Woke up this morning, feeling great. Both of us were energetic, and I realized that I had no blisters on my feet after walking (mostly climbing) all day yesterday. Slow and steady seems to work for my old footies!
Today was our most strenuous day of the trek. Thank goodness we did not know what was ahead for us! We literally climbed the highest pass, Dead Wonam´s Pass, 4201 meters. Bruce did have some difficulty with the altitude and the steepness of the climb, so the guides were right there beside him, encouraging him along, and carrying his pack, when required. God bless them! Bruce reached the peak of the pass, and our whole group cheered him on. He actually made it!!! Everyone was so happy for him - and congratulated him for the effort it took. Lordy, but we had all worked hard on this one. We then took a group photos. Bruce´s legs were still like jelly, and at the end of the day, mine were too. (Now, why are we doing this????)
Next came the very long descent. Extremely steep going, stone upon stone, uneven rock walks, with Cesar warning us not to look back, but to keep our eyes focused on the ground, moving forward. This we did. I thought for sure my knees would give out. Using stones as our steps, which were oftentimes set deeply apart for each other. What a walk! Bruce totally crashed when we reached our campsite at the end of the day. I was able to have tea and popcorn, while Bruce remained horizontal during this time. I was thankful he was resting, and he even managed a little sleep.
We´re eating well. Our bodies are completely depleted of energy, and our minds are like mush - this trek is indeed a humbling experience for both of us. (Whatever in the world was I thinking when we booked this, and at our ages! Jeez!!! I began to have serious doubts about my travelling dreams for the future.)
After tea, Cesar, our guide came with me to the tent to make sure that Bruce was alive and still well. At dinner that night, he informed the group that he was very proud to be our guide, and extremely proud of our accomplishments that day. God bless him - had it not been for the guides, I don´t know if Bruce would have made it. Our group members told us that we were their inspiration - can you believe this! Through us, they can now see themselves having active and healthy futures in their lives, with never-ending adventures and experiences. Bruce and I were humbled once more. Wow - what a great group we have supporting our crazy endeavour!
We´re not taking as many photos as we would like to, for we´re so focused on the climb, we do not have much time to take out our cameras and shoot! We are admiring the scenery though, each step of the way.
Weather during the day is warmish. Skies are blue, few clouds are around, yet the evenings and nights are extremely cool. We do bundle up in our sleeping bags, around 8:30 p.m. and we sleep like lambs! (Still wish we had done this at a younger age, for we just do not have the rebound energy we used to have.)
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