Woke up early in the morning to begin Day 2 of our DEA Expedition. We had to cook our breakfast and lunch and then we left on our hike once again. My backpack felt lighter now since we ate some of the food that I was holding.
Something I was not glad was that it was uphill again and yet again we were walking on rocky paths. These were not like those pebble rock paths but actual loose rocks that have been eroded from the mountains. So while you walked on it, you might suddenly lose balance and fall. Worse off, you might get a sprained ankle which totally sucks when you got to continue hiking. My feet hurt from all the rocks because firstly I was not used to it. In Toronto, many of the paths were dirt/soil and it was soft. Secondly, we had vegetation such as grass to step on to soften our footing. I started to hate the rocks and it was like a test of endurance, perseverance and patience. Every step, I could feel my feet burning and I would continue to be tired.
We crossed a very steep slope where I could feel rocks tumbling down the cliff as I put my foot on it. Every step needed to be cautious because it was terribly easy to lose your footing and fall to your death. I was scared out of my mind because under me, I saw raging rapids and there was a very narrow path around this mountain. Before I knew it, I had crossed this mindblowing area and we had to cross the raging waters. Again I was scared because a loose footing would result you to fall into the waters and be swept away like a fish. However I crossed it with ease and helped my fellow teammates overcome their fears as well. After that we had to cross a second river which was not as scary but it was hard to find large rocks for us to put our feet on. As we walked up the river, we finally came across a set of rocks that we could cross on.
Usually we hiked in teams and we would have a walkie-talkie to communicate and radio for help if needed. Suddenly we overheard that one of the teams had become lost at a very snowy area. I was excited because during the course of my hike, all I saw was small patches of snow but not actual area where it was covered with snow. As we came upon the snow, the snow stretched on for miles and suddenly it was all white and bright. Thank god I brought my sunglasses because it sure helped a lot. We slipped and slid as we walked across this ice field. We could see neighbouring mountains covered with snow as well. We came upon a very icy blue pool of water and it looked really nice. I felt like going over and dipping my hand in the fresh, cold water. I was reluctant though because my team was really tired and had just wanted to go straight to the campsite.
As we got close to the campsite, we suddenly had to go downhill. I felt like we were walking on a landslide that had happened recently. We walked on large boulders as it covered our path and then we had to go through a foresty area before we arrived at the campsite. I was so happy to arrive because it was such a long day.
While we were picking our campsite space, most of the spots were taken up and we had to go sleep next to a swampy area.
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