We went to the same French bakery again (their sandwich and croissants are super-delicious!) to pack our lunch, and we set off. Reached at 9:30am, changed into our hiking boots, and started our hike.
It was a really really really long hike. Many uphills, many switchbacks, many stairs. We ran out of breath several times, had to stop and pant our lungs out. Oh dear, is age catching up with us? Or is this the toughest hike of my life? I wondered.
Start of our hike:
More climbs, as you can see, we were starting to pant real hard.
We were getting impatient, the stairs seemed endless. A guy was coming down, listening to his ipod. We stopped him.
"How much further to go?", I asked, in between breaths.
"Well, not much, I would say, about a mile left".
I looked at him, wide-eyed. Is he serious? I thought we were reaching soon.
I wasn't convinced, had to seek a second opinion. Shortly, 2 elderly men with their trekking poles crossed our paths. We posed the same question.
"Probably another mile or 2 more, you are probably at 75%", one of them confirmed.
"Hur? I thought we're already at 90%", my heart sank.
"Well, 80%", the other guy smiled.
They wished us luck, and we continued our journey. At one point, we rested on some rock just before climbing up another flight of stairs. A group of hikers came down, greeted us.
"Very tired," I replied.
"This is the last stairs you're gonna climb", one of them comforted.
"Really?", That rekindled my energy.
"There's alot of rocks though," warned the other, "but its worth it".
Encouraged, we mustered up all our strength and determination we had left, and pressed on.
Nearing target..
And there she is... We were overcome with an immediate sense of tranquility, quiet and at peace with ourselves totally, as we stood admiring at her beauty. Everything was so still as if time seemed to have stopped moving here. Honestly, the pictures we took couldn't do justice to her. It's so hard to describe the exact feelings at that time, its like watching a live concert vs from a television, if you know what I mean. Its a totally different kind of experience.
We had our lunch, rested for an hour here, before descending.
By this time, the soreness/pain of our feet had intensified, especially our toes. Downhill was tougher, IMHO, without any poles to aid. I can feel the impact of each drop on my knees. Despite these, we made another turn to check out the Bridal Veils Falls which was formed from the waters of this lake.
Towards the end of the trail, my feet was very shaken and had problems keeping to a straight path. Never had I experienced this phenomenon before. I guessed we would need to keep off hiking for a couple of weeks, while we recover from the sore legs, feet and toes, one of which is still bruised now.
Lake Serene
Round-trip: 8miles
Elevation gain: 2000ft
High Point: 2550ft
Did I break my record for the longest hike of my life?
This is not a squirrel. I think its more like a chipmunk. Correct me if I am wrong. It was running around trying to catch scraps of food as we were eating our lunch. Sigh, spoiled by humans.
3 comments:
Envious. Wish I could do this kind of hike.
Btw, better have a walking stick or pole to hike next time. We are all getting old - the knees need support, can't afford to hurt the knees joint.
I am very envious whenever I see your photos. Your ability to capture the exact moment is beyond me. Any idea whats the distance/elevation gain for the skyline trail we did in NZ?
Oh ya, we got ourselves a pole each. Need to familiarize walking on 3 legs.
Elevation gain to Mt Kaukau is about 264m, hee, so that is chicken feet compared to ur climb.
Walking on 3 legs = very stable. Enjoy your summer and autumn with your friendly pole!
Daylight is getting longer here each day. My days of catching the winter trees is getting less and less..
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