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Bearfort Mountain
May. 18th, 2008 08:57 pmI didn't take any pictures from the hike today, though in the morning it was very beautiful. It wasn't even that difficult for most of the day. After lunch we had to navigate a lot of rocks and streams and ponds, and I always get slow when it comes to tedious stuff like that. Of course everyone else confidently bounds over the boulders and slippery logs while I slowly lag further and further behind. The hike leader (Igor) told me I need to work on my confidence and learn to trust my feet more. It was truly embarrassing how far behind I got. At around 1, toward the end of the hike, the rain started coming down. The last part of the hike involved walking along a road. It was just a regular paved road and even then the 2 people who had waited for me zoomed on ahead, leaving me walking along on a sore knee, getting soaked in the rain, singing whatever songs I could think of to keep my spirits up. It's hard walking in the rain when you have no idea how much farther it is to the van, and everyone else is walking faster than you. And yeah, my right knee is sore. I really hope I just came down on it funny and that it isn't the beginning of a chronic knee problem. My left hip hurts too. That pain had mostly gone away up until a couple weeks ago. Maybe all the consecutive days on the Stairmaster weren't so good for it.
Three other girls on the hike today are also going to Machu Picchu, though apparently they are taking a different trail than I am (I was never given an option; who knows). We talked to Igor some about the trip and I asked him what he wished he had known the first time he went. He told me not to stress out this week. He said people who are stressed before the trip are more likely to get sick. Well then I guess I'm taking it easy the next 5 days.
For all the preparation I've done, I still feel like I have no idea what I'm walking into with this trip. It will be the biggest adventure I have ever undertaken. I am going to a place where I will not speak the language, where the water can make me sick, and where there is a fraction of the oxygen that I am used to breathing. And in the midst of that I'll be hiking and camping for 4 days straight. Am I crazy?
Three other girls on the hike today are also going to Machu Picchu, though apparently they are taking a different trail than I am (I was never given an option; who knows). We talked to Igor some about the trip and I asked him what he wished he had known the first time he went. He told me not to stress out this week. He said people who are stressed before the trip are more likely to get sick. Well then I guess I'm taking it easy the next 5 days.
For all the preparation I've done, I still feel like I have no idea what I'm walking into with this trip. It will be the biggest adventure I have ever undertaken. I am going to a place where I will not speak the language, where the water can make me sick, and where there is a fraction of the oxygen that I am used to breathing. And in the midst of that I'll be hiking and camping for 4 days straight. Am I crazy?
