The Best, Most Miserable Day EVER!

So today, we (the outdoors group) headed back to Brecon Beacons National Park to do a bit more hiking. While we were warned that today's hiking was going to be a bit more intense, I figured that it'd be more intense in ways such as more climbing over obstacles and using our navigation skills. Well, we did get to use our navigation skills a lot more today, but we sure didn't have too many obstacles except for a few, MAJOR ones. Our objective for the day was to hike to the highest point in Southern Wales... 886 meters above sea level. So we set off, from a point about 400 meters above sea level and at that point in time, it was neither raining nor cold. If you do not know this about me already, I would say that I probably have the lowest tolerance level EVER for being cold and wet. I cannot stand it. Ever since I went to Kings Island with Select Singers in 6th grade and let Whitney Dyer borrow my sweatshirt because it was 45 degrees and raining, I have never liked being freezing cold and soaking wet again. I mean, really, who does enjoy it? But I'm a big baby when even my feet are cold. Anyway! We started off dry and warm. The wind had started to kick up, but what was a little wind? Well, that wind picked WAY up and blew some nice, big, old rain clouds in, along with some fog to help us practice our navigation skills, of course. And, as we climbed, it naturally got colder. So after taking the LONG way around, because, as I told you, we are pretty much the best group ever, we finally came to the bottom of our ascent, shoes muddy, waterproof rain gear soaked, and cheeks red from the beating they took from the wind. Thank goodness for that fog, because if I would have had a decent look at what we were about to climb up, I would have turned around right there and said, "Meet yah in the car!" Okay, maybe not, but I really would have doubted whether or not I could have hiked it. I had gone out a little bit too robust for the first part of our hike, practically racing anyone who tried to take the lead from me. That was up the little hills, that I thought were big at the time. The type of hills you'd go sledding down and then were always so much fun to walk back up. The type of hills that are common in southern Indiana. Yah. Hint to self: Those weren't big hills. Nor were they steep AT ALL. The massive hill we now faced, which I knew just from looking at the map, was probably 10x worse than the previous hills. Although the fog helped disguise a lot of its sense of foreboding, it also made the hike up the side seem never-ending. And to boot, the drop off not far to the left was pretty much a cliff and the wind was picking up more than ever! So all this made for a real fun walk up to the top. The altitude up this hill alone rose somewhere around 200 meters in the distance of approximately 1 km. I, being the terrible planner I am, didn't have enough sense to store my gloves in an easily accessible place in my backpack, so by the time I actually needed to put them on, I wasn't able to maneuver my frozen and numb hands to get them out. Pretty soon, the wind and rain and fog really started to take a toll on me as we climbed. Not only was I worried my hands were going to fall off from neglecting them, but I was deathly terrified that the powerful wind gusts were going to blow me right off the edge. So when we finally reached the top, I was completely exhausted, my hands were frozen, and my nose just wouldn't turn off. And then I was HIGHLY disappointed when Graham told us that we had just reached the top of the hill before the highest peak. Dang. Really? We hadn't even made it to the top yet? Ahhhhh... okay. This is the point in the trip where I had a little conversation with myself and came to the conclusion that I needed to suck it up! "Really? I am complaining that I am wet, cold, and miserable.. but HELLO! I'm in Wales for crying out loud! That fact alone, and the experience within itself definitely makes up for anything else." And so I was rejuvenated, ready to tackle this next hill/mountain. Little did I know, that hill we just came up was the toughest part. From there on out, the remainder of the climb to the peak was short and gradual in comparison to the massive hill we had just conquered. So, lesson learned: Sometimes, when you think the hardest part is yet to come, you learn that the things you've endured leading up to that point have more than prepared you for what's coming and you'll find that they have more of an impact than succeeding at the challenge itself.
From that point on, we began our descent. We stopped for a quick lunch on the side of a hill, out of the wind, in order to munch without having to worry about our stuff getting whipped away. Let me tell you, going down was a lot easier than going up. Not only was it easier for the obvious reason, but the rain had stopped, it seemed to have gotten warmer, and the wind was finally to our back. All in all, we hiked around 8 km in the 4 hours we were there. Not too shabby, given the weather conditions and what not.
But as of right now, I'm still not completely warmed up. The bus ride back was chilly, so that didn't help. I've also taken the longest shower of my life trying to warm up, and that helped a little, as did the coffee. But my right hand, from my thumb to half way up my forefinger is still numb. Probably because that was the hand that was getting pelted by the wind and rain. But I shall survive. I've got to. Got to keep exploring and updating as I go! Until next time...