Ok. So last weekend we decided to climb Mt. Alava. I hiked it in October, but since none of the crew had, I decided to give it another go. The hike is a strenuous 3.6 mile hike up to the top of Mt. Alava. The trail is formed by the remnants of an old road. Over time it’s been worn away but the clearing still exists and is maintained by the National Park.
As Kate would say, “being the crazy palagis we are, we decided that it wasn't good enough to just hike up the mountain, so we chose to camp overnight in the faleo'o on top.” (A faleo’o is the traditional style house/hut. No walls, just a roof on some posts.)
On Sunday afternoon a group of us (10 in all: Me, Scott, Taylor, Kate, Thahn, Cynthia, John, Julia, Rosemary, Jess) met at the trail. We were loaded down with spare clothes, food, water, bug spray, blankets, and everything else necessary for the day, night, and morning ahead.
The hike started out good, but soon were were dripping with sweat. If you want to sweat more than you ever thought possible, come hike in the Samoan rainforest. Mid way through the hike many of us looked like we just got out of a swimming pool (except for Kate... she doesn’t sweat... because she is abnormal). Along the way we would stop and “gaze at the nature” or “take pictures,” so we could take breaks. None of us were going to fake like we were olympians and could make it to the top without stopping. Going up the mountain was definitely hard work. Along the way you find yourself asking, “now why did I agree to do this?” After several hours of trucking it up the mountain, we saw the towers which signaled the end. Success. Most of us stopped to look out at the view just before the last steep incline but a few went on up ahead. When we got within sight they began cheering and made a finish line for us to plow through. It was cute!
Once at the top, we all sat upon an old wooden platform and admired the view of the harbor. You can see half the island from that point. North and south. East and west.
Once we got to our camp site, the boys tried to make fire, but it was just too wet and windy. Good thing we all brought flash lights. So we re-enacted our middle school slumber parties; we sat in a circle, told some ghost stories, ate some cold s’mores (thanks CynCyn!), and played a few rounds of Mafia.
Everything was great until that point. I have a love-hate relationship with camping. I love it in theory, but in reality I like to sleep without bugs, be able to take a nice shower, and feel clean before bed.
Sleep did not come easy for me... actually it was nearly non existent. I was jealous of the group members who feel straight asleep. The bugs, itchy-ness, heat and who-knows-else-what kept me wide awake. I could tell several other people were having the same problem as we would take turn sitting up, glancing around, and then sighing as we laid back down in boredom and discomfort.
Around midnight Jess got sick and began throwing up. But it seemed like she felt better rather quickly and went to bed. I counted the hours as I lay there burning up with heat.
(Graphic warning!)
Just before 3 am I managed to dose off when all of a sudden I woke up and began puking my guts out. I felt sick to my stomach. Burning up with heat, I walked back to where the old platform sits and laid down trying to find an area with more of a breeze. I called Ethan and made him talk to me as I continued to feel extremely sick. All night long I continued to throw up, and I just wanted off the stupid mountain. When 5 o’clock rolled around a huge storm set in, and it rained solid for an hour and a half. At 6:30 I finally manage to fall asleep and woke up at 7:30 to the rest of the group moving about. I was not in good shape and didn’t know how I was going to manage a 3.5 mile hike back down. I was dizzy, nauseous, and my head was throbbing.
I started the hike back down strong. I just wanted to get the heck down off that mountain and into a bed. Half way through the hike, though, the extreme dizziness and fatigue hit me. John insisted that he carry my bag and wouldn’t take no for an answer (I can’t thank him enough for doing that!). That last half, Jess (the other girl who had gotten sick) and I trailed the pack. It took every bit of concentration to put one foot in front of the other because I was so dizzy. With the help of Julia and John (who both helped carry my bag) we finally made it back to the base. Taylor and Scott drove me home. I was still burning up so I took my temperature. 102. I took a shower and got in bed. I slept from noon until 7:30 am straight.
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