Originally written in 2022
20 kilometres.
11 hours and 15 minutes.
This was my last hike for the year, and it certainly tested both my fitness and my courage.
Although it wasn’t particularly long in distance, this was definitely not one of those straightforward hikes where you simply follow a track.
There was walking along the side of the mountain, sometimes on all fours, using roots, shrubs — or, if you were lucky, a reasonably trustworthy twig — for support. 
There was scrambling over slippery boulders, which meant that quite often the safest mode of transport was our bottom.
There was floating down the river, which was actually a lovely break from the pestering leeches.
There was cliff jumping to shorten the route.
I chickened out of the highest one. I have limits.
And there was heavy rain from the beginning of the hike until the end.
Twenty kilometres doesn’t sound like much.
Apparently the mountain had other ideas.
By the time we finished, we had been out there for 11 hours and 15 minutes.
Wet, tired, scratched, bitten — and very happy.
What a way to finish my hiking year.
Stories Along the Way 