Posts tagged with "solitude"
Mountaineering with Maslow….
When I’d started out, the solo didn’t seem too daunting. I’ve spent a lot of time in the mountains, silence and solitude don’t phase me and I’d even decided to fast for the day so as not to be distracted by food (‘fast’ is probably a bit melodramatic. I had early breakfast and a late dinner with nothing between the two – something lots of people do every day).
Heading out from the tent into the early morning gloom was quite peaceful, nearly falling into an unexpected river as I headed for my chosen spot less so. The ensuing tramp across a bog was unpleasant, the wet socks nasty and the subsequent attack of the giant tick fiend from hell was hideous (knowledgeable friend tells me it was actually a sheep ked but when one runs across your face you don’t look too closely).
One very hasty retreat for the tick/ked haunted chosen spot resulted in the rapid choosing of a new spot. Sadly it also resulted in my precious pair of dry socks getting wet too. Inevitably as I settled down to my day of quiet contemplation the cold began to seep up through my soaked boots and socks.
I tried various tactics from rapid wiggling of toes to trying not to think about it; all to no avail. Eventually Dave’s advice came to mind – if you’ve got cold feet, put them in your rucksack. So I emptied my rucksack, took off my socks and shoes, inserted my feet into my fleece hat and hopped into my rucksack.
It worked, but the price for my comfortably warm feet was an inability to move much. After an hour or two this becomes a problem as you get quite cold sitting still; which is how I came to be dancing in the middle of nowhere but only doing dances that don’t involve foot movements. The YMCA was followed by the Monster Mash, the Twist and when I ran out of ideas the Grand Slalom while humming the music from Ski Sunday.
It was at that point that I really began to wonder what on Earth we were doing here…
