An accidental hike

A few days ago I discovered that a walking path labelled “4” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s walk #4 – of however many… This only became apparent, however, once I was well and truly overcommitted to the venture.

It started with an early morning stroll towards Mandraki, a walk I’d done before quite happily a few days earlier. Along the way, however, I noticed a walk information post. The legend on one side said “Hydra through Stavros Church. 50′ / 2.5 km”. It seemed plausible; I’d been wanting to see the church and was confident I could do 2.5km, and 50 minutes would get me back to the hotel in time for breakfast.

As it turns out, “4” actually means: ‘bushwalking experience recommended; tracks may be long, rough and very steep. Directional signage may be limited’. It would have been good to know that in advance…

And good to know that my wild goat scramble up the mountainside was to be surpassed only by the terrifying rocky descent down the other side. But, by the time I’d figured that out, it was a tad late – or so I thought. Looking back down the goat track I’d traversed so far, slogging onwards certainly seemed like a better idea than retracing my steps…

Yes, sometimes my niavete surprises even me… This was, without a doubt, the most physically and emotionally taxing hike I’ve undertaken in decades. It didn’t help that I was increasingly aware that no-one knew where I was and that if something went sideways I’d be in a shed load of trouble. Getting to the top took me an hour. An hour of uneven, steep and rocky terrain, and mounting exhaustion. Every time I thought ‘ this can’t possibly be the track…I must have gone off course…’, there it’d be… the little blue and white route marker, painted onto an outcrop. Just enough of a breadcrumb to provide a modicum of hope.

When I finally got to the top of the ridge, and could see the church just a stones throw away, I came upon another sign post with route information. Options that seemed within scope were a 1.6km walk back to Hydra on a path leading AWAY from the port (but which presumably curved back around at some point), or a 1,2km (25′) option past the church – which is, of course, the one I chose… despite the distinctly goat track vibe…

I don’t make smart choices when I’m exhausted, this is clear. In the moment, 25 more minutes sounded about what I could manage and, although I would by now have missed breakfast, I imagined I could still be in time for cheery farewells to those from the writing retreat who were leaving on the morning ferry.

Oh, my dear self, how DO you get yourself into these situations?!

It IS possible, I suppose, that – in some alternate universe – the descent to Hydra might take 25 minutes… perhaps by a twenty-something in peak physical condition and having legs-of-iron… But not in this one – and not this body! Great Zot – if I thought it was tough going up – the descent was about to be a whole other adventure! It was steep, muddy from the recent deluge of rain, rocky and uneven; in some sections bearing absolutely no resemblane to a track – goat or otherwise.

Luckily my big-girl-panties and shoes-of-stomping (recently dried out by hairdryer) were firmly in place, so it was onwards and downwards – slowly – and SO carefully. But, despite placing the walking poles with great care and testing each step, I did take one rather exciting little tumble – misjudging a section of rock and gravel and ending up in some conveniently placed prickle bushes! I must confess to a very definite and intense adrenalin spike and a not-so-wee involuntary noise at this point!

Later I had the joy of tweezing many, many tiny, weeny spikes from my right knee – the one that had mated, rather dramatically, with the ‘Thorny Burnett’ – apparently one of the main reasons hikers are “strongly advised to wear long pants when straying from the main harbour paths.” Yay for coincidentally wearing jeans on the day – they saved me from many scratches and scrapes along the way, as well as the worst of the prickles,

Despite the rigours – and missing both breakfast and the ferry contingent, and hiking for a GREAT deal longer than the originally estimated 50 minutes – I wouldn’t have wanted to miss the views down to Hydra or the sense of (exhausted) accomplishment as I plodded down into the port area. What a ride!