I Like Hiking!!

I think hiking's the best exercise ever. It beats running on the treadmill in the gym. It beats doing sit ups. It beats jogging on a dull old track.

I think working here would be one of the best choices that I've made in my entire life. Although the place where I live may be far from the city (a 3 hr drive just to Seattle), hiking through the forest allows you to gain another perspective of life. I've hiked 3 different trails so far (mostly easy to moderate), and the best by far would be the trail at Nisqually Vista. The Nisqually Vista trail is meant to be hiked in summer, when flowers and plants are in abundance. However, since snow has yet to melt away, the trail that I took with 3 other people had us walking through really deep snow. I've yet to get proper boots, and my Vans were definitely not the best shoes for tracking in snow.

The most exciting part was searching for the route (we mainly followed previous tracks left by people). We walked through places that I thought were unsafe (damn exciting), but we ended up having a splendid time doing something that we have never done before. It did get terrifying for me, because at one point my entire left leg (thigh down) slipped into a hole that was covered with snow, and for a minute I thought that I'd be trapped and left to die of hypothermia. I tried pulling my left leg out but it wouldn't budge for the first few seconds. I got my leg out eventually, but my shoe was stuck in a hole. I had to get it out and suffer the rest of the journey back with extremely freezing toes because ice had gotten in - I almost felt that I was going to suffer from frostbite because I couldn't even feel my toes!!!

The next major trail that I hiked was called Rampart Ridge. Let's just say that trail will definitely make a flabby butt firm! The route up was rather steep (almost a 30 - 45 degree angle). That hike took 3+ hrs to and fro. And at the peak (the destination, sort of anyway) provided a wondrous view from the top down. Going back was harder because of the slippery snow. Again, wearing Vans didn't help much because I kept slipping like a baby deer learning how to walk.

Unfortunately, I sprained my ankle before I did these trails, and now my ankle hurts really bad. Just pray for my ankle to heal!!! I've made a promise that I must do another 5 different hikes before I return to Singapore...

From,
Erica Ho May Yue.