Survival School: Day 7
Jul 21, 2007, 11:35p - Life
Took a dump in the morning [#2 of the trip]. Today was the most ridiculous day so far. Ben & Nick led, Hannes & Ted swept. We had to go from 7500' to 10,300' feet, most elevation in a day yet. Followed the river upstream, then started scaling a mountain. Started raining w/ thunder, so we hunkered down on the hill for about 30 min. Almost fell asleep - reminded me of guerilla warfare & paintballing. Worked on my top stone a bit - haven't had any time to work on the fireset, & actually don't really feel like it. Not sure why. Maybe I don't want to just keep busy, rather have the time to reflect & relax. Everyone else seems to want to be busy.
Got up to the lakes, covered w/ mosquitoes - before that, saw a deserted hunting camp, ATV's coming down the hills, motobike, lots of people. For the first time, I actually felt like this hiking life had become a routine. Also, Nick Ph. gave a 5 min yoga class in the morning, which was great. Got a compass lesson in the morning, which was really straightforward. Also saw a bunch of cows on the hike.
Self-portrait on day 7
Leland & the trees & the mountains
Jeff, Hannes, & Steve walking by some cows. I think this road was called the "Great Western Trail", and it got a bit of traffic (ATVs, motobikes).
Cows up close
Me in front of the main lake we hiked to, nearly atop Boulder Mountain
Nick taking a break at one of the many lakes we passed
Trees against sky
We got to the lakes really late, & it started getting cloudy & windy. Then the shit really hit the fan - we started dinner, had a rushed poncho shelter lesson, then the buckets started to fall. It got dark really fast, & we were drenched as Jeff, Hannes, Abe, & I set up a 4-person poncho tent. We were told to abandon dinner the storm was so strong, & have cold oatmeal instead. Nick Fountain (Pinky) had actually already put all our food in the pot, so I decided to stay up w/ him & finish cooking. 30 min later, rain pouring and holding the poncho to shield the fire from the rain, dinner was ready! And it was damn good - everyone else hid out in their tents, pitch black. Went back to the tent, ate my food, & then went to bed. It was cold and my socks were wet, & I slept in fits & starts. Rained for a few hours, poncho worked well and kept it out. Spooned w/ Abe for warmth (half-spoon) - mostly fetal position, hips get sore - flat - rotate - repeat. Lots of dreams of hiking & sleeping in the rain. Slept a little, not much. Hands fall asleep. Go numb. This is absolutely out of control - What am I doing out here? What are any of us doing out here? Who is crazy enough to come out here of their own free will? This is insane, & it's only going to get worse. I'm going to have to make my own fire, pitch my own tent, w/ no one else to help or hurt me pretty soon (solo) - holy shit. Why am I here? 21 more days...
[Written on day 8]
Read comments (1) - Comment
george
- Jun 10, 2008, 3:17p
your right,
anyone thinking of trip you should stop reading, oh well your probably already screwed anyway :-)
hay maybe its not as bad as it sounds ;-)
It'll be different for you.
LOL, thanks so much for the journal, drop me a line sometime if you read this. georgegglenn@yahoo.com
note the g in the middle.
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