I think there must be some little genetic quirk in the male psyche that drives us to climb things. possibly it's a leftover from the primordial, alpha-male "higher-in-the-tree-than-you" imperative, but every time i have the opportunity, i feel driven to find a mountain (or the nearest approximation) and climb the beast. every time i look at it and think "that's not that steep", and every time i'm proven wrong. some of my long-time readers (i know, i know, for the sake of argument let's assume i have some besides my parents) might remember my adventures climbing Hachimen-san in Nakatsu. well, yesterday i decided to make the hike to Pulpit Rock here in Nelson, British Columbia. i was told at the information center that the hike might be "a little slippery" in the upper reaches. pah! easy!
hoo boy...
anyway, i bravely set off, water bottle in pack, hat on my head and coat on my shoulders. i was a little nervous of the clouds drifting past the mountain, but i figured that wouldn't be that much of a problem.
after a lengthy walk to the point where the hiking trail began (a forty-minute walk and some climbing were involved) i set off.
Oh. My. Buddha. that track was steep. not so muck a hiking track as a goat trail. there were places where i could only tell it was a track at all by the oddly-symmetrical stone steps that were placed there. still, the lower third was ok.
i found out what "a little slippery" meant in the second third of the track. packed, compressed ice from the last snowfall. all the traction of cooking oil on teflon, with the added bonus that the track was about a meter across at the widest and the slope of the hillside was about 60 degrees.
Adventure!
a this point, i was feeling a little overheated in my greatcoat, so i fashioned a crude sling out of bark and vines (actually, i just used the various clips and straps on my pack)and carried it with me, proceeding in short sleeves. a few minutes later, it started snowing. i was still feeling a little overheated, and it was snowing. surreal.
the last hundred meters of trail presented the most challenge. at one point the track was so steep and so ice-encrusted that some helpful soul had strung a knotted rope from a nearby tree to assist intrepid hikers such as myself. after that was twenty meters of ice with the occasional foothole from past hikers. taking EXTREME care (the slope of the hillside was closer to 70 degrees at this point) i made it to the top.
an absolutely amazing view it was, but the snow that was still coming down interfeared with my camera, making my photos a little blurry. still, i had made it!
Raaaargh! other manly noises of accomplishment!
i was feeling pretty tough as i went back down...until a little old man in shorts and kneesocks passed me heading up at a pace that amazed me. the old chap was practically BOUNDING up the slope! he wasn't even wearing grippy shoes, just basic loafers!
that brought me down a little, but it wasn't until he passed me heading DOWN, while i was still on the slope, that i started to feel a bit humble. we talked a little, then i set off on the walk back to my hostel...only to be passed by the Hercules of the Old People on a bike. it seems he'd relised he needed something from the shops and couldn't be bothered to use the car for "only five miles or so".
scary.
so, i eventually staggerd into the hostel, took my boots off and lay down for a few hours, feeling virtuous and fit, though amazed at the vitality of the Ancient Ones.
now, there is something i'd like to mention that has nothing to do with climbing things.
supermarkets. specifically, the differences between Australian and Canadian ones. i LOVE canadian supermarkets. they have a variety of produce and a level of convenience that australian ones can only envy and aspire to. Nelson is a small town in a regional area. Thus, the fact that Nelson supermarket has a third again the range of stock of ANY australian supermarket i've ever seen is telling. being able, in a small town, to buy ten different types of bread, bulk spices served by the scoop or blackstrap molasses by the liter is a wonderful and unthinkavle thing to the average australian (which i pride myself in being).
a word to whatever movers and shakers in Australian retail might be reading this (hey, could happen!): this is what supermarkets should be like. variety and volume.
ok, my ranting hat is off.
i finally managed to find a computer i can upload pictures from, so there's some new ones in the gallery. enjoy!
and stay tuned.
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