| 1/10/2006 I am writing to tell you all of my day spent hiking. I decided to go in the medium group because I have little experience of hiking (before thinking of joining the 'Walking Club' I thought of hiking as a summer activity) but I didn't think I had such an inability I should have to go slower, that would probably annoy me. At first we were climbing rapidly up a steep slant. A lot of people ended up stripped to their T-shirts, not necessarily 'cos it was that hot, but we were. I liked looking around me and seeing the scenery. In fact, sheep kept appearing throughout the entire journey. When we were in the clouds a patch of land would appear before us and so would sheep-not all the time of course but sometimes. At our next rest, when they announced 'Elevenses!' I kept annoying Ben about jokes of weather and Australians only getting rain in Summer. He suggested throwing me into the large lake about 100 metres below. He almost snapped when he tried to convince me to eat something and I refused. (I bought quite a lot of food with me) In another 2 hours we had reached a summit shelter-a hut made out of stone and very dark and cold inside. But at least it was dry and we ate lunch there. People were generally quite cheerful. However we had had to trudge through rain beforehand and I was pretty much soaked. I was glad I put on my waterproof when Matt-experienced group leader-called out to do so (it wasn't an order-it was a suggestion 'cos it had started drizzling). The rain was worse for him 'cos he wears glasses. When the wind made the rain go right into him he had to pause and take off his glasses. Once lunch was finished I was actually standing and shivering outside in the rain. I felt better once we got moving. In fact it was weird at the top. We were submerged in clouds so when I looked to the side sometimes, all I saw was some grass/rocks then white...just white. Of course it hardly stopped raining. Good thing was my hiking boots had a lack of mud on them but they were so wet. And I was shocked at the fact my socks were drenched. Most of us got down to the bottom soaked to our underwear-but warm. I wore my ski trousers 'cos I knew they were warm but not waterproof it seems. My ski gloves soaked up all the rain water and I could wring them by simply putting my hands into fists. Those with experience brought an extra set of clothes but they opened their bags to find these fresh clothes wet. I found that to also be the case with the extra pair of socks I was smart enough to bring (not clothes you notice). Ben took out his wet wallet and discovered his wet Luxemburg ID Card and wet notes. I bought my book with me and it has expanded due to wetness. In fact, why the hell did I even bring my book if I knew I'd be talking to Ben on the bus and won't get a chance to read it? WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING? At least it was my book and not a library book...oh and the outside of my wallet was wet but it was completely dry inside. Now that I have an evening to myself I think I'll watch a 3-part episode of Transformers. |