I tried to walk across the continental divide today

[glowingfish]

I tried to walk across the continental divide today, on a road that didn't exist.
It started out as a gravel road, that got to a gate, and that then turned into a grass road that went up for about a half mile before dead ending in a gigantic pipe coming out of the ground...and a muddy trail that I thought might go somewhere but then disappeared in the rainforest.
I went up the trail, thinking that it might turn into a rough but passable trail, but no.
And the thing that is hard to describe, was how lost and scared I felt when I was really only 50-100 feet up that trail...only a half mile from a house, but with the sudden realization that if I slipped on the muddy trail and fell down a ledge, I was really really out there.
I am 45. Maybe tramping around roads that don't exist in the rain forest isn't the best planning on my part?
But sometimes it pays off.

Comments

[levi_adams]

I always think I'd like to go for more wilderness hikes. But then I get to planning them and realize, "Wait. I actually prefer knowing that someone could help me get to medical care if I broke my foot or whatever."

[glowingfish]

Well, in this case, it wasn't even supposed to be a "hike" at all, according to Google Maps there was a walkable road and it was only about 4 kilometers long---even if it did go up over a hill. This should have been a stroll of about an hour, and it would have let me out next to a nice, big shopping mall.

I also agree, as I get older, I think about "what happens if I break an ankle here"---but often that is part of a calculated risk. I could fall in my bathtub at home and maybe be in even worse shape than if I sprain or break my ankle out on a road.