Death Climb 2012

[indigo_rose99]

Formerly: Death March 2012

In the Commonwealth of Dominica, P & J convinced us to take an excursion, "Middleham Falls and Spa" as a group. It sounded like a hike through a jungle, then a swim, then soak in a hot spring spa. It was Dad's first choice, so we signed up. 

The signs claimed it was a 45 min hike to the falls. It took us 75 min each way (3 hours round trip, with the stop in the middle). 

Notice how the path, goes up and around the tree... then disappears?

I don't mind climbing steps, even slippery ones with uneven spacing. It was when the trail starts down that things turned bad for me. My knees do NOT like down.  By the time we got to the falls, my knees had declared, "try that step down again from half your height, and we are done." I started having clear visions of how painful a fall on these rocks would be

Then we got to the falls. Yes, I went in. Ice cold. I evidently gained points with my friends, which was the only good part of it.

It was a painful climb down the rocks, where a pair of my favorite shorts evidently took the punishment for me. I later found my room key card bent in half and sticking half out of the huge rip in my back pocket. 

The hike back to the car was torture. Plus I only barely made it faster than my 75 year old father-in-law. Not sure if this means he is in great shape, or I am a wimp. Or both?

Then we had a too brief stop to soak in a spa

My legs hurt the next day. And the next. And the next. And the next. 

I still blame P&J for thinking this was A Good Idea. *roll eyes*

Comments

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

Clearly your father-in-law felt quite light on his feet now that (I assume) he's no longer carrying around that gal (and her segway) in his backpack.

Extra credit bonus points

[pamwheatfree.livejournal.com]

You did it. You hiked the trail, you got in the icy water, and you survived until the slightly warmer water of the spa. You are supposed to feel 10 years younger. You must have had bad knees your entire life - I obviously cannot be blamed for that.

Just so you know, even I was worried about how we would get back up to the trail from the pool at the falls, but I saw those other people get out so I knew we would be fine. It was much easier getting back to the trail than it was getting down to the water.