on the edge of death

I could spend the remainder of this post just spilling out alternate titles for this experience.  We were in Mibu when Joey broached the possibility of hiking to Beng, which is a village close to Mibu.  The way I understood it, the trip would be "a little longer" than going directly back to the Husas' house.  I also understood it to be a basic triangle: we had already completed one of the sides by hiking to Mibu, so then once we got to Beng, there would be a simple walk back, and then our journey for the day would be complete.  Lori tells it much better than I do, so perhaps when I see her tomorrow, I will get her to quote Joey and include it. 

From Mibu, we backtracked a bit until we got to the trail to Beng.  Looking down the trail, I just about backed out of my choice.  The trail was narrow, and had quite the decline. 

Let me remind everyone that we had not set out in the morning planning to do a long hike.  We just planned to do the one to Mibu, which is challenging in itself.  Plus we had spent the last few hours socializing and the last few minutes experiencing beetle nut.  We did not have extra water or protein sources. 

But, regardless, there we were following Joey's lead. 

By the grace of God, two residents of Beng came down the trail behind Lori and me.  Kevin was fine on his own, because he is, well, Kevin.  Dennis had Joey as his hiking buddy, as had been the case hiking to Mibu.  Lori and I were thrilled with the help of these new best friends.  Lori made hers nervous, so the two of them ended up holding hands for the majority of the time.  My helper and I worked out a system whereby I would simply reach back with my hand if I thought I needed help.  He would grab my hand and help me over that section, and we would continue as before. 

Some of you know I have a certain amount of experience hiking, backpacking, and portaging with canoes over trails.  My body has gotten older since then, and I have added more than a few pounds, but this trail was similar to some I had done in Canada, with the addition of a huge drop on one side. 

Thankfully, we all arrived safely (and jubilantly) in Beng.  This village is beautiful, and we spent a few moments there soaking it in.  Soon after, we planned to leave.  Imagine our surprise when we started retracing our steps.  The track was not an exact triangle at all, so we would have to backtrack quite a ways before being able to head toward the Husa house.

Disheartened does not begin to cover it.  It was late afternoon, I did not have any water (which is a HUGE deal to me, as many of you know), Lori and I had been hiking in skirts all day, it rained a good deal of the way back (Have I mentioned I don't like being wet?), and all of the mainly downhill trail had turned into mainly uphill trails with the same terrain but with no helpers. 

We took a few breaks, Kevin shared his Jolly Ranchers to help with energy, and I had a couple of emotional moments where I dissolved into tears after turning a corner and seeing only the face of yet one more uphill climb.  I was reduced to taking off my skirt (I had leggings on underneath), and climbing on my hands and knees on some of the sections.

Finally we made it back, well after five, but also before dark, which had started to become a concern.  Joey kindly brought water out, and then we all needed showers before enjoying dinner. 

We all survived, obviously. Lori was clearly dehydrated, and had some issues later that evening. Most of us were exhausted, and we all slept well that evening before heading out for Madang in the morning.