Backpacking Again
I thought I was done with the whole backpacking thing when I got back into town a few weeks ago.
But, thinking a morning stroll would be a nice way to start the day, I called a friend and scheduled for us to meet at 8am for a 30-minute walk. Expecting a peaceful tromp through a mildly scenic path, I show up and wait for (let's call him) Mark to show up.
He shows up a little later and tells me he knows of a better place to walk. So, we hit the trail. It was a nice trail, we walked 10 minutes out of the way and you couldn't tell you were in a city at all. I felt like I was back home at a state park or something. We followed the trail as it wound around a big hill or a small mountain, depending on how you define "big hill" and "small mountain". We were having fun, talking and enjoying the scenery and the weather. We continued on...and on...and on some more. The trail kept going with no end in sight, and at one bend we passed a sign telling us we had walked 10 kilometers. Figuring we now had to walk back 10 kilometers in the now-overhead sun, we decided to sit down for a minute and start back down. So, we sat down, enjoyed the scenery and the herd of goats passing by us, and started back down to civilization.
Thinking this was just going to be a short stroll, I didn't bother to carry any water with me, and neither did Mark. As we walked the 10k back to town, our conversation turned more and more to water, the lack of water, and how good some water would be if we had it. I felt worse walking down that trail than I did during the entire backpacking trip. At least during the real backpacking trip I made sure to drink enough water. Honestly, I don't think I've ever wanted water more than I did then. I kind of liked it, actually.
Finally, after several false hopes, we reached the beginning of the trail. Glad to be back in civilization, we found the first market we could and then went to his place to escape the sun. I drank 1.5 liters of water, fell asleep on his couch, then woke up and drank another 1.5 liters. I was out of it the rest of the day, but what do you expect? I just walked 20 stinkin' kilometers in the noon-day sun with no water! Next time I'm inviting the guy to a game of cards, in my house, right next to the fridge stocked with cold, cold water.
