.

Then one of the guys fell. I was further down the trail, so I didn't see it happen, but for those who were there it was traumatic. He should have died, or been paralyzed, or at least been knocked out. But no, he got up and kept going after falling head over heels 20 ft. and landing on his head.

 This picture doesn't fully represent what the return looked like, but it's safe to say that we all had a greater respect for the mountain after that. Stay close to the ground, keep three points of contact, make sure what you're holding onto is secure. Man, so many analogies could be made from that.

So yeah, since I'm here typing this up you can see that we made it down the mountain. But that was a long trip down. A long trip.

By the time we made it back to the van it was sunset. The 3-6 hour hike took us a total of 10 hours!

Points to take away:
--  On the mountain, we couldn't see where the top was. In life, we often have an idea of our goal, but no clue how close we are to it.
-- When climbing, we had to hold on tightly to many things. In life, we must be sure that what we hold onto tightly is truly secure and won't let us fall.
-- Take a guide. We had two of them, and by the end we were very grateful for their presence. In life we need our Guide.
-- Going down the mountain, we had to let go of one handhold in order to reach for another. Sometimes in life we have to let go of certain things in order to move ahead.

Praises:
-- Safety on the mountain.
-- Working plumbing! They discovered concrete in the pipes. (what????)
-- A wonderful holiday season.

Pray:
-- Keeping on keeping on with language learning. I'm tired of being self-motivated, but still need to press on.
-- Lower cistern. We still don't have a sustainable water supply. In the meantime, pray for rain, so we can collect that water.