Adventures
Art of Patience!
“Patience is an art well learnt at the mercy of nature”
That was a line from one of the chapters of my high school english literature. For no apparent reason, the quote was imbibed straight onto my permanent memory the moment I read it the first time. As enchanting and mysterious as it sounds, it left me wondering since that day if there was any way I could directly relate myself to it.
It was not until a few months ago that I felt first hand as to how it would feel to be at the mercy of nature. And YES! I was finally able to soak in each and every word of that line.
It all started when a group of 4 colleagues and I started hiking up on the lush and rocky terrain of Mt.Lafayette in Lincoln, New Hampshire. Our strategy was to scale up Mt.Little Haystack first, walk along the ridge en route Mt.Lincoln and all the way to reach Mt.Lafayette finally and retrace the trail back to the base. The total distance of the hike was around 9 miles and it took us about 10 hrs to and fro. It started off on a relatively sour note for me, for I just realized my hiking shoes had gotten a bit tight and I started feeling a mild discomfort on my toes already. But I was hell bent upon scaling this mountain. So, we set off with huge loads of gatorade and water cans stacked up in our backpacks. The ascent up was pretty smooth and I covered roughly 2.5 miles up to reach Little Haystack in 3 hours. The deafening silence amidst the thickets and trees, except for the sound of falling waters all around you is a little eerie, given the fact that we are so much used to the bustling noise of the city.
After a little respite for lunch, we continued our way along the ridge to Mt.Lincoln with a breathtaking and gorgeous view on either side of us. Now this is another 2.7 mile trek from Little Haystack to Lafayette along the ridge filled with razor sharp rocks piercing their way into your foot at every single chance. I was walking through the crests and troughs of the ridge when the accumulated discomfort turned into a pain and started radiating out of my toes due to the constant pressure against the vamp of my shoe. Within the next one mile the pain was searing through my toes so much that I had to take my shoes off and walk barefoot for the next 200-300 mts. Now, given the stinging rocks strewn all over the ridge, it was becoming next to impossible to walk barefoot either. A perfect impasse. Thankfully one of my colleagues who was an expert hiker wound the laces of my shoe so taut so as to give my toes some room. This worked for a while, but the damage had already been done. The pain persisted, but I managed it all the way to Lafayette. The first thing I did once I reached the summit was to take my shoes off and by god did it feel good!! I was literally able to hear my toes screaming in pain. With that blissful feeling engulfing me, we started taking some snaps in the exquisitely picturesque summit.
It was time to make the descent now, which means I had to put my shoes on again and walk for another 4.5 miles! The hike back to the base was quite interesting. Half way along the ridge, it started raining. The elegance of looking at rain pour down from 5260 ft above ground is something indescribable, a visceral feeling, albeit you observe it. It looks like vertical stripes of white ribbons spiralling down towards the earth only to be blown apart by the wind. It was a like a mini tornado in the sky and by far one of the most alluring things I’ve ever seen in my life. But I was told by the expert hiker in our group that it’s a bit dangerous to be out on the top, especially when it rains, since lightnings have a proclivity to hit the highest points above the ground first. Beauty always comes with a price! So, not only do I have to walk, but I have to walk FASTER now since we had a lot of ground to cover(approx 1 mile) along the ridge before we actually start our descent down the forest(another 2.5 miles). THAT MOMENT, right there, was when I realized I was at the mercy of nature and I have no other option but to remain patient and just continue walking! Consider the circumstances : A sore foot, toes crying out for help, walking speed compromised due to the pain, the downpour, lightning threat. Given all this, I had to walk faster, and giving up was not an option! I was reminded of the Joker’s paradoxical question “What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?”. Well, in this case the object(me) was “rendered” immovable and eventually would be fried by the unstoppable force.
So, we strapped our wind cheaters on and continued walking against the gushing winds from almost all directions. I’ve always heard people say, going up is the toughest part in anything, but to plunge down is easy. I respectfully disagree! According to me at least, hiking up a hill has always been easier compared to hiking down. Agreed, hiking up is much laborious and painstaking, but we need to exercise extra caution while climbing down a hill inside a forest, given all the slimy rubble we have to walk on and let’s face it.. gravity is always looking forward to drag you down even at the slightest chance.
I walked(read crawled) for the next couple of hours and abruptly there was a glimmer of hope! I was able to hear the sound of cars whizzing past in the highway outside! Finally, a sign of civilization! It restores your lost faith that every trail ends with the same place where you started from. But the problem here is you continue to hear the blaring sound of the highway and yet never really come in contact with it for what seems to be an eternity. The restored faith suddenly goes for a toss. But you have no other option but to keep walking! You lose track of time and all the highway noises just seem like a cruel prank, when out of the blue you’re abruptly back to the civilization where you belong! You see light!
I’ve been on a few hikes before, but this one stands out because it connected me with something profound and taught me what being patient is all about. I guess I remembered that line for a reason after all!
Topical Storm.. 