Mountain Climb Guidelines and Notes
- Walk quietly, you were not born on the land we are crossing.
- Bring WATER. If you bring snacks, do not bring salty ones that will make you
thirsty.
- Try to bring your water and snacks in such a way as to keep your hands free, you will
need your hands when you climb down.
- Do not bring hunting devices, we have no permission to hunt this land.
- In the gully past the cluster of houses at about 700 feet up we will pass through a
sakau patch. Do not grab the stems. Do not break off the sakau branches.
Walk with the grace, poise, and balance of a forest deer.
- Going down is actually harder than going up.
- At 3:30, wherever you are on the mountain, turn around and head home. It took you
an hour and half to get to that location, it will as long or LONGER to get back down.
If you are not in the lead group, do not wait for the lead group to descend to you,
you might not be on the same trail.
- Try to stay together as much as possible. This won't actually be possible, so try
to stay in groups so you can help each other. Do not leave stragglers.
- Do not get ahead of Lee Ling or you may wind up climbing the wrong fork. See rule
#7.
- Our walking will make the trail slipperier. The people at the tail coming down
will have the hardest time. Go SLOWLY and use your hands.
- You will fall down.
- In the mud.
Notes on the route:
- Take the paved road across from the College entrance over the rise.
- Walk to the end of the pavement.
- Bear straight.
- Pass the church.
- Cross the bridge.
- The road will have a fork after the bridge, take the left fork that heads for the
mountains.
- The road will curve to the right in stretches here.
- The road will become much worse, unpassable in a sedan, and begin to climb to right with
a bit more slope.
- The coral will end at a chain link fence enclosing some cement structure, possibly a
water tank.
- The trail climbs straight up and is the big one headed for the mountain.
Actually at this point it is really still the remnants of an old road.
The subsurface will be clay that will slick when wet. Especially coming down.
- The trail is big and wide and climbs steadily. When in doubt, go up. If you
think you are at a fork, go up.
- After a jog to the right the trail will climb until there is a hut smack dab in the
middle of the trail. I've hit my head twice on the roof. Watch out.
You'll see what I mean when we get there.
- The main huts are to the right from this first hut. This is a home. Greet
them properly.
- From this cluster of houses we bear LEFT. The trail does not climb significantly
at this time.
- The trail is now curving right.
- You will see an abandoned looking hut in amongst some sugar cane and a fork, with one
fork headed for the hut. The hut fork is the better trail and the WRONG WAY.
Bear right through the ginger and rehdil.
- After a slight climb, the trail will level and then descend to the right into a large
clearing with sakau. Descend into the clearing and cross the stream without busting
up the sakau.
- Ascend along the rightmost edge of the clearing - that is where the actual trail exists.
It climbs the right edge and enters the forest. Once it hits the forest it is
clear that you are on a major forest trail (this does not mean it is paved).
- This is the steepest slope of the trail. This is the part where the word
"mountain" takes on a whole new meaning. But the trail is easy to follow
at this point.
- Keep climbing. And climbing. Watch for cool looking plants. Try not to fall
on them.
- You will come to a tiny clearing if you haven't given up and sat. You are now up
about 1000 feet. The little hut that used to be here is gone.
- We usually only climb a short distance above the clearing. There is a fork just
above the clearing, take the RIGHT branch, the branch that climbs. There is a stand
of kotop up here, that is usually our turn-around point due to time.