Maybe I should start climbing?

Suddenly I like climbing. I have now been climbing 3 days in a row and I have noticed that it puts me in a really good mood. The first day of climbing I already wrote about in my last blog. So here comes the story of the other two.

But before I go that far, I need to tell you how yesterday (which was our day off hiking) morning started: I went jogging with our Swedish guide. I’m actually quite proud of myself that I went running while I’m on a hiking vacation and I did it at 7 o’clock in the morning. It takes a lot of commitment. It was a great run, around 7 km along the sea shore. After the run we went for a short swim. It felt extremely refreshing and it is my favorite way of starting a day.

After the breakfast our local guide picked us up and took us for a walk in some natural caves. I’m sure a lot of you have done a walk in a cave. So have I, which made me think I knew what to expect. Boy was I wrong. First of all we were equipped with overalls, so we wouldn’t get dirty (already there I should have been warned). Then we got helmets with carbide lamps, which meant that we actually had an open fire (like a Swedish Lucia) on our head. After a 10 min walk we reached the opening of the cave and I just gasped – “REALLY??? You want us to go down there??? See picture below. I mean the opening was so small and we had to go in with our feet first. You had no idea what to expect from the other side. We came out in a semi big room and had to crawl also into the next room. At this point I was really wondering what I have gotten myself into. But after that we entered the bigger rooms in the cave and we had a very nice walk. Until our guide stopped at another very small hole in the wall and stated that we should go through there. I started to laugh – surely he was joking. But NO! We got really detailed descriptions on where to put our hands and feet, how to release the right hand and put it over our head and how to slide through the hole. Strangely enough I managed quite easily to do that. But not all people in the group managed that. A somewhat overweight German guy got stuck and needed to wait until everyone else had gone through before he could give it another go. Luckily he managed the second time after the help from both the guides. I wonder if he went home and started a diet? That thought would have crossed my mind at that point. So as a summary the cave walk was one of the most exciting things on the whole trip.

Today we had the longest hike of the week. Or in other words the challenge of the week. It was a 6 hours hike (with breaks more than 7 hours) where we gained and lost 700 m. Already before we started the hike half of the group decided not to join us - mostly because they hesitated for the climbing parts. It isn’t the highest mountain I have gone up to, but it still can be and was a challenge.

We walked up 400 m in a ravine. A ravine means that we had to climb up or jump between large cliffs and stones more or less the whole time. At times it was quite tough, so we had to use wires or the helping hand of our guide. I love this kind of hikes – it is just the right amount of excitement. After we reached the top of the ravine we continued through the forest another 300 m uphill in a good tempo. Exactly how I like it.

After a good lunch we started the hike back on nice forest trails and steep downhill with rolling stones. Yeah – even the downhill gave us a challenge. And again – I fully enjoyed it.

We ended the hike a the climbers place in the national park where we had coffee, beer or ice cream and just enjoyed the scenery. It was a really, really nice day in a beautiful environment.

So as a summary – maybe I should take up climbing?? It seems to put me in a good mood. That might also even cure my fear of heights. 

Look at the hole next to the backpack, behind the legs! That is where we went in!

My flame was out as we took this picture. But that was "normal". It went off quite often.

It was climbing both up and down. :-)

The views were fantastic the whole way.