Knuckles Postmortem – Hiking Along the Memory Lane

There are things that change your life…that sometimes gives you an extra tinge to do something different. Some things in life make you realize that it’s not just about your everyday chores but that there is more to enjoy and adventure. I was never a hiking enthusiast, it did not fascinate me that much to trek through rugged terrain with steep hills. I would not mind a good smooth trek along a nature trail but a hard climb coupled with bad weather and low supplies of food and water really tests your endurance to a great level.

This past weekend I had the exact opportunity to meet up with couple of good friends mostly bloggers to take up a hiking adventure in the misty mountains beyond Hunnasgiriya. Even with so many reminders on hiking gear and preparation I was not that much serious about trail as it sounded mostly like a normal hike up a and down a mountain. I would not go into detail on how everything went off as you could find detailed perspectives over the whole trip at Whacko’s, Jerry’s, Fallen’s and quite possibly Sinhalaya’s.

What probed me most to write this post was the experience I got out of it. The whole trek which was filled with unexpected surprises and adventure was something one could hardly come across. I saw a bunch of deformed misfits working all together to make through a trek of hell. I saw great qualities in everyone who were really serious about the whole trek and were quite keen about what they had gotten involved with.

I saw Whacko with his hearty trek master duties herding us like a bunch of buffalos to a cave full of batshit. I saw HisP, running along with enthusiasm making hasty calls to find us transportation and risking his life to ride off with a drunken motorcyclist to get us to safety. I saw Foxhound normally silent, coming out of the closet talking through the whole trek and tagging along HisP to go ahead and scout for help when others were lagging behind. I saw Fallen with his annoying “Oh Fucks” and screeches motivating anyone who was left behind. I saw PapareBoy documenting the trek with his camera and helping out whenever possible. I saw the Drifter with his crazy monkey dances and his silent yet keen interest tagging along with a bunch of people; most of them he barely knew. I saw Jerry, leading with the pack, jumping up to help out when situations got serious. I saw the two girls Puppeteer and HisP’s Friend growing balls on me, tagging along with a bunch of guys and competing shoulder to shoulder. And how can we forget Mother Nature who fucked us like a rabies ridden wild rabbit all through our way back eh?

It was this commitment that made this one heck of a journey an experience to remember, stiff limbs and leech ridden arms aside I believe that everyone got something to their life out of it….well I certainly did, and for me this will be kept as a memorable experience to be savored and enjoyed through tough times yet to come….

...ah serenity...