Pico Duarte. The highest mountain peak in the Caribbean and we were going to climb it. What were we thinking?! Well, every day was quite the adventure to say the least!
Day 1: If you had asked me anytime after halfway through the hike today if I would do this again like the guide did I would of said most likely not. His answer was "we're too young to say we'll never do things again." Yeah, yeah, yeah. We woke up just before 5 A.M. to put our hiking clothes on, make a pb&j for breakfast, a ham sandwich for lunch, and zip our backpacks for the final time. Of course right when we packed everything on the bus, the driver realized the tire was bad and we needed a new bus. Surprisingly the new bus came fast (the only thing that has ever happened fast in the DR) and we repacked ourselves and our gear on the bus and drove to the mountain bottom. When a group travels up Pico Duarte they always have guides and donkeys who also help carry the food for the journey. Somehow Rebecca and I ended up in the slow group and although the stops were nice, it was taking forever! Eventually some people got on the donkeys for the rest of the way and although really behind, Rebecca and I trudged on. It was uphill, uphill, and more uphill. For 95% of the about 12 miles we hiked that day. We treaded through rain, deep puddles, and extremely rocky paths that were now slippery with our backpacks that were probably 30-40 pounds but felt like a million. For some reason during the rainy hours "My Favorite Things" from Sound of Music popped in my head and kept me going. Finally, after starting the hike at 8:00 A.M. and it now being 5:30 P.M. (and remind you that 10 hours was all uphill) we saw the camp from a distance, but when we heard no voices coming from there we were worried. We saw a fire when we arrived and immediately sat there and then hobbled to the sleeping room only to find every single person passed out on the floor, not a movement in sight. This sight made coming in so late worth it and we enjoyed a delicious dinner of spaghetti that night and fell asleep looking forward to our day of rest tomorrow...or so we thought.
Day 2: We woke up around 8, the sun doesn't let you sleep long here! I was preparing myself for a delicious breakfast and a restful day when the guide announce we were hiking to the top of Pico Duarte today instead of tomorrow because of the weather that was expected. WHAT? Rebecca and I looked at each other and groaned. We barely made it yesterday, we did not know how we would make it today! Well we did have a delicious breakfast of eggs and sausage and then we put our wet boots on and began the hike up. Rebecca and I took our comfortable middle spot but soon enough somehow we ended up with the slow group which today only consisted of a small boy named Oscar who was trying the hiking trip but struggling. (The others were on donkeys) We were put in charge of him and although Rebecca and I would have loved to stop every three step like he was we knew we would never make it to the top if we did. It took every ounce of patience and encouragement we had to push Oscar to the top, but, finally, and only with one fall from him, WE MADE IT! We were finally on top of Pico Duarte, the tallest mountain peak in the Caribbean!! Although it was cloudy the view was still great and Rebecca and I felt extremely accomplished. The only girls to carry their whole backpack and make it all the way to the top without donkeys it our group. Wahoo! We even got to bathe later on when we returned to camp! However, the water the coldest water I had ever felt in my entire life! After we were in there for only a few seconds our feet were numb so it was definitely a quick bathe, but much needed by this point! And if you had asked me today if I would to this hike again? Well probably...the view was pretty incredible..and the pain of yesterday was starting to fade!
Message of the Week: David and Goliath
The message for the week of climbing focused on the story of David and Goliath because like David we were facing a huge challenge. David was small and skinny and the Giant was big and tall, yet David was still able to defeat the Giant with one slingshot. It was a great passage to be able to share with the students that even though we are facing a challenging week with the mountain to climb, sleeping conditions, and anything personally, all things are possible with the belief in God as shown with David defeating Goliath. All of the kids made it through the week and I believe having this challenge made them grow mentally because they did not want to give up and had to have strength through each hill we came to. At least this is what I always thought of whenever I did not think I would be able to make it up the next hill!
The message for the week of climbing focused on the story of David and Goliath because like David we were facing a huge challenge. David was small and skinny and the Giant was big and tall, yet David was still able to defeat the Giant with one slingshot. It was a great passage to be able to share with the students that even though we are facing a challenging week with the mountain to climb, sleeping conditions, and anything personally, all things are possible with the belief in God as shown with David defeating Goliath. All of the kids made it through the week and I believe having this challenge made them grow mentally because they did not want to give up and had to have strength through each hill we came to. At least this is what I always thought of whenever I did not think I would be able to make it up the next hill!
Day 3: We woke up at 6:30 not ready for the 12 mile hike ahead of us. Our 'muscles' were hurting; however, the banana bread, apples, and hot chocolate for breakfast did help ease the pain! Once Rebecca and I found out Oscar was riding the donkey the whole way today we knew we would have to step up our game. Surprisingly we did not do too bad even with all the hills in the beginning. We had heard that the end of the day would be mostly downhill so I think that kept us moving. We made it to one of the resting sports with the group which had beautiful scenery and enjoyed the break while we could!
Day 3 (continued): The next portion was up and down the mountain ridges to our destination with the very last part being completely downhill. Although the downhill was a nice change after an hour of it my knees did not appreciate it! Soon we arrived at our camp for the night where we would spend the rest of today and all of tomorrow resting here (for real this time!). I have to thank my mom for getting me the hiking boots for this trip. They were amazing and without them I am sure I would of hurt an ankle on the rocks or had raw toes with all of the downhill. Thankfully I came out with only one blister which was much less than anyone else! Love you mom!
Oh and if you had asked me today if I would do the hike again? Well of course, we get a whole day of rest tomorrow with waterfalls!
Oh and if you had asked me today if I would do the hike again? Well of course, we get a whole day of rest tomorrow with waterfalls!
Day 4: Rest day! We got to sleep in this morning although sleeping in to Dominicans is around 7AM especially camping when bedtime is earlier because of the dark! However, we were awakened with the screams from one of the kids as the other kids were taunting him with a cow skull they found. Luckily the day was not ruined as we spent the morning and afternoon jumping off the waterfall rocks, sunbathing, and even a bath! I even found a nice nook for hammocking in the afternoon when it was not so hot!
Mini History Excerpt: Sadly, there was a fire across most of the hillside of Pico Duarte a few years ago so most of the trees were not what we expected. While walking up the trails we saw frail, burnt trees and it was such a pitiful sight. Unfortunately, they still do not know what caused they fire, but Pico Duarte still boasts many beautiful sights!
Day 5: The Final Day! After our nice, restful day, we woke up early to begin the long trek back to the buses. You would think that after hiking up to the tallest peak the whole way would be downhill today. But Day 3 we had hiked all the way down the mountain, past where we started, to a low valley in the mountainside. So, yes, this mean a day of mostly uphill, but we were ready! Rebecca and I kept a pretty good speed on the last day, maybe because we were ready for a shower or maybe because the day of rest really helped. Around two in afternoon we had FINALLY arrived at the place we had started five days ago!! We plopped down on the ground, did not move until the buses came, and when we got back devoured all the burritos, cookies, and Gatorade there was!
Oh and if you had asked me if I would hike Pico Duarte again today? Of course, day one was waay forgotten and the scenery, fellowship, and workout was awesome!!