Never having been trekking or even camping, I wasn´t sure what to expect. The start of the trek had an amazing view, we could see all of the mountains surrounding us and we hiked down into a cave where we could see old drawings covering the walls. The paths we walked on were dusty which seemed to wash out the colors of the landscape. We saw browns and faded yellows and greens. By lunch time we had made it to another cave, and seconds after we got there, the skies opened up. It poured, the thunder shook the ground below us, and the lightning seemed to flash right in front of our faces. We ate and waited for the storm to pass and by the time we were ready to leave, the mountain had completely transformed. What had once been the dull faded colors were now vibrant reds and greens, saturated with water. The path we had walked from was unusable. Walkways had become a channel for the rainfall. Fast-flowing rivers had formed and waterfalls seemed to cover the mountain. It was truly amazing to see such a drastic change in just an hour. We continued our trek – careful of slippery rocks and mud. The rainwater had caused all the rivers to rise and widen, so we took off our shoes and socks, rolled up our pants, and waded through the icy water. It took the whole team of us to get everyone across but we managed – backpacks and all. We made it to camp pretty late and had to cook dinner and set up tents in the dark under the stars. As inconveniant as it was in the pitch black with only our headlamps, the view of the tents under the stars was the best way to start the first night of the trek.
