…and hope I never do again!
Okay, when the Hare is Vienna Sausage, I know I’m in for an ass-kicker. He didn’t disappoint in that regard yesterday. Still, I missed the opportunity to shortcut, so that’s on me. Had I known what lay ahead, I would have been more mindful of my situation and avoided the worst part of the trail. Oh well, lesson learned.
I knew in advance we would be climbing to the Kalaklan Ridge, starting from the end of Rizal Extension. I’m up for the challenge of one good climb at the beginning of the trail, and this one was every bit as hard as I anticipated. The hot weather added a couple of exclamation points to the effort, but we got it done. Once on the ridge, the “short” trail followed the ridgeline road, which is mostly flat and shady. The surprise came at the end, when I was thinking we’d be heading back down but instead had to endure another climb. Once that was done, the down was steep and slippery most of the way. All in, it took me three hours to reach the On-Home on a 7K hike. That’s twice as long as normal for me. I was exhausted and thirsty (despite drinking two bottles of water on the trail) when finished, and oh, did those San Mig Zeros feel good going down.
As long as it took me to complete the trail, I wasn’t the last to make it back. In fact, two Hashers, including the Grand Marshall, didn’t return until the Hash circle was over. They’d gone back to look for another Hasher but never found him (he’d taken a wrong turn but found his way back an hour before they did). The former GM ran the circle, but it was just a bizarre ending to the day. Vienna Sausage came and asked me what had gone wrong with his trail, because he thought it was easy compared to others he’s done. I told him the hill climb at the end had wiped out the group I was with, and had I known, I would have taken an alternate path down. Again, it was not the Hare’s fault; it was mine for not using better judgment. I’ll try not to make that mistake again.
Anyway, I lived to tell about it, so there’s that. Now, it is just another memory.
Speaking of memories, Facebook took me down that road today:
And on to the Quora Q&A:
Q: Is the Japanese occupation of Korea and China still a sensitive topic in South Korea and China?
A: I can only speak to Koreans. I had two different girlfriends who got triggered by the smallest Japan-related issues. What the world calls the Sea of Japan is known as the East Ocean in Korea. Call it the Sea of Japan at your peril, as I learned firsthand from GF #1.
My favorite story from GF #2 was while we were eating at an outdoor street restaurant with a community table. Now, this girl had never gotten over the occupation that occurred before she was born and disliked all things Japan. So, as we were eating (and drinking soju), I noticed her angry face and glares being directed at a young woman a couple of seats down from us. Finally, she says to her, “You are in Korea; why are you speaking Japanese?” The woman was visibly taken aback and responded: “um, because I am Japanese.” Thankfully, my GF let it go at that point.
And NEVER EVER call Dokdo island Takeshima!
I’ve never heard any Filipinos talk shit about the Japanese invasion in 1941. I guess they have bigger things to worry about–like China. And actually, the Japanese have funded several large infrastructure projects here, perhaps in part to say “sorry about that.”
Today’s poor attempts at humor:
I’m up for the challenge of one good climb at the beginning of the trail
Psychologically, I’m not all that different: I prefer to get the hard stuff out of the way first.
The surprise came at the end, when I was thinking we’d be heading back down but instead had to endure another climb.
Yeah, that’s the kind of psych-out that can leave a person feeling resentful.
And we are On-On!
18-Kilo Ass is back!
The view from here
Really nice blues and greens.
The Easter Mountain shot
This pic is different from your other Easter Mountain pics: it’s taken from a higher point than the mountain itself, or so it seems.
What the world calls the Sea of Japan is known as the East Ocean in Korea.
I’ve never heard that. It’s usually either East Sea or Eastern Sea.
“Sea” here: Sea of Japan
Sounds as though it was an arduous day, but you survived, so that’s a point in your favor. Now, don’t let it happen again.
There was great hostility in the Philippines toward Japanese well into the ‘70s. But then the Japanese started coming with money as the Philippine economy got into real trouble. It was noticed that in Ermita, where terrified women desperately ran from horrendous Japanese rape rampages during the war, many now eagerly trotted into the arms of Japanese salarymen having a yen for compensated companionship.
McCrarey!
I have been enjoying the LTG drivel with my morning coffee for about 7 years, but I never thought that I‘d see myself on your blog.
Thanks for bringing back the good memories from our Shenanigans era. And thanks again for manning the grill at our wedding! I tell my wife about your escapades from time to time so you aren’t just fondly remembered…rather you have managed to remain somewhat of a fixture in my daily routine.
Keep up all the good nonsense and keep walking up that ridge! Lest you stop.
Wow! I had no idea you were a reader here! Thanks for that. And yes, lots of happy memories of those days and our Shenanigans. Glad you are both doing well. Stay happy!
Thanks for this history, Drain. It makes sense. Time heals, and money talks!
“Now, don’t let it happen again.”
What? You don’t want me to survive next time? Ouch!
Wow, it’s embarrassing to act like a know-it-all and still get it wrong. Yeah, East SEA. I knew that; I just said it wrong. That answer was over four years ago, so I can’t even blame my current state of dementia.
That Easter Mountain shot by Scott was taken near the top of the Kalaklan Ridge. It was also from a different angle than usual (we were a lot further out on the ridgeline). Update: Scott just confirmed: Easter Mountain is 210m, the photo was taken at 227m, and we climbed to the top of Kalaklan at 267m.
Yes, it was good to have 18-Kilo back with us. I didn’t realize that he’d injured his leg last December (his last Hash was the Christmas candy run when he was Santa). He just finished a month-long motorcycle ride around the Philippines.
What? You don’t want me to survive next time? Ouch!
I thought about teasing out the joke further by writing something like, “If you don’t die every time you hike from now on, I’ll stop reading your blog.” But I decided that brevity is the soul of wit, at least in this case.
It worked!