We went away the weekend past, way, way up north (no phone signal for miles). A huge drive there, and then we slept the night in the back of his jeep.
The next day we climbed a pretty amazing hill together. I didn't get to the top as I was pretty scared. We maybe got three quarters of the way up.
The climb had been pretty vertical and very steep, but we were tucked into the side of the mountain, in a gulley, and totally sheltered from the wind. I was getting vertigo (I'm super scared of heights), but was managing to stay with the spinning head and pounding heart I get.
We got to the top of that bit, maybe 1,500 feet up by that point, and there was (for me) very exposed ridge to walk along and climb up to get to the very top of the mountain. It was windier at this point (although no way windy by standards here, in this country. It was actually pretty perfect for climbing/walking) but there was what I think was a 1,500 foot drop either side of the ridge. I couldn't do it. I got the major frights.
So we had some food at that point and came back down.
A nice dinner and we spent another night in the back of his jeep. We'd done 40,000 steps that day.
A huge drive back down on Sunday, stopping to take some photographs on the way.
A pretty amazing experience. I've never done stuff like this before. Certainly never camped out in the back of a jeep, headed up breakfast on a stove...I love it.
We're already talking about doing another one at some point. Maybe not as steep next time, but a much gentler and much longer walk, possibly involving some cycling as well. So far I have managed one 3,000 foot mountain in a day, and some of the climbs have been quite steep and unrelenting. I've been tired afterwards, and my legs have been sore for a couple of days afterwards.
This next trip would be four (much gentler) 3,000 foot mountains in a day. I'm so up for this!
