from SHIT to SHINOLA
I can’t believe I lived to tell the tale.
“I read somewhere how important it is in life not necessarily to feel strong… but to measure yourself at least once.” ~John Krakaur, “Into the Wild”
This is PRECISELY what happened to me on my solo backpacking adventure in Costa Rica, fall of 2016. First of all, keep in mind I’m no “spring chicken”… I turned 46 on my jaunt through this gorgeously tropical Central American country. And also keep in mind the longest hike I’d ever been on before was about 6 miles. Oh yeah- and keep in mind I’m about 40 pounds overweight.
Well, I set out one day from Montezuma to go explore the nature preserve at the tip of the Nicoya Peninsula: Cabo Blanco. In this rather isolated section of Costa Rica, there isn’t much public transportation to speak of. So I resolved myself to walk the dirt road past two towns to even get TO the nature preserve, hike the preserve to its prize: the beautiful and secluded beach on the other side, and all of that back again.
I’m pretty sure I almost died. A few times. All told it ended up being over 17 miles total. But a good portion of that was the nature preserve itself which was a jungly mountain. Not only were there steep, slippery rain-foresty paths to navigate, but I also had to crawl through a tunnel… on the way there and back, that had been formed by a fallen tree and the jungle closing in around it. This tunnel extracted a blood sacrifice from me, both ways!
As I was limping my way back to Montezuma, in the pitch black by this time, I was wondering if I would make it. I was just simply putting one foot in front of the other, using all my might. I said to myself more than once, “Well, you always wondered just exactly what you’re made of. You’re finding out today. This is your test!”
I finally made in back to my hostel, 13 hours after departing earlier that morning, exhausted and looking like I’d had at least 2 heart attacks. (Not sure I hadn’t. Ha!) And it took me about 3 days to recover and feel back to my old self. The SHIT was the sore mess that could barely move for days I had become after that long ordeal.
The SHINOLA was how I felt about myself after recovery, having proved my mettle and pushed myself to my very limits, and finding that I had more and more reserves welling up from deep within me to get me to my goal: my sweet, sweet bunk! I felt pretty damn good about myself.
“You have been weighed and measured, and have been found wanting.”~ A quote from “A Knight’s Tale”.
NOT SO in my case. I feel I was weighed and measured, and found that I can do ANYTHING I set my mind to! I gained a lot of knowledge about myself that day, and a big dose of confidence, to boot. Onward and upward from here.
Cheerio!
