do or die

On Saturday, I went to Bear Mountain on the "RWC Hiking Extravaganza", aptly named by our fearless leader, JP.

For some reason, I tend to learn a lot about myself on hiking trips. I think it's when you're face to face with nature, with danger (real or perceived), and with quick decision-making with immediate consequences - your character (or others') becomes transparent.

For example - I'm a girl. There is no denying it. Underneath whatever tough facade people will assign to me, underneath however strong I may try to be - I really really dislike bugs. There. I admit it. Let s/he who didn't recoil at the prospect of grabbing a tree trunk crawling with hairy caterpillars cast the first stone.

On the initial trek up, we got off the trail, and had to forage through the unknown (yes, I'm being dramatic, but isn't it more entertaining this way?) - and since we weren't on the actual trail, we spent quite a bit of time going up rocky, leafy, slippery areas to make our way in the general direction of "up". There were a couple points where you had to just use your hands to get balance as you climbed up areas without steady grip for your feet. At one point, I was trying to get my feet to push off and make a jump up to grab a tree trunk slightly above me. As I jumped, I looked at my target - and it had hairy caterpillars all over it.

At which point I promptly let out a shriek which I can only be embarassed for. I think I managed to adjust and reach for a branch of that trunk, and otherwise scramble myself upwards - but I almost grabbed straight for squishing the caterpillars with my hands. They were hairy. *ick* However, I was slightly validated when JW told me she would have done the same had I not warned her to look first - but insight #1 into myself: at my core I'm a girl who's afraid of bugs.

Insight #2 - sometimes there is more than one way to get past an obstacle. There were certain points at which we got stuck, and stood there looking at different options of how to proceed. One path looked narrow and slippery, another path involved some steep rock. One way was through bushes and unknown plants, another through some gravel that appeared to give away. Some people went one way, some went another - but we all made it to the same place. Looking back, it made me think about how we make the little choices, and how some are more important than others.

Insight #3 - You can't think too much. Calculating probabilities and weighing risks is generally a good thing in making decisions. However, I noticed when you're stuck (perhaps literally) between a rock and a hard place - there may not be a clear-cut "right" decision. At one point during the "uncharted" part of our hike, I looked down and realized that there was no way that we were going to just be able to go back the way we came without slipping and sliding to an inevitable accident. It was then that I realized that there was no way to back out - there was no "safety". It turns out that sometimes, it doesn't matter which decision you make, so long as you stick with it and just go. When ground isn't steady beneath you feet, it's not really the right time to second-guess the other path, or try to steady yourself - if that gravel is falling away, then there's nothing to do but scramble (and hope that whatever you're grabbing for doesn't have hairy caterpillars all over it).

That's actually something I was thinking about during tape analysis recently, and during the World Cup game today. When is it better to be strategic, and at which point is it better to chuck it and just go?

A happy-go-lucky hiking trip induces heavy questions...haha. In any event, here's the group at the top of the mountain =) Thanks JP for organizing a great trip, and drivers for ... driving! =)