dear diary,
i've forgotten what it feels like to be warm. not in the emotional sense, as people usually write about, but in reality. after a sixteen kilometre hike (12k of which was uphill) in torrential rain and ferocious wind, we arrived at the campsite, a soggy field full of animal shit. it's about as homely and as welcoming as it gets out here.
pitched the tent, unpacked, took refuge in my sleeping bag, buried like a mole. value food over warmth, but the mini stove wouldn't light, so surviving on a diet of soggy chicken sandwiches and chocolate brownie. now is not the time to be craving sweetcorn.
the walk home tomorrow will be slightly shorter, and our bags (mine weighs about a third of my body weight) would have been slightly lighter if everything hadn't got soaked by the rain. oh well, we're going back to the world where people brush their teeth and use more comfortable modes of transport than their own aching legs and wear their misery like a necklace although all of it is emotional and at least they are warm and dry.
earlier, i injured my ankle, and complained most of the way here. i wouldn't be surprised if no one wanted to talk to me again, nobody likes a complainer. several people had offered to share out the weight of my bag, but i would carry my own stuff, even if i had to crawl the rest of the way. really.
four people got very lost and arrived a few hours later than us, and we were pretty late. the squeakiest, blondest and most pathetic of us all was among them. i secretly thought that a few hours lost and exposed to the elements was definitely what she needed, but decided not to share that thought.
my feet have gone nicely numb with the cold so i can no longer feel the ache.
thank buddha for small mercies.
