The next decade....what's in store?

Hiking - a lesson in balance and life

Last week Saturday, a former colleague, her husband and I, went hiking to Mt Qua Qua in the Grand Etang rain forest. Our guide was Telfor Bedeau, a well known Grenadian hiker and about 66 years of age. Fit as a fiddle, he guided us through some treacherous terrain on this 1 hr 40 mins or so hike.

Usually it takes about 1 hr 30 mins, but I added the additional 10 mins because of my tallness, heaviness and slowness....

It's been about 7 years since I been on a hike. True, I've been exercising (which reminds me to go change the weight tracker thingy to 205 lbs), but doing Pilates, or walking on the treadmill is nothing like hiking up hill on slippery clay.

Telfor first had to cut a bamboo stick for me, then show me how to jam it firmly in the earth in front of me, not beside or behind as I was doing, and move towards it. He also showed me how to crouch low.....I felt like 'Crouching Tiger'.....to ensure that the wind wouldn't blow me off the narrow track, with precipices on either side. Of course, he being the expert, I listened.

Not so with others as he told us. There was a foreigner he was taking some time ago. He told her how to position her body to one side of the incline to ensure that if she fell, it would be on safe ground. He said she didnt listen to him, so after a while he just did not bother. He said it was coming up to a part that he knew that if she fell, she wouldn't get hurt. All of a sudden he heard a piercing scream as she fell in the bushes. Of course, after that, she was all ears!

My abs came into play several times in trying to balance. The closer you are to the earth, the easier it is to balance. I'm tall, hence the need to crouch. That didn't prevent me from falling a couple times though! It was due mostly to the slippery nature of the soil.

As most of the hike was uphill, my heart was getting a good workout. I was breathing life into my body as the cold air passed through my nose.

Like in life, I met up on obstacles. There were two places that literally, if you slipped, you would slide...down, down, down. The first temptation was to say to the others 'go on without me to the top, I will wait for you here'. But even with knees nervously going weak, I was determined not to miss out on the satisfaction of reaching the top. I was glad I peservered. The view was fantabulous in the stillness of the early morning.

Of course, what goes up, must come down, and my quad muscles were constantly engaged, trying to hold back the momentum that this 205 lb body was pitching forward. Soon, we were at the bottom, and it seemed like a piece of cake.

The next day, my muscles told me differently!

Anyway, here is a picture or two....

Posted by yamfoot at March 21, 2006 08:16 AM