Camel humping...Day 3...
Written about September 12th 2009 on September 17, 2009.
The day of the actual climb was epic. As I mentioned in the last post, Ali, Jenn and I were up giggling til the wee hours and I don't think I really fell asleep til sometime in the early grey hours of dawn. So when I was woken by Jenn at 10:30 being told we were leaving at 11:00, everything in me wanted to just curl up and go back to sleep. I'd had three nights in a row with very little sleep (about 3 Wednesday night, around 2.5 on Thursday night, and then a possible four Friday night, give or take). I was thanking myself that I'd only had once cider as others had much more to drink and so were struggling with lack of sleep and the effects of imbibing.
I dragged my carcass out of bed and started packing my backpack. First I unpacked all the art supplies from the pack (making a note that I only used my sketchbook and my pencils this go round and I do NOT need all the other stuff) and then packed what I thought I might need. Then I unpacked that and put in the bare essentials as I realised I'd have to cart it all UP and then DOWN too, and I kept out a change of clothes to be put in the trunk of the car. I'd heard about last year how some folks arrived at the bottom soaking wet. I didn't have a rain poncho with me and since it was grey out, it was a distinct possibility I'd get wet. Wet Cats makes for cranky Cats.
When everyone was herded downstairs and out into the yard, we broke up into various vehicles and headed off to get some breakfast. We went to a little place called Maxi's and the food was very good. I had French toast and bacon with a fruit cup. That decision would later haunt me, though I'm not sure what I could have eaten that would have given me the energy I required and not upset me. I'll have to think on that. Despite the consequences, breakfast was delicious and the company excellent, though I sat across from Jenn there was a print of a painting above Jenn's head that I couldn't help but stare at. Creepy and compelling wouldn't quite describe this picture.
Maxi's Creepy Painting - See for yourself... (image by Ali)
There's just so much going on never mind weird off perspective, faces peering around the ladies, the odd getups the women are in...might be some weird YaYa Sisterhood time gathering. And the one gal in the top corner is not quite there...like she's a ghost. As I said though, breaky was delish! Once again, breaky was served with Vermont Maple syrup.
Darroch, myself, Daphne, Tom, Raven (Jenn hiding) and Matt...(image by Ali)
Once breakfast was completed everyone filtered outside. I ran across to the convenience store to see if they had any sort of insta-rain-poncho, but no such luck. I'm still bemused how convenience or grocery stores are combined with liquor stores in the states. Wander down too many isles and boom, it's all alcohol!
We piled back into our respective vehicles and wagon trained it to Camel's Hump State Park. (Image by Ali)
There was a sign in so the authorities would know how many bodies to retrieve or bury. (Ted and Tom by Ali)
Getting going was really difficult. I thought I was in serious trouble when I was already breathing hard after walking up from the parking lot to the privy and up to the sign in. My right foot which had cramped pretty badly previously was twinging and I'd realised at breakfast I hadn't taken my morning meds, nor brought them with me, which included an anti-inflammatory. It had started to drizzle as soon as we'd gotten out of the car and the was a real possibility that the sky could open up at any time and dump on us. And in the back of my head was the knowledge that I'd been pretty much entirely sedative for far too long and I started doubting whether I could do this climb at all.
Jeff had surged ahead of everyone else so was long gone when the main group of us started up. Then fairly quickly Jenn, myself and Ali started falling behind. Thankfully the ever patient Hiking-Guru-Sherpa-Tom stayed behind to coach and coax and assist. It wasn't long before Raven, Ted, Matt, Mandy, Daphne and Darroch were well out of sight. After a few hundred yards I felt like I'd been running hard and had to stop and catch my breath. And I was thinking to myself as Ali said out loud "There's no way I'm going to be able to make it." But there was Tom asking what the problem was and what did I need to help solve it.
Tom was right there and coached us how to breath; in for two steps, out for two steps not in and out for each step, that was too quick. I got a stitch in my side and there was Tom asking where it was and giving me a poke, jab and rub that eased it off almost instantly. He assured us there was pain and *PAIN*. The former could be walked off or walked through and the latter required attention and he asked as this or that problem cropped up is it pain or *PAIN* and where it was and what did we need. We were also assured that if we had to go back down, he'd go with us or send someone down with us and a set of keys. We walked and rested as we needed to and when when I started getting a pain across my chest Tom turned me around lifted my pack up and told me to breath. Not used to carrying a pack on my back put all sorts of weird strains here and there and one was in my sternum. Tom showed me how to sinch the shoulder straps to keep my shoulders back and the pack high. That helped tremendously. He gave me some tips on how to step, as I tend to lock my legs because of my back issues, he tried to get me to walk with more of a bend in my knee and a bounce in my step. Not sure if I maintained that, but I felt the difference.
Not far into the climb I started feeling sick to my stomach. A full greasy breakfast and hard exertion do not a happy couple make. I said I felt like I was going to throw up and Tom said "That's okay, just turn off the main path if you have to and go right ahead". Turned out I just needed to off gas a bit :P My hiking mates and the surrounding woods and the critters in the woods were seranaded with my inelligant belches. I heard Jenn mutter "Wow, that's amazing" and I asked "What, that I can belch that loud?" and she said "Hell no, that you had that all inside of you in the first place!". Eventually I stopped burping and got into the stride of the climb, and I stopped and drank before I was forced to stop.
Jenn and I slowly pulled away from Tom and Ali. Knowing Tom was there was a great confidence booster. And as we walked, it felt like it was getting easier and easier. We were more careful with our steps and our energy and Jenn and I had to stop less frequently. One loses all track of time when walking like that, so much to look at in the woods, so much to concentrate on to avoid falling flat on one's arse or taking a mistep. It seemed we'd been climbing for a good long while when we finally made the one third point. I was somewhat dissapointed to learn we'd only gotten that far as it seemed like we'd gone much further. So Jenn and I took a major break, took off the packs, took some pictures and had some sustenance.
Jenn at the one third marker! Only 2.1 miles to go!
Here I am at the one third marker...red faced and sweaty!
Jenn thought her boobs needed extra support on the way up...
While we were resting Ali came tromping up behind us.
She asked "How far have we come?" To which we replied one third of the way, 2.1 miles to go to which Ali exclaimed "FUCK ME! I hate my life!" and groaned and flailed her way into the clearing. But it was evident that she was in much better spirits than when we'd left her and Tom behind as I heard her say way back there "I think I'm going to puke" and Tom replying to her "Go right ahead, just turn off the path..."
A few seconds later Tom came bounding up the path. I believe that Tom was either a goat or Pan himself in a past life. And his Puckish grin doesn't help disprove my theory.
Closup in case you didn't get that...
And a few seconds later Ted arrived. He'd come back from the main group at some point and went on down to help Ali as well. Ali is giving the path ahead a dubious look.
Jenn and I moved on ahead while Ali sat down for a rest and soon we were well ahead again. At another of our rest breaks Jenn pointed up and said, come back down (and my brain was saying "Pardon? This thing you say...seems like going backward...does not compute...) and of course I had to take a picture. The summit...wwwwwaaaayyyy up between the trees. But we could see it and it gave us heart and a bit more drive.
I didn't take as many photos of flora and fauna that I normally do on such trips. I was concentrating so much on the hike that taking the pack off to get the camera seemed like a huge and inconvenient chores. As much as I love the clarity of the Rebel, next time, I'm taking a smaller point and shoot with me. That way I can keep it in a pocket and have it more readily available.
However, I did get a few shots of of interesting things, one of which was Indian Pipes - Monotropa uniflora
Indian pipes are not a fungus as many believe. They are a plant lacking chlorophyl. In fact they are a parasite on fungus that have mycorrhizal relationships with trees such as beeches and pines. The fungus and trees are beneficial to one another but the Indian Pipes offer nothing and only take nutrients making them a parasite.
Much slogging, Ted passed Jenn and I to catch up with the rest of the group leaving Tom and Ali behind us together. Jenn and I eventually reached the two thirds point where once again we stopped and had a substantial rest and took a few photos.
We had come most of the way, 2.5 miles behind us, 0.9 miles to go...
We were already feeling accomplished but figure we could forge ahead until people started coming back down.
Jenn lapping up the quiet and cool
It ended up raining lightly almost all the way up. Not enough to get drenched but just enough to keep us cool as we walked. Both Jenn and I were sweating like mad for most of the way. The next 0.6 miles was pretty steep going. The path was a tumble of rocks that just kept going up and up and up! There were fewer level bits and much more scrambling over boulders. We were minutes away from the meadow at the 3.1 mark when we met Raven, Darroch, Daphne, Ted, Matt and Mandy as they made their way down. They'd been to the summit and realised they'd be pressed for time before dark started setting in and started heading down. Jenn and I wanted to at least get to the meadow and decide from there if we were going to press on to the summit, despite the thread of decending darkness. We were warned that the last bit of the climb was very hard going and very scrabbly.
Ted kindly offered to come back up to the meadow with us even though we would never have made anybody redo any of that climb. We reached the meadow and Jenn and I were quite pleased we'd made it that far and decided that we could do the summit another time.
0.3 miles to the summit...
The fact that I'd gotten that far was a miracle to me. And up to that point my back had hardly given me any grief. It was muscle over use and lack of arobic stamina that was kicking my arse. We sat in the meadow and had a drink and Jenn and I shared an apple as Ted rested and chatted with us.
Ted at ease
Me looking sweaty and pleased with myself...
3.1 miles back down to the parking area...
Sustenance was one of the things that I grossly underestimated and a mistake I shall not repeat. I really had no good idea how long this journey was and how long it was going to take overall. I had brought some of Ali's chocolate oat bread and an apple and water. Almost, but not quite enough water. Jenn had brought a couple of bananas but those were consumed before the two thirds marker going up. Between the two of us, Jenn and I had about three litres of water.The fact that I didn't have to go to the bathroom til I was about half way back down the mountain attests to how much water my body was actually using.
I was getting my pack back on and making moves to go back down when Jenn said that she wanted to take photos of the summit. I thought she'd lost her mind and had decided to go on to the summit afterall and I must have given her a horrified look because she motioned to me and pointed up. We had stopped just inside the meadow and sat down. When Jenn was wandering around she noticed if you were far enough into the meadow, the summit was in clear view...well clear but cloud shrouded...
As we made our way down from the meadow, Tom came bounding up to us (literally bounding..remember what I said about him being a goat...or Pan? Another bit of evidence!) He requested that we give him five minutes to go up to the meadow, have a snack and he'd join us again. So we puttered down a ways and then rested while we waited.
The moss made for very interesting landscapes...and you can see the light is starting to fade already...
Tom caught up to us about 10 minutes or so later only to announce he'd gone right to the summit (GOAT!) and had a snack and bounded back down. He wasn't even out of breath! He hiked down a ways with us and then surged ahead to catch up with the others going down. He'd left Ali with the descending party and wanted to get back to the main group. So Ted, Jenn and myself made our way down.
At first going down was easy peasy! I managed to get ahead of Ted and Jenn by a good margin. During one of those breaks I watered the moss and nearly couldn't get up out of the crouch. I had to heave myself sideways because my thigh muscles had locked and wouldn't obey the command to lift me up and only screamed their pain and trembled. I very nearly got caught with my knickers around my ankles flailing about in the moss trying to straighten myself out. But there was no way I was going to make it all the way down to the loo and I managed to act like nothing had happened as Ted and Jenn made it round the bend and over the rocks to where I was pretending to look at flora and fauna. *cough*
When Jenn and I were on the way up the mountain we met people coming down who would tell us how going down was much harder. I was scoffing somewhat about how easy going down was as I hopped from rock to rock and felt like I was flying down at great speed. I wasn't breathing hard, I wasn't sweating and my legs actually felt good with none of the strain of climbing up. This bit of hubris I'm sure was my downfall as later in the descent I was forced to rescind my previous statement through gritted teeth as my feet, calves and thighs protested each and every step I took with glass shards stabbing each muscle fibre. It got to the point I could only take steps about 8 inches in length. Going down the mountain is truly harder!!!
I don't know at what point we were in the descent, all I know was that it was dark and I'd finally given up trying to keep my night vision and stay ahead of Ted's flashlight. Out of the looming darkness there appeared a patiently waiting Darroch who provided even further encouragment and company. I will always be greatful to Ted for staying with Jenn and I, and to Darroch for waiting behind and helping us get off the mountain. Otherwise we would still be there curled up under a log and nibbled upon by wolves I'm sure!
The last part of the journey was no less than sheer agony. I was well and good into hypoglycemia with a raging migraine. Despite Darroch's offer of chocolate with nuts and trail mix and Jenn's brilliant offer of half a coke (for those of you who don't know, I cannot normally stomach coke, a medication I took years ago altered my sense of taste and smell and coke just tastes wretched to me, so you can guess how crappy I was feeling to accept coke to drink), the damage was done and I really just wanted to curl up and wait for rescue. As we inched our way down the trail we heard faintly in the not too far distance "MARCO!!" and we all yelled "POLO!!" and there was much cheering and we descended to see Tom signing the last of our party off the mountain in the body count log at the head of the trail. Ted loaned me his arm in support as I literally hobbled the rest of the way to the parking lot wondering why the car wasn't *right there*. I gave him a big hug in thanks and collapsed into the car to take my boots off and put on running shoes and have a drink. Once everyone was gathered together we piled in the truck and made our way back to the house, weary, blistered and sore but triumphant.
And since I think this particular entry is long enough, Day 3 part 2 will follow as the evening had only just begun at this point!
The day of the actual climb was epic. As I mentioned in the last post, Ali, Jenn and I were up giggling til the wee hours and I don't think I really fell asleep til sometime in the early grey hours of dawn. So when I was woken by Jenn at 10:30 being told we were leaving at 11:00, everything in me wanted to just curl up and go back to sleep. I'd had three nights in a row with very little sleep (about 3 Wednesday night, around 2.5 on Thursday night, and then a possible four Friday night, give or take). I was thanking myself that I'd only had once cider as others had much more to drink and so were struggling with lack of sleep and the effects of imbibing.
I dragged my carcass out of bed and started packing my backpack. First I unpacked all the art supplies from the pack (making a note that I only used my sketchbook and my pencils this go round and I do NOT need all the other stuff) and then packed what I thought I might need. Then I unpacked that and put in the bare essentials as I realised I'd have to cart it all UP and then DOWN too, and I kept out a change of clothes to be put in the trunk of the car. I'd heard about last year how some folks arrived at the bottom soaking wet. I didn't have a rain poncho with me and since it was grey out, it was a distinct possibility I'd get wet. Wet Cats makes for cranky Cats.
When everyone was herded downstairs and out into the yard, we broke up into various vehicles and headed off to get some breakfast. We went to a little place called Maxi's and the food was very good. I had French toast and bacon with a fruit cup. That decision would later haunt me, though I'm not sure what I could have eaten that would have given me the energy I required and not upset me. I'll have to think on that. Despite the consequences, breakfast was delicious and the company excellent, though I sat across from Jenn there was a print of a painting above Jenn's head that I couldn't help but stare at. Creepy and compelling wouldn't quite describe this picture.
Maxi's Creepy Painting - See for yourself... (image by Ali)
There's just so much going on never mind weird off perspective, faces peering around the ladies, the odd getups the women are in...might be some weird YaYa Sisterhood time gathering. And the one gal in the top corner is not quite there...like she's a ghost. As I said though, breaky was delish! Once again, breaky was served with Vermont Maple syrup.
Darroch, myself, Daphne, Tom, Raven (Jenn hiding) and Matt...(image by Ali)
Once breakfast was completed everyone filtered outside. I ran across to the convenience store to see if they had any sort of insta-rain-poncho, but no such luck. I'm still bemused how convenience or grocery stores are combined with liquor stores in the states. Wander down too many isles and boom, it's all alcohol!
We piled back into our respective vehicles and wagon trained it to Camel's Hump State Park. (Image by Ali)
There was a sign in so the authorities would know how many bodies to retrieve or bury. (Ted and Tom by Ali)
Getting going was really difficult. I thought I was in serious trouble when I was already breathing hard after walking up from the parking lot to the privy and up to the sign in. My right foot which had cramped pretty badly previously was twinging and I'd realised at breakfast I hadn't taken my morning meds, nor brought them with me, which included an anti-inflammatory. It had started to drizzle as soon as we'd gotten out of the car and the was a real possibility that the sky could open up at any time and dump on us. And in the back of my head was the knowledge that I'd been pretty much entirely sedative for far too long and I started doubting whether I could do this climb at all.
Jeff had surged ahead of everyone else so was long gone when the main group of us started up. Then fairly quickly Jenn, myself and Ali started falling behind. Thankfully the ever patient Hiking-Guru-Sherpa-Tom stayed behind to coach and coax and assist. It wasn't long before Raven, Ted, Matt, Mandy, Daphne and Darroch were well out of sight. After a few hundred yards I felt like I'd been running hard and had to stop and catch my breath. And I was thinking to myself as Ali said out loud "There's no way I'm going to be able to make it." But there was Tom asking what the problem was and what did I need to help solve it.
Tom was right there and coached us how to breath; in for two steps, out for two steps not in and out for each step, that was too quick. I got a stitch in my side and there was Tom asking where it was and giving me a poke, jab and rub that eased it off almost instantly. He assured us there was pain and *PAIN*. The former could be walked off or walked through and the latter required attention and he asked as this or that problem cropped up is it pain or *PAIN* and where it was and what did we need. We were also assured that if we had to go back down, he'd go with us or send someone down with us and a set of keys. We walked and rested as we needed to and when when I started getting a pain across my chest Tom turned me around lifted my pack up and told me to breath. Not used to carrying a pack on my back put all sorts of weird strains here and there and one was in my sternum. Tom showed me how to sinch the shoulder straps to keep my shoulders back and the pack high. That helped tremendously. He gave me some tips on how to step, as I tend to lock my legs because of my back issues, he tried to get me to walk with more of a bend in my knee and a bounce in my step. Not sure if I maintained that, but I felt the difference.
Not far into the climb I started feeling sick to my stomach. A full greasy breakfast and hard exertion do not a happy couple make. I said I felt like I was going to throw up and Tom said "That's okay, just turn off the main path if you have to and go right ahead". Turned out I just needed to off gas a bit :P My hiking mates and the surrounding woods and the critters in the woods were seranaded with my inelligant belches. I heard Jenn mutter "Wow, that's amazing" and I asked "What, that I can belch that loud?" and she said "Hell no, that you had that all inside of you in the first place!". Eventually I stopped burping and got into the stride of the climb, and I stopped and drank before I was forced to stop.
Jenn and I slowly pulled away from Tom and Ali. Knowing Tom was there was a great confidence booster. And as we walked, it felt like it was getting easier and easier. We were more careful with our steps and our energy and Jenn and I had to stop less frequently. One loses all track of time when walking like that, so much to look at in the woods, so much to concentrate on to avoid falling flat on one's arse or taking a mistep. It seemed we'd been climbing for a good long while when we finally made the one third point. I was somewhat dissapointed to learn we'd only gotten that far as it seemed like we'd gone much further. So Jenn and I took a major break, took off the packs, took some pictures and had some sustenance.
Jenn at the one third marker! Only 2.1 miles to go!
Here I am at the one third marker...red faced and sweaty!
Jenn thought her boobs needed extra support on the way up...
While we were resting Ali came tromping up behind us.
She asked "How far have we come?" To which we replied one third of the way, 2.1 miles to go to which Ali exclaimed "FUCK ME! I hate my life!" and groaned and flailed her way into the clearing. But it was evident that she was in much better spirits than when we'd left her and Tom behind as I heard her say way back there "I think I'm going to puke" and Tom replying to her "Go right ahead, just turn off the path..."
A few seconds later Tom came bounding up the path. I believe that Tom was either a goat or Pan himself in a past life. And his Puckish grin doesn't help disprove my theory.
Closup in case you didn't get that...
And a few seconds later Ted arrived. He'd come back from the main group at some point and went on down to help Ali as well. Ali is giving the path ahead a dubious look.
Jenn and I moved on ahead while Ali sat down for a rest and soon we were well ahead again. At another of our rest breaks Jenn pointed up and said, come back down (and my brain was saying "Pardon? This thing you say...seems like going backward...does not compute...) and of course I had to take a picture. The summit...wwwwwaaaayyyy up between the trees. But we could see it and it gave us heart and a bit more drive.
I didn't take as many photos of flora and fauna that I normally do on such trips. I was concentrating so much on the hike that taking the pack off to get the camera seemed like a huge and inconvenient chores. As much as I love the clarity of the Rebel, next time, I'm taking a smaller point and shoot with me. That way I can keep it in a pocket and have it more readily available.
However, I did get a few shots of of interesting things, one of which was Indian Pipes - Monotropa uniflora
Indian pipes are not a fungus as many believe. They are a plant lacking chlorophyl. In fact they are a parasite on fungus that have mycorrhizal relationships with trees such as beeches and pines. The fungus and trees are beneficial to one another but the Indian Pipes offer nothing and only take nutrients making them a parasite.
Much slogging, Ted passed Jenn and I to catch up with the rest of the group leaving Tom and Ali behind us together. Jenn and I eventually reached the two thirds point where once again we stopped and had a substantial rest and took a few photos.
We had come most of the way, 2.5 miles behind us, 0.9 miles to go...
We were already feeling accomplished but figure we could forge ahead until people started coming back down.
Jenn lapping up the quiet and cool
It ended up raining lightly almost all the way up. Not enough to get drenched but just enough to keep us cool as we walked. Both Jenn and I were sweating like mad for most of the way. The next 0.6 miles was pretty steep going. The path was a tumble of rocks that just kept going up and up and up! There were fewer level bits and much more scrambling over boulders. We were minutes away from the meadow at the 3.1 mark when we met Raven, Darroch, Daphne, Ted, Matt and Mandy as they made their way down. They'd been to the summit and realised they'd be pressed for time before dark started setting in and started heading down. Jenn and I wanted to at least get to the meadow and decide from there if we were going to press on to the summit, despite the thread of decending darkness. We were warned that the last bit of the climb was very hard going and very scrabbly.
Ted kindly offered to come back up to the meadow with us even though we would never have made anybody redo any of that climb. We reached the meadow and Jenn and I were quite pleased we'd made it that far and decided that we could do the summit another time.
0.3 miles to the summit...
The fact that I'd gotten that far was a miracle to me. And up to that point my back had hardly given me any grief. It was muscle over use and lack of arobic stamina that was kicking my arse. We sat in the meadow and had a drink and Jenn and I shared an apple as Ted rested and chatted with us.
Ted at ease
Me looking sweaty and pleased with myself...
3.1 miles back down to the parking area...
Sustenance was one of the things that I grossly underestimated and a mistake I shall not repeat. I really had no good idea how long this journey was and how long it was going to take overall. I had brought some of Ali's chocolate oat bread and an apple and water. Almost, but not quite enough water. Jenn had brought a couple of bananas but those were consumed before the two thirds marker going up. Between the two of us, Jenn and I had about three litres of water.The fact that I didn't have to go to the bathroom til I was about half way back down the mountain attests to how much water my body was actually using.
I was getting my pack back on and making moves to go back down when Jenn said that she wanted to take photos of the summit. I thought she'd lost her mind and had decided to go on to the summit afterall and I must have given her a horrified look because she motioned to me and pointed up. We had stopped just inside the meadow and sat down. When Jenn was wandering around she noticed if you were far enough into the meadow, the summit was in clear view...well clear but cloud shrouded...
As we made our way down from the meadow, Tom came bounding up to us (literally bounding..remember what I said about him being a goat...or Pan? Another bit of evidence!) He requested that we give him five minutes to go up to the meadow, have a snack and he'd join us again. So we puttered down a ways and then rested while we waited.
The moss made for very interesting landscapes...and you can see the light is starting to fade already...
Tom caught up to us about 10 minutes or so later only to announce he'd gone right to the summit (GOAT!) and had a snack and bounded back down. He wasn't even out of breath! He hiked down a ways with us and then surged ahead to catch up with the others going down. He'd left Ali with the descending party and wanted to get back to the main group. So Ted, Jenn and myself made our way down.
At first going down was easy peasy! I managed to get ahead of Ted and Jenn by a good margin. During one of those breaks I watered the moss and nearly couldn't get up out of the crouch. I had to heave myself sideways because my thigh muscles had locked and wouldn't obey the command to lift me up and only screamed their pain and trembled. I very nearly got caught with my knickers around my ankles flailing about in the moss trying to straighten myself out. But there was no way I was going to make it all the way down to the loo and I managed to act like nothing had happened as Ted and Jenn made it round the bend and over the rocks to where I was pretending to look at flora and fauna. *cough*
When Jenn and I were on the way up the mountain we met people coming down who would tell us how going down was much harder. I was scoffing somewhat about how easy going down was as I hopped from rock to rock and felt like I was flying down at great speed. I wasn't breathing hard, I wasn't sweating and my legs actually felt good with none of the strain of climbing up. This bit of hubris I'm sure was my downfall as later in the descent I was forced to rescind my previous statement through gritted teeth as my feet, calves and thighs protested each and every step I took with glass shards stabbing each muscle fibre. It got to the point I could only take steps about 8 inches in length. Going down the mountain is truly harder!!!
I don't know at what point we were in the descent, all I know was that it was dark and I'd finally given up trying to keep my night vision and stay ahead of Ted's flashlight. Out of the looming darkness there appeared a patiently waiting Darroch who provided even further encouragment and company. I will always be greatful to Ted for staying with Jenn and I, and to Darroch for waiting behind and helping us get off the mountain. Otherwise we would still be there curled up under a log and nibbled upon by wolves I'm sure!
The last part of the journey was no less than sheer agony. I was well and good into hypoglycemia with a raging migraine. Despite Darroch's offer of chocolate with nuts and trail mix and Jenn's brilliant offer of half a coke (for those of you who don't know, I cannot normally stomach coke, a medication I took years ago altered my sense of taste and smell and coke just tastes wretched to me, so you can guess how crappy I was feeling to accept coke to drink), the damage was done and I really just wanted to curl up and wait for rescue. As we inched our way down the trail we heard faintly in the not too far distance "MARCO!!" and we all yelled "POLO!!" and there was much cheering and we descended to see Tom signing the last of our party off the mountain in the body count log at the head of the trail. Ted loaned me his arm in support as I literally hobbled the rest of the way to the parking lot wondering why the car wasn't *right there*. I gave him a big hug in thanks and collapsed into the car to take my boots off and put on running shoes and have a drink. Once everyone was gathered together we piled in the truck and made our way back to the house, weary, blistered and sore but triumphant.
And since I think this particular entry is long enough, Day 3 part 2 will follow as the evening had only just begun at this point!