The Final Hike

The final hike was supposed to be the highlight of the trip. I had looked forward to the hike the whole week. You see  - I love to go up to peaks. There is something so rewarding about doing that. It is a bit strange that I love that so much, since I have a fear of heights. But somehow I always manage. For every time I manage to get up to a top I become a little bit tougher.

So I woke up in a really good mood, the day of the final hike. I prepared all my things and went down for breakfast. When I was relaxing after breakfast, just hanging with the others, I started to feel ... well, not so good. I excused myself and went back to my room where I immediately had do place myself in the bathroom. I spent the major part of the next hour there. I took some stomach pills and hoped for the best.

This hike started in an usual way - we drove there with horse and wagon. It was so nice, even though I had some difficulties during the ride. I felt nauseous. I hoped it would pass, but it didn’t. The first part of the hike is pretty much in a blur. Someone suggested me to take Resorb, which is a tablet that consists of salt and other good things. I put it in my camel bag and slowly started to feel a little bit better. At lunch I took some vegetable soup and coke and at last I felt almost as my usual self. It was pity though that I ”missed” the first part. It was very beautiful as far as I have seen from the pictures.

A horse and wagon ride

A bit tricky but beautiful part of the hike

After lunch we started the final part to the peak. It was as beautiful as the rest of hikes that we had made that week. But it was somewhat challenging. At a couple of points it was quite steep and we needed to use a wire to climb. We did the climb one by one, with the help of our great guides. The wait for your turn was the worst. I felt like a lamb waiting for the slaughter house. When it finally was my turn I asked Lucian, our guide, to carry my back-pack and started to climb - extremely focused on the task in hand. Which of course meant that I climbed very quickly. Lucian wondered a bit why I was in such a hurry, but the only explanation I had was that I just wanted the bad part to be over soon. 

On our way to the top.                         Happy at the first peak!

The view from 945 m above the valley!

Memorial of the soldiers that died in First World War.

There were several people that overcame different obstacles on that hike. We were many with a fear of heights and we all managed to do the climb. But the hero of the day was the guy in the group that has osteoarthritis AND a fear of heights. He was just a BIG smile on the peak and the rest of the day, since he was so happy that he managed to do it. Some people back home had told him that it would be too difficult for him to manage that kind of a climb. But he made it!!! The fact is that the whole group made it, which is not always the case. Yeah us!

On the way to the second peak!

We were all rewarded with a great view and a feeling of being on the top of the world in more ways than one. We actually visited several peaks up on the top. It was AMAZING and I was soooooo happy that I didn’t stay in bed in that morning, even though I didn’t feel fine.

On the way back down to the valley we walked through the forrest, on unofficial trails. The only reason that we found our way was that Lucian knows the forrest as the back of his hand. We entertained ourselves with singing songs from different musicals. It was a lot of fun.

A farmer that we met on the way down.

The final reaction to the somewhat exciting day came during the dinner. I could hardly keep my eyes open while eating. I was so tired. But it was the right kind of tiredness, the one you get when you have done something amazing.