A hike.

So the time for the first hike of the year came. I was afraid of it on account of my recent problems with hernia and arthritic pain in my pelvis. This was also not a short hike - Tonquin Valley, where one of the iconic rock formation of Canada, the Ramparts, is located, takes over 16 km. With the sleeping bag and food for 3 days, my backpack was about 8 kg, so I was wondering how my body would withstand it. (For more details of the hike see the photo-story on another blog - here). I even appealed to my companions, all six of them, to be considered of my conditions and to stay in visual contact with me.

In the end my body, with the help of KT Tape, took the first day not too bad. I was aching the first day, but, surprisingly, the next day I felt good. No pains, no aching. This confirmed my belief that, even at older age, we should persist with the physical activity, and not to stop at the first signs of discomfort.

Another reason for sticking together was that upper Astoria Valley and Tonquin Valley are known for grizzly activities. When I did this hike first time, in 1993, alone (!), I almost exhausted my repertoire of hiking/scouts/military/spiritual songs, along with my throat, as I tried to warn grizzlies about my coming. There were yellow tapes, similar to those used in crime scenes, warning hikers against entering certain areas.

This time we didn't see any bears. Besides the distance, our main problem was muddy conditions of the trail and myriads of mosquitoes. While hiking together, we had a chance to get to know each other better. I hiked with some people of my group, but not with others. Being in the mountains normally makes me feel quite happy. It has been like this since my childhood. There is something in mountain air - its cleanliness, fragrances of trees, flowers, and herbs - that makes it so pleasant to breathe with. And it seems that I have always felt good on higher altitudes. But being in the mountains have also been pleasant because of the company of other people.

Ken, one of the hikers, who has been retired "for years," expressed it in the following way. "To be happy (in your retirement) you need to: 1. have something to do, and 2. HAVE SOME PEOPLE TO DO IT WITH!" This was one of the reasons I initiated Polish Men and Women Mountaineering Club of Edmonton about 15 years ago. Though this is a very informal group, people often refer to me as "Prezes" (President). By now, I have about 80 people on my contact list, not only Polish speaking, though the number of active participants is somewhat smaller.

We have been growing our numbers gradually over the years. However, a group of friendly hikers from Calgary, we met in Wates-Gibson Hut, pointed out to another way. They all connected through the service known as MeetUp. Although not knowing each other so well, they seemed to be a very cohesive group. A bit of alcohol could have helped them to accomplish this. 😉

Naturally, when doing things with other people, you have, at times, "to deal with people." During this hike a particularly disheartening experience was unwillingness of faster hikers in my group to wait for slower ones on our way back to civilization. They all agreed, in principle, that there is more safety in a bigger group. It is unheard of that a grizzly would attack a group of four people or more. Also in case something happens to anyone (twisted ankle, broken leg), bigger groups can respond to these emergencies better. Still the selfish impulse of some of the participants took over these considerations, and off they went.

Well, what can I do? It takes time for people to grow as hikers and human beings.