It’s been several weeks since I ventured out with the Wednesday Sausage Walkers group. My primary reason is that they do intense and lengthy walks. I prefer to do my hikes in 1.5 hour morning and afternoon installments. But this week a Belgian friend from the Hash was back in town, and she wanted to join up with the Sausage Walkers, so I agreed.
Of course, it was raining Wednesday morning. I told Betty I would show up at the Angel’s bakery start point, and then see how things looked at 10:00 a.m. She’s staying on the old Navy base and had a 20-minute Jeepney ride, but was still willing to chance a trip in vain. And the rain did, in fact, stop prior to our scheduled departure. There were only five of us present for the hike. Gunter, our Austrian leader, suggested taking a Jeepney to Olongapo City and doing the “stairway to heaven” hike. I nixed that idea, saying I didn’t want to be stuck in the wilderness should the rain return. The others thankfully agreed, and Troy led the way on a mostly flat, wet, and muddy, 10-kilometer walk.
We were just under 2.5 hours on trail. The rain held off until the last 30 minutes, and then we walked in a freaking deluge to our customary stopping point, Cheap Charlies.
On the subject of hiking, this story captured my worst nightmare when I’m out on the trail alone:
Neil Parker was about 20 feet up a waterfall when suddenly he wasn’t climbing anymore. The same rocks he had scaled many times before were no longer supporting his weight. He was falling, tumbling head over heels as he bounced off the rock face.Seconds later, the 54-year-old splashed into the creek at the bottom of the falls.
“Straight away I thought, ‘Well, now I’m in a lot of trouble,’ ” he said Wednesday.
His left leg, just above the ankle, had “clean snapped in half” and his left wrist was also broken. To make matters worse, he was alone. Parker hadn’t told anyone about his plan to take a short hike Sunday in the Mount Nebo area northwest of Brisbane, Australia, and a quick check of his cellphone confirmed that calling for help wasn’t an option. There was no service in the deep rocky gully where he was now lying.
You can read the rest at the link, but the guy wound up crawling through the wilderness for two miles before he was finally rescued. Yikes!
Anyway, I’m going to keep on keeping on, but I will proceed with caution. What else can you do?
That’s the kind of stuff I live for when I’m on a walk: those little moments of simple, quiet beauty, like your photo of moss on a wall. The loveliness often catches you by surprise, then you walk past it, and it’s gone, committed to the annals of experience and memory.
When do you your next hike, I’ll try not to say “break a leg” as a way to wish you luck.
By the way, that bamboo bridge was made of green bamboo, so it was probably quite sturdy.
Yeah, I’m sure the bridge was plenty sturdy, for me, it’s a question of balance… 🙂