March of the Penguins....... (Oct 25)

This morning was a very early wake up... 6:30 am! It was the day of the 'mega hike'.
We are also breaking camp today and moving on to our next site. Brad and I had both had the sniffles since arriving in the mountains but this morning I woke up with a full on head cold and larangytis (oh what joy). No worries... I managed to collect myself and after some mad packing, getting ready, and eating... we were off.

We started on a fairly easy dirt track that wound through a pine forest. It could have been Alaska (except for the monkeys we saw). The air was nice and cool since the sun had not yet reached our side of the mountain. It was great weather for hiking.

Single file still with Kuku trying to get the kids to be quiet and just listen to what was going on around them. It was almost like he was trying to play the game - who can be the quietest... but I think they were a bit old for that and started to catch on.

After awhile, we turned off the dirt track and started up a fairly steep zig zag. It was slow and tiring but, if you were patient and took it easy, it wasn't too bad really. We went up... and up... and up... and up... oh... and up! At one point I wasn't sure if there was going to be a top! We did eventually emerge onto a meadow overlooking the valley and the mountain range in the distance. We were at what I thought was pretty high, but even there, there were cows just kind of hanging out... and this was only the rest spot - we still had a bit more of a climb to get up over the ridge.



It was an amazing view even if we weren't at the top yet. The mountains stretched off in both directions for as far as you could see - some were even covered in snow. Unfortunately, it was too hazy to get a really good photo so you'll have to take my word for it. Snow caps, clear blue sky, terraces of villages and apple orchards down to the valley below... breathtaking.



After a suitable rest and photo op, we continued on up over the ridge of the Bringa Top pass at 2,650 metres and then on to our very long descent to our next camp at Prini. We took around 2 1/2 hours to climb up and it took us the rest of the day to descend. Two of the guides on the trip that had stayed behind to break down the camp caught up to us just before lunch (good thing since they were carrying lunch!) Like the porters in Peru, this was like a Sunday stroll to them.

We stopped for lunch in a very pretty meadow below a couple of houses. There was corn growing and a few sheep and cows grazing about. A fairly simple, self sustained existence. I overheard one of the students ask where they did their shopping. I really hope she was kidding! Sleeping in a tent on the ground with a cold coming on in those cold mountain nights had taken their toll on me. I started to burn out somewhere just before we stopped for lunch. I felt like a bag of dirt. I ate what I could. Brad (always looking after me) made me a pillow from his vest and I tried to rest a bit. It wasn't long though. We had to press on.

The remainder of the hike is a bit of a blur. I was sick, Brad's left knee stopped working (old ACL injury that got aggravated during the many hours of descending). Kuku commented at one point (when we finally caught up to the group) that we looked like the walking wounded returning from the war. I gave Brad my walking stick to try and help ease the pressure on his knee (he was starting to walk like a penguin and I could tell he was in alot of pain). I just kept putting one foot in front of the other while still trying to appreciate how beautiful it all was.

We reached our campsite at 5 pm, just ahead of the pack horses that were carrying all the gear. Darkness falls around 5:30, and when it gets dark, it gets dark and cold. With that in mind, there was a mad dash to get tents up, get luggage unloaded so people could get their thermals on and most important, get the kitchen set up so they could make dinner!

We were staying on a small terrace near a village. Keshau is quite well connected in the area and had pre-arranged everything. The villagers had even flattened the area out for us and brought firewood for a campfire (wood is a fairly precious commodity). The local kids all stood in a group and watched the scene unfold. I think they thought it was a festival.



I was feeling worse than ever so Brad, Kuku and Keshau located our tent and started rushing to get it set up. We got our bags and got me tucked into a sleeping bag as quickly as possible. As I was sitting off to the side waiting for things to get set up I made the mistake of looking toward the kitchen tent upon hearing a noise... the chickens weren't for the eggs... it may be awhile before I eat chicken again.

With everyone in such close proximity on the plateau (and teenagers being so loud in general) I didn't get much sleep for the first 2 hours, but atleast I was warm and resting. There was going to be a campfire that evening but everyone was pretty tired so they decided to have one in the morning instead.
A head cold, a really long hike, sleeping in a tent... my immune system gave up and I came down with a case of what Brad likes to call "Delhi belly". I tried to eat some plain rice at dinner and some tea but I just did not feel well at all.... and we still had to hike the rest of the way out tomorrow. Back to trying to sleep....