Magical Chest

Starting weight: 67kg, just for the record. I’m curious to see if I’m going to lose or gain some weight this month. So far I’ve lost 8kg in two months since I went raw.

Weather: warm, sunny, blue sky, almost no wind.

Walking up: 3 hours 40 minutes.

Walking down: 2 hours 15 minutes.

Summit Break: 1 hour.

Total walking time: 5 hours 55 minutes.

Sleep: 4 hours.

Food:

• before starting: 3 peaches and 1 plateful spinach.

• During summit break: 2 peaches, a celery stalk, a banana, a few dates.

• A few hours after coming back: 3 plateful lettuce & greens, 1 handful cherries, 1 plateful mixed berries.

• Later at night: 1 plateful carrot salad.

Physically, it was much easier than I expected it to be. The last times I did it, I always needed several longer breaks and struggled to reach the summit. Today, I didn’t need any breaks, and walked much faster than I was used to. I reached the summit in perfect shape, and still was totally fit when I came back home. Of course today was only day #1, I think I’ll get tired in the next few days. But this is nevertheless a huge confirmation that I’m having much more energy since I went raw. Nice!

One big mistake I made was my backpack. It was way too big and heavy. I used less than half of the things in there, and it was a big hindrance especially when I needed to keep balance. Tomorrow I’ll take a smaller backpack with minimal charge.

Mentally, I had to deal with some fears. I chose the most difficult route (of course), and there are parts where I had to climb. The climbing itself is quite easy, but you need good nerves. I have fear of heights, so it was difficult for me. I had to gently remind myself not to look down, not to look back, just to concentrate on the rock right in front of me. The damn backpack didn’t help.

I also had fearful thoughts popping into my mind, like “You’re not secured here. If you fall, you really fall”, “You’re alone. If you fall, nobody will hear you call. And even your cell phone doesn’t work here”, etc.

It was an excellent opportunity to practice letting go of fearful thoughts and staying present in the now. I kept asking myself “do I have a problem right now? Am I falling right now?” The answer was always no, I had to admit that I was feeling quite ok. This way I managed to resist the panic and creep the rock up, albeit slowly.

Climbing down would be definitely too dangerous, so I took another route downhill, easier, but longer. Walking down is a pain in the ass. It requires just as much concentration and physical control as climbing, and my knees hurt like hell when I walk down. I’m just too heavy for my articulations.

I fell once, fortunately not very far. Reason: lack of concentration. I was thinking about something else, and whooop, I slipped on the wet ground and the heavy backpack pulled me backwards. I’ve got a few contusions, but nothing serious. And a big sunburn, too.

I’ll post a few pictures separately.

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