Am not a morning person and getting up early is not my forte, but when you have to trek you need to be up in the morning and that is what was needed for this Saturday (22nd). The day, in fact the whole weekend is expected to be clear and we headed in the small bus provided by the trekking agency from our hotel early.
The trek started close to 6:30 AM (Phew, thats too early for me to even be awake) amidst darkness and small lights that people had with a torch on head and one from iPhone flash light, but day break was not expected to be far and after the first checkpoint we start seeing the first light of the Sun.
Day was clear and expected to remain so throughout the day, and we were cruising along to hit the peak in time, but had a small delay when one member was a bit dehydrated and we paused for some time. Moving ahead along the branches, where at a place one of the roots I was holding to pull myself up came in my hand and alas twisted ankle badly. That was the end of the summit chase, but not of the trek, continuing up to the location after which one ankle could not help.
Its disappointing when you are done with 85% of trek and still cannot keep up with the group because of an unwanted injury, but then thats how life is, you cannot get everything you want. Got some nice shots close to the rocks before the wall, which one foot would not have allowed me to climb.
The trek started close to 6:30 AM (Phew, thats too early for me to even be awake) amidst darkness and small lights that people had with a torch on head and one from iPhone flash light, but day break was not expected to be far and after the first checkpoint we start seeing the first light of the Sun.
Its disappointing when you are done with 85% of trek and still cannot keep up with the group because of an unwanted injury, but then thats how life is, you cannot get everything you want. Got some nice shots close to the rocks before the wall, which one foot would not have allowed me to climb.
The way back took equally long and we were walking again in darkness. At times stopping to confirm if we are on right trail as well. We were back at the starting point after over 15 hours, but these 15 hours were definitely fun and we did have first time climbers making it to the summit despite all odds. Kudos to the spirit of the team and proud to be part of such a team. This was followed by a late entry to hotel, bath quick dinner and some soothing music before hitting bed. (Off-course the trekking agency had beers arranged for folks after reaching the starting point to celebrate the climb.)
Sunday again was a lazy day with many folks deciding not to come out of rooms till late. A group did go out for boating and I managed to capture some nice clicks while taking a stroll along with shore. This capping what has been one of the best weekends in Chile (and if I add Riyadh time as well, one of the best weekend I have had in last 1.5 years thanks to #ibmcsc Chile team)
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