Acrophobia? Gephyrophobia? Or maybe just plain old being a chickenshit? Back home safe and sound but thinking I shouldn’t be so risk-averse. Here’s the tale from yesterday’s Hash in the mountains of Baguio.
I had a bit of a hangover from my overindulgence the night before. So in preparation for the upcoming Hash I figured a full stomach was in order. Found this deserted restaurant right outside the hotel named “Roadhouse Barn”.The place was well-decorated. I rather liked this portrait of what I assumed to be the Board of Directors for the “Roadhouse Barn”.Had a double meat cheeseburger with fries. It was quite good.And washed it down with this strawberry shake. Yeah, I decided to reconvene the diet tomorrow.After lunch, I meandered next door to where the Hashers were gathering.
So, there was a long 9K runners trail, a 6K trail for those who preferred something shorter, and a “VIP” trail for folks who aren’t into a strenuous hike. My plan was to do the 6K which is appropriate for my speed. And then when the Hare was providing pre-departure instructions he made this comment: “Any of you on the 6K trail who have vertigo may want to go with the 9k instead, as there is a ‘hanging’ bridge to cross on the shorter trail.
Well, damn. On the trip up I had seen some real dicey looking pedestrian suspension bridges over large and deep chasms. I was thinking at the time “no way!” I also recalled the time I had to bail out on a river crossing here because I couldn’t deal with the scary and unstable bridge. So I was faced with a dilemma. We were going to be driven out and dropped off somewhere. If I was unable to make it over the bridge because of my cowardice I’d be stuck. The on-home was going to be somewhere out in the sticks as well, so even if I managed to find a way back to the hotel I wouldn’t be with the Hash group. And I just wasn’t feeling up to a 9K hike that the Hare described as “challenging”. What to do?
Years ago I had read a book called “Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway”. And so yesterday I felt the fear and did the VIP trail instead. Well, a modified version of the VIP trail.
This Jeepney was used to transport the beer and ice along with the 8 cripples (physically or mentally) to the on-home location which was also the starting point for the VIP trail. And the endpoint for both the 9 and 6K trails. My plan was to walk the 6k trail in reverse and if I encountered any bridge I could or would not cross I could safely retreat back on-home. It was a good long 45-minute ride up and down the mountains before we reached the on-home, which was indeed out in the middle of nowhere. As a VIP I was tasked with helping unload the beer.With the Jeepney unloaded, I began my quest. It’s not a good photo, but I was trying to capture how the houses in this area are just built randomly up on the mountainsides. My road was lonely and flat in the beginning. And then I encountered a Subic Hasher who had done the 6K trail. He was still running as he passed me by. As I continued onward I passed more and more Hashers going in the opposite direction. In fact, some were confused when they saw me, thinking they had somehow lost the trail. Probably around the 3K point of my hike, I met up with Leech My Nuggets who had done the 9K trail. I took this to be a good sign that I should turn around and head back to the on-home.It was nice to be moving in the right direction again. Even passed up some of the slower walkers along the way. Never did get to the bridge or even a hard climb. One of the Hashers that did the crossing showed me a photo. Damn it! That bridge would not have been a problem for me at all. It was solid and sturdy with netting on the sides. That’s what I need, just a sense that if I lose my balance I won’t tumble off the bridge. It’s the ones with only rope to hold onto that scare me. Oh well.This lake (or puddle) was so ugly I just had to take a picture. Anyway, I wound up doing a 6K trail after all. The on-home was in this flood control area. I thought about walking down to see the drop-off but thought better of it. Oddly enough, someone from the Barangay came by and told us the area wasn’t safe and advised us to be careful. His concern seemed a bit overwrought seeing as how there was not going to be any rain, let alone a flood.So we all safely drank our beers and waited for the circle to commence. It eventually did (a little boring compared to Subic as La Union professes to be a family Hash. So no real bawdiness). Then it was a long ass Jeepney ride back to where we had started where we drank more beers and were served a very nicely done buffet dinner.The Subic contingent in various stages of inebriation after our long day of Hashing.Another Hash, another Hash shirt.
I’ve got some photos from my morning in Baguio that I’ll share with y’all tomorrow. It’s a very nice city in many ways and I’ll talk about some of those things as well.
2 thoughts on “Vertigo?”
Surprised you didn’t go with a clip from Mel Brooks’s “High Anxiety,” his old parody of “Vertigo.”
Anyway, beautiful photos as always, especially that intensely colored one with the caption beginning, “It was nice to be moving in the right direction again.” But no pic of the buffet?? Too busy eating, I guess….
I’ve been freaked out by bridges before. A rope bridge wouldn’t scare me, but back in 2008, when I was attempting that trans-US walk, the Bridge of the Gods kind of freaked me out with its meshwork floor. Completely irrational fear, I realize: there’s no way I could have suddenly melted and poured through the mesh. But the feeling of floating perilously over a long, high drop was still rather unmanning.
Ha! I had totally forgotten about “High Anxiety”. That definitely would have been a better fit given the comedy of my fears.
Yes, I don’t think there is much rational about these kinds of things. It just gets in your head about what COULD happen and the knees go weak. I recall taking Se Hwa to the states. One day she achieved her dream of skydiving and the next day we went to the Grand Canyon. They had one of those glass bottom walkways out over the canyon and she was on her hands and knees. It was pretty hilarious.
Surprised you didn’t go with a clip from Mel Brooks’s “High Anxiety,” his old parody of “Vertigo.”
Anyway, beautiful photos as always, especially that intensely colored one with the caption beginning, “It was nice to be moving in the right direction again.” But no pic of the buffet?? Too busy eating, I guess….
I’ve been freaked out by bridges before. A rope bridge wouldn’t scare me, but back in 2008, when I was attempting that trans-US walk, the Bridge of the Gods kind of freaked me out with its meshwork floor. Completely irrational fear, I realize: there’s no way I could have suddenly melted and poured through the mesh. But the feeling of floating perilously over a long, high drop was still rather unmanning.
Ha! I had totally forgotten about “High Anxiety”. That definitely would have been a better fit given the comedy of my fears.
Yes, I don’t think there is much rational about these kinds of things. It just gets in your head about what COULD happen and the knees go weak. I recall taking Se Hwa to the states. One day she achieved her dream of skydiving and the next day we went to the Grand Canyon. They had one of those glass bottom walkways out over the canyon and she was on her hands and knees. It was pretty hilarious.