Hike of my life

So we signed up to go hiking. We thought it was a small hike that was only going to be about 5 hours. Ha! Were we ever wrong! We hiked to the peak of the Blue Mountain which ended up being close to 25 miles. We got up at 5am and caught a taxi to school where the bus was picking us up. We then drove about an hour up through the blue mountains to get to the drop off point. It was a crazy ride! There was a couple of hundred foot drop on one side of the road and a mountain on the other and we were on a dirt road! The twists and hair pin turns were crazy! I wondered what would happen if another car was coming the other way because there seemed to be only enough room for one vehicle at a time. Little did I know that I would find out what happens that night!


Ready to go!
The top of the peak of that mountain is where we are headed. I kid you not. I am still in disbelief that we did it.



Peak is getting closer! Only seven more miles.


We hiked through a small forest of eucalyptus trees. Put I forgot to get a picture of them.


This video from the seven miles to go point.

Baby goats!


We met this farmer who lives in the mountains who went and got us Jamaican peaches. They were green but still soft and sweet like our peaches!




Wild lemons.
Hiking, hiking, hiking
Jess wanted a picture with the farmer who was hiking with us for a while.

The view behind her

The farmer left us at Jacob's ladder and encouraged us to take a picture at the bottom of it. Us at Jacob's Ladder the toughest part of the hike because of the steep incline. At this point we had already been hiking up hill for four hours! (PS: I am soaked with sweat at this point, hair is soaked and I had to pee in the bush. )
Blue mountain coffee plant! The bushes growing coffee were every where!

Peak is getting closer!




These are cheese berries. It is like a yellow raspberry and we ate them off the side of the trial as we hiked up.
Jess and I took a small break. Half of the group was up above us and we waited to meet up with the half below us.

We met up with the rest of our group!
The view behind us
Hiking, hiking, hiking, hiking.



At the Portland Gap! Rest and water! Only 3.5 more miles to the peak!

The spring water was delicious!
Beautiful! There was actually a fine mist from the clouds from how high up were were!
Hanging out and resting before the rest of the hike. We also had fresh bananas that were picked around the corner.
Heading up to the peak. It was on this leg of the journey that I began to seriously doubt that 1.) I could make it to the top 2.) if I made it to the top that I would make it back down 3.) that I would ever make it back to New Jersey again. It was close to 3pm and we had been hiking since 7:45 that morning.

It was so great hiking where we were though. It was like a tropical rain forest. It was quite cool and very quiet. The trial got very narrow and at times there was only enough room to place one foot in front of the other. Keep in mind that this is still UPHILL and most of the time at a 45 degree angle. My legs were on fire!!







At the top in the clouds!

The crew who made it up! Keisha, Balie, and Phil

I look like a hot mess but I made it to the top!

Heading home! The walk down was not as difficult but still strenuous because we were using different muscles now.


The sun setting over the mountains on our way down.



The hike down

We began to reallllly struggle after about 5 miles down. My legs were shaking with every step. The group that was ahead of us was also struggling and found a truck and paid them to carry everyone down for us. They came back about a mile to pick us up. This is the second part of the journey where I really feared for my life! The edge of the cliff was about a foot away with no barrier of any sort! The guy driving had only one good eye! I kid you not!! We picked up various hikers along the way until 10 people were jammed in the back.






We made it! This is right before we boarded the bus. We look a wee dazed......

So, as it turns out the bus ride home was the third time I feared for my life. The driver, it turns out had been drinking while we were hiking and was a bit drunk. Also, remember how I said that the roads were really only big enough for one car at a time. It was quite the situation when a trunk jammed packed with people had to try and pass us. It is pitch black out, cliff on one side, mountain on the other, no where to go, in the middle of nowhere and then bam- there are like a thousand people yelling and milling around the bus. I have never been in such a scene! You can't really see anything in the video below but you can hear what it sounds like.



After we safely made it out of the mountains there was a quick pit stop on the side of the road to purchase so jerk chicken and then we were dropped off at UWI where we called a cab to take us to our apartment. I was so tired I could barely move. We got home at 9:30pm.

What an adventure.

Tomorrow I am starting my final week of medical school. I am back at the university hospital on firm B with gyn rounds on ward 9. Hoping for a good last week!