A Real Leg Burner

This one was a real leg burner. I couldn’t walk down stairs for a week after this. Normally I would have been fine, but external elements conspired to turn a nice overnight tramp into a downhill race. Firstly the hut we were planning to stay in was full. When we arrived a large man with a large belly was splayed across the bunks, a tray of beer nestled between his arms. He appeared to be some kind of expedition leader for a group of pre-pubescent boys. We pushed on to Kime hut. It was freezing - surrounded by snow and without a fire or heater. The next morning the wind had got up to over 100 km/h and it was sleeting. There was nothing for it. We put on all the clothes we had and headed straight for the bottom at breakneck pace. Some who hadn’t brought gloves put yesterday’s socks on their hands. My cheap parka held out remarkably well, but eventually succumbed to the wet. The only way to stay warm was to keep going. We did the six hour tramp in three and half hours, pretty much running down the hill. I still remember the feeling of stripping off and jumping into the car, just starting to warm from the heater. It was bliss.