Day 15 - Too Tired! — Walking People Out of Poverty

walkingpeopleoutofpoverty.ca is the personal blog of Peter Thorpe, long-time Opportunity International Canada supporter and Walking People Out of Poverty founder. For Dan Murray’s blog and information on OIC, please click here.

Start Time: 6:30 am
End Time: 5:50 pm
Start Mileage: 2410.60
End Mileage: 2425.20
Distance Walked: 14.60 miles
Elevation Gain: 4833 feet

Today’s walk started with a short, stiff climb of about 500 feet. We were all still recovering from yesterday’s epic climb but it’s amazing how quickly the body recovers from physical stress. At the top of the climb we enjoyed a lovely view of Spectacle Lake before we then dropped down 2500 feet to a waterfall that was a 3 1/2 mile walk from where we had camped the night before.

The was magic and the bridge across was a very impressive of feat of engineering. They certainly have enough lumber lying around in the forest for building materials. The water was great and I taught Woody a new trick to add to his hiking repertoire. I took off my tee shirt and soaked in the pools of water formed by the waterfall, rung it out and put it on. Before leaving the waterfall I also soaked my cap, wrung it out and put it on my head.

Woody followed suit and loved how cool and refreshed he felt. We had another 3 miles of walking to do to our next water, which we collected before figuring out how to cross the river. He came bounding by me with a hop, skip and jump and was on the other side in no time at all. Dan and I were going to use a log to cross but I didn’t feel comfortable and so went back to where the young fellow bounded. I was nowhere near as quick but I managed to make it over without getting my feet wet.

After lunch we faced a 5 mile climb that switchbacked it’s way up the mountain, and as you have probably guessed by now it was in the heat of the day. We criss-crossed the mountain we were climbing and with a combination of water and electrolyte breaks we crested the mountain top. At one point, we were higher than the waterfall that you will see in the pictures below, but on the opposite side of the mountain. We eventually arrived at a beautiful lake and eagerly filled our water bottles and enjoyed the ambience of the scenery that surrounded us.

The next 3 miles would see us arrive at our camp, and we were led to believe it was downhill all the way. Unfortunately, that was not the case and it up we went. We were all pretty beat and it was probably the longest 3 miles of our lives. The trail went up and then started to wind its way around the mountains. At one point we could see the trail across on the opposite mountain. It was turning out to be a long day but eventually we all arrived safely in camp and started the ritual of setting up our tents and bedding, and the next task was getting dinner ready.

Tonight would be the 2nd consecutive night I would not be up to writing my blog because I was just too tired. In the 9 years. I have been writing the Walking People out of Poverty blog I have never, ever, failed to write my blog at days end. However the combination of the heat and the relentless grind of the elevation’s we are climbing takes its toll.

Here’s some pictures.