Rurimeria

I am recounting the experience about two and half months later since I had this hike. After the hike, I procrastinated writing about it in the first few days and eventually got too lazy to do it. But I’m finally doing it after going for a similar hike. Most of the details about the hike are hazy by now due to how long I took to write it down. The human brain is also a bit weird in that a person is more likely to forget uneventful situations from a particular day. However, I’ll include as much information as I can remember.

When preparing for Rurimeria, I decided that it made more sense to sleep at my place on the eve of the hike, as opposed to sleeping at a friend's place. During extended periods of insomnia or a completely distorted sleep cycle, it gets harder to catch sleep at other people’s places. The last thing you want on hike is to go out feeling tired and sleepy from pulling an all-nighter. In the morning, I prepared everything I needed and hailed an Uber. I arrived at the pick up station at around 5.45 a.m. A few other people arrived within minutes, including a friend whom we went to the table mountain hike with. The bus arrived much later at around 6.30 a.m and picked up everyone else from the other designated pick up points. Since I had had reasonably sufficient sleep, I stayed up all the way on the bus. We also had some ice-breaker questions provided by the organiser, which made conversations easier and fun. There were few stops along the way due to the time situation and the fact that there weren’t any interesting sights. The main towns in which we stopped had little action going on as it was early in the morning and were particularly cold.

We arrived at a small shopping centre that marked the beginning of the mountain hiking trail at around 10.30 a.m. At this point, I had a serious stomach upset due to the long travel distance and limited opportunities to get out for a fresh breath of air along the way. The nearby shops also lacked actal tums, the primary medication for stomach flatulence and pain. However, they had an alternative medication whose name I can’t remember. It had a fast working mechanism but caused lower abdominal pain. The pain was so intense/uncomfortable that I could not engage in warm up and stretching exercises that were required for the hike. At the end of the exercise session, other hikers began the climbing with the assistance of the local trail guides. Two of my friends whom we shared a seat on the bus checked up on me to determine whether I would make the hike. I felt unsure about the prospect of climbing in the current condition and asked them to go ahead without me. They left with the last group of hikers and I was left alone at the starting point. I contemplated heading back to the bus but decided that it would be dumb to turn back while at the base of the mountain. I sat down for a while until everyone in the group had left and allowed the medication to work. It took a few more minutes for the pain to subside.

I was the last person to set off along the hiking trail. Luckily, the hiking guides marked the right track by tying pink ribbons on the vegetation along the path.

I was too far behind and had to walk fast to catch up with the rest of the hikers. The initial sections were mostly normal grassland and few vegetation cover. However, the path gradually became steeper with the terrain mostly covered by rocks.I caught up with some of the people along the way and took a few photographs. The view from the lower sections of the mountain mostly included residential places and farmland. Crop and animal production thrived in the area due to the conducive environment and rain. All the fields were green and some people were harvesting carrots and potatoes. After trekking for almost two hours, I caught up with my friends. They had taken the regular breaks set at different points along the trail, hence, it was easier to catch up. From there on, we walked as a team through the two main checkpoints that marked the end of a major hill. The heath and moorland section was a long walk but relatively flat. It had the best views due to the unique vegetation cover and marshy path. The tuft grass had a unique golden colour and stretched for kilometres in all directions. However, most of the “trees” were charred on the stems while some of the grass stamps were regrowing. The mountain had experienced a wild fire in the prior months due to the dry season and was recovering. The entire surface was a plateau which allowed us to appreciate the surroundings. Temperatures here were also much lower but bearable. It took about forty-five minutes to get close enough to see the hills surrounding the summit point. The images below are of the mountain vegetation and hills protruding from the horizon.

Traversing across the heath and moorland was relatively easier than climbing up the steep hills, but was still challenging due to sogginess and some swampy sections. That coupled with general fatigue made it hard to remain focused on reaching the summit and necessitated mental fortitude to overcome the physical limitation. The summit seemed close yet so far with every step of the way. I took a few breaks to catch my breath and psyched myself up as I could see the summit. The summit was jutting from the plateau and rose to breathtaking height. I walked on gaining elevation as I neared the base of the summit. The climb up was steep and felt like climbing up a cliff. It only took about ten minutes to get to the top. I felt exhilarated for getting there and sat down to comprehend how good it felt to reach the top. The views from up there were thrilling and made the climb worth it. However, shooting pictures of the incredible views was challenging due to the dense mist surrounding the summit. I stayed there for quite a while before the guides informed us that we had to start trekking back down due to the time situation and oncoming rain.

Climbing back down was uneventful as we followed the same trail. It was also drizzling lightly. There were very many things that were off during this hike making it unnecessarily difficult. I used the info from the hike to prepare for the subsequent one with significant success.

Quick notes

• I had a weird week prior to the hike. For some reason, I did not hydrate at all as is expected when preparing for a strenuous hike.
• I also made poor diet decisions by eating light food all week instead of heavy foods that would have helped me to stack energy.
• I did not have any stomach medication which made my situation worse.
• I also took too many drinks in the morning which caused bladder problems.
• Taking too long to relieve yourself increases pressure in the groin and lower abdomen. It can get quite uncomfortable.
• Eating sugary snacks during the climb would have helped in restoring energy. However, I was concerned about getting a stitch and was too out of breath to eat anyways.
• I do not think I experienced altitude sickness except for feeling extremely cold, which is normal as there was mist all over and a cold breeze.
• My rush to get out of the house made me forget about carrying a beanie or scarf and I had to brace the cold weather. It was unpleasant.
• I also forgot to carry an extra sweater. The journey back to the city was one of the worst cold experiences I have ever had. Since my jacket was wet on the sleeves, I decided to wear the warm extra t-shirt I was carrying. However, it was sleeveless and barely protected me from the low temperatures.
• I tried brushing off the feeling by trying to catch sleep with little success.
• Eventually, I had to wrap my arms with the leggings of the extra trousers I had carried. It was a bit weird but necessary. I even managed to catch sleep afterwards.
• Now that I’m thinking about it, there doesn’t seem to be too much that was off.
• It probably was mostly a mental challenge with just a few physical health setbacks.
• Overall, it was a good learning experience that really helped in preparing for the elephant hill hike.