Another day, another hike. Hey, it’s what I do. When I’m not drinking beer anyway. Today I met up with the remains of the Wednesday Walkers. Günter has run that group into the ground with his insane marathons and only a few die-hards remain. My Hash buddy Scott and I had already decided what we were going to do and figured we’d invite anyone who cared for a sane walk to join us. Turns out Günter was a no show, so the seven of us set off for our adventure.
We caught a bus out to Castillejos, 12 kilometers or so down the highway. And then we commenced walking.
Off we go!Country living at its maybe not so finest.Before the parting.
So, we had intended to go up over the mountain and down into Philseco. But when we commenced climbing a local warned us that the way we were attempting was not easy. He was strident enough in his entreaty to turn around that four of us did. Almoranus the German and two others insisted on going forward. And we haven’t seen them since. Us that remained instituted Plan B, which was to walk around the valley and circle back to Castillejos.
A black piglet. Didn’t see a poke though.Green Acres is the place to be/ farm living is the life for me/land stretching out so far and wide/keep Manhattan just give me that countryside. Ha! I did that from memory!Something about this tree spoke to me. I think it was saying “keep on walking, Joe”. And so I did.Hmm, this field under cultivation lay between us and where we needed to be. And it wasn’t just under cultivation, it was also underwater.
At some point, we lost the path and had to wing it a bit. And it turns out we had to do a water crossing. Well, actually, we had to do three water crossings. But once your shoes are wet, does it really matter?
Wading in.A bit later we were fording a stream.And at last, our last crossing. Edward was a gentleman and carried his gal across all three wet spots.The last of the open spaces before we hit the road back to Castillejos.And then we popped into the Roadhouse for some liquid refreshment. A cozy little bar that I quite enjoyed.On the bus ride back to Barretto we were “entertained” by this guy preaching the Gospel. It was actually quite irritating, but what are you gonna do? When he was done with his sermon, he walked among us handing out donation envelopes. I declined to contribute to his rudeness. I told my seatmate that if he had offered me an envelope in lieu of the preaching I’d have gladly made a donation. And yes, I know it is Ash Wednesday but I don’t like being forced to listen to words of faith. And it was in Tagalog, so themessage was lost on me anyway.
And that was today’s walkabout. Just under 7K all told. Enjoyed the scenery and the company.
I’ll close with a little bit of politics in the form of a meme if you don’t mind:
Pretty much.
2 thoughts on “A walk in the countryside”
Do you ever have to contend with leeches during your water crossings? I imagine they’re not a problem when you’re dealing with vigorously running water, but what about in those areas where the water is either slow-running or stagnant?
You know, it’s been surprising just how little I encounter any type of critter on the trail. Not even many mosquitos (I do slather on Off! before going out though). Had a couple of ant bites, but that’s it. As to leeches (other than the notorious Hare, Leech My Nuggets) never seen or heard of them here. I’m going to ask one of the experienced Hashers about that. The Navy guys who detained us a while back said the river we crossed had snakes in it, but luckily we didn’t encounter any.
Do you ever have to contend with leeches during your water crossings? I imagine they’re not a problem when you’re dealing with vigorously running water, but what about in those areas where the water is either slow-running or stagnant?
You know, it’s been surprising just how little I encounter any type of critter on the trail. Not even many mosquitos (I do slather on Off! before going out though). Had a couple of ant bites, but that’s it. As to leeches (other than the notorious Hare, Leech My Nuggets) never seen or heard of them here. I’m going to ask one of the experienced Hashers about that. The Navy guys who detained us a while back said the river we crossed had snakes in it, but luckily we didn’t encounter any.