About a month ago i climbed a mountain. a real japanese mountain named Gozaisho. all 1212 m of it. It was the worst experience of my life. I somehow thought a hiking trip would be a good idea when i was invited along with a group of friends, unaware that hiking meant hiking up a gigantic mountain. It was extremely difficult. torturous. it took me over 4 hours. Susannah and i were separated from the rest of the group, and then I told Susannah to head on without me. I wanted to go at my own pace. I wanted to stop when i wanted to stop, to go as slow or fast as i wished, and its a lot of pressure when you’re climbing with someone. And i mean literally climbing. Ok we werent harnessed in or anything to that extent of rock climbing but you were climbing up huge rock steps, pulling yourself up, with tree branches and gripping onto rocks and walking through streams and huge steep dirt hills. it was intense. when you’re by yourself doing something like that, you reflect. you reflect on what a stupid idea hiking was and how much you hate that decision. Every clearing you see ahead makes your heart do a little jump, only to have it sink back down to the bottom of the mountain when you realize that clearing was just a little spot where the trees dont cover the sky and you still cant see the top of the mountain.
You start thinking about the worst possible things that could happen, like what if you got stung by a bee, and who knows if you’re allergic to bees because you’ve never been stung before, how long would it take for another hiker to come along and find you puffed up on the ground hyperventilating, or what if you twisted your ankle on one of the rocks that became slipperier and slipperier the higher you got, the mistier it got and then you had to hike the rest of the mountain in excruciating pain. or what if something even worse happened, like you broke your leg and a bone was protruding through the skin, would someone be able to call an ambulance to have you airlifted out of there, or what? Or what if i saw a snake??? i would have to run, but i could barely walk up the goddamn thing, let alone run….
these are all the things that cross your mind while climbing a gigantic mountain, alone in japan. so my advice to you is this: DONT DO IT. it is a mistake.
once i got to the top, finally, not only was i a) sick from overworking myself and b) i couldnt see anything in front of me because we were so high up we were IN A CLOUD so i could not bask in what i’d just accomplished by checking out the beautiful view over the edge because i couldnt even see my hand in front of my face through all the mist. So it wasnt even worth it.
i’m proud of myself, i mean, its an accomplishment, and i’m shocked i finished it, but god, it was terrible. But at least i can pat me on the back and call myself a champ.
LMAO! I must say you’re experience is very funny. I went hiking once. My experience was similar to yours. I was lend to believe that our hike would be like a walk through a hill like park when it turned out to be a hike up then down a mountain. The hike up wasn’t as bad as the hike down which included free sliding down a huge rock onto a small ledge. Not a great experience for someone who is partially afraid of heights. I almost cried like a baby. However, the view from the top was breath taking so I guess you can say it was worth it.