With 6 weeks to go till we leave, training is in full swing. The aim is to walk for longer, train on consecutive days, make the backpack heavier and vary the terrain and elevation. In other words make things more difficult.
Lederderg Gorge Circuit did not disappoint, it ticked all the right boxes! Gentle start included idyllic stepping stone crossings of the river. Though my wobbles and a near dunking should have been a warning as to what was ahead! Maybe the warning signage at the beginning and at other strategic points along the way were actually just that! I should have remembered…”fools rush in where angels fear to tread” and maybe, just maybe our footsteps, our scramblings were guided by those very same fearful angels.
We were both on alert for snakes, high water, trees across the track and a steep-ish ascent, which would also entail a steep-ish descent! Both challenging to say the least. But how hard could it be? The track was rated moderately difficult, 7.8 kilometres, about 2-3 hours duration. The day was cool with decent cloud cover and even a light drizzle… perfect for walking. We estimated a 1pm or 2pm finish at the latest. Oh how wrong could we be!
Bill started off using his walking poles…another thing to try out before our actual pilgrimage. I, stubbornly opted for… when the going gets tough option… only to be given a helping hand… or should I say pole on a few close calls… a steadying few times fording streams and another few times being pulled up over rocks that were too high or too steep. I finally pulled them out as we faced a set of steps going straight up… small footholds and zigzagging up the Ridge. Even so, the going was tough! I scrambled my way up, finding roots, branches and stones for better purchase so I could propel my way forward. My other challenge was to raise my leg high enough to the next available step. Needless to say I had to lift it with my free hand and place it in position to haul myself up! Not at all an easy feat!
As tough as it was we were encouraged by our progress, however slow, we were moving forward. We were also encouraged by the presence of others… the four park employees doing the weeding and merrily calling out to each other, the young, plaid shirted man who seemed to be on a casual stroll and who assured us that “yes, it’s beautiful, pity the damage brought by recent storms” and the casual, incomprehensible conversation happening on the other side of the gorge or perhaps some ways ahead of us. Reassured that we could manage the track, we continued to climb and met two other walkers on their way down. My first thought was to warn them of the very challenging descent they were about to encounter. My assumption was that they had started the circuit from the opposite end. In actual fact, they were making a retreat after scrambling over rocks, scree and assorted vegetation and having lost and found the track a few times. They had concluded that it was unsafe, dangerously so. My heart sank! After all that walking! After all that scrambling over those rocks, I now had to retreat! It was just defeat I was facing but going back down over those rocks…? All I could see was me going down arse over head, breaking every bone in my body. There was no doubting the information, the sweat and dirt on both hikers told the same story… they had spent the last hour slipping and sliding and almost missing the path back!
Decision time, keep going to see the path peeter out for ourselves or turn back! Were we fools or wise angels? Perhaps we were fearful angels, going forward with trepidation, but going forward nonetheless. Bill started checking our map every 100 metres or so, just so we would not lose the track, but also as a way to disguise the fact that we needed a breather… an incredibly difficult climb… shale, boulders, slate, powdery dirt, roots, fallen trees… all going up. At yet another stop we were heartened by the presence of another hiker, evidence that we weren’t the only mad ones around, and that there was the possibility that the circuit could be completed. By the time we had decided to restart our climb she had joined us. We were eager for her opinion of the track, especially if she had hiked it in the past. Yes, she had and yes it was incredibly challenging! The worst of it was still to come! My heart, my whole body sank. Was I going to make it out in one piece? Was I going to make it out alive? Maybe Bill should make plans to take someone else with him on the via Podiensis if this was any indication of what we were going to have to face! “Hang on,” she added, “which way are you walking?” “Anticlockwise ” says Bill. “In that case, the worst is behind you. We keep climbing, so there’s a bit more scrambling but nothing as bad as what we’ve just done.” I wasn’t quite ecstatic but very nearly. Yes, we had managed the most difficult part of the climb and though slow we were still upright, had plenty of water and our legs were propelling us onwards and upwards. Our friendly hiker had given us heart. She was there in memory of her brother, very recently lost, appreciating the challenge and beauty of the hike and finding time and space to share with us… you just can’t help it when you’re on the path… you stop, you greet, you share information and sometimes you share of yourself.
After the last sentence you would be forgiven in assuming we had almost reached the end of the circuit. Not even close, perhaps one third of the way done… we had not yet reached the top! We had not yet started walking across the ridge! And we were quite a way from the descent which to all intents was going to be straight down… yes, very steep. But all that was ahead of us. For now, we were pleased to have made it thus far… a few scrapes, sore legs and arms… more was to come. More rocks, more shale, more shifting, crumbling dirt, more roots and branches… some helpful others not so as I stubbed toes or got caught up as I clambered or slid over them. We kept going, slowly, stopping for a breather, stopping for a drink, stopping for a photo, stopping because our legs were turning to jelly, stopping and meeting more hikers… young, fresh, happy… all seemed to be bounding up and down a steep, treacherous looking path (for us at least), all greeting us happily and gracefully letting us pass if they were going up or gracefully over taking us if they were going in the same direction. Me, I felt like a 99 year old manoeuvring her walker… place walking pole to the right, find another spot to the left then haul your body over… slowly, very slowly lest the momentum take over and you tumble, tumble, tumble… thud against the rocks, the trees and may even collect Bill on the way! No, I was going to get down that hill in one piece even if it took all day! And yes, it did take all day… 5 hours and 30 minutes.
The reward one could say was the scenery and a sense of accomplishment… we had managed a very challenging track. Though on reflection it was more the chance meeting of other hikers, especially those who stopped and showed concern and who were happy to fall in step with you and share a little of themselves. The young, plaid shirted man that we’d met at the start was there at the end, like us also lamenting the state of his “jelly legs”! The friendly hiker who had given us heart earlier, greeted us again and told us a little more about her loss. The two of us, Bill and Pina, greatful for the day, our efforts and the knowledge that we met yet another challenge. But mostly greatful for the blessings of chance encounters… those strangers, those angels we meet along the way.
pindun on the road to Santiago de Compostella 