Hiker camaraderie

Found some more interesting hiking links.

Went hiking/camping with friends to Greenfields, NH over the long weekend. The hike was Mt Monadnock via the White Dot trail (up) and White Cross trail (down). It was a decent hike. On the way back I was running down and passed a lady who was using a stick and going pretty slow. Kept whizzing by marveling at how people keep up their physical activity into pretty old age.

In the next break I was chatting with an Indian lady, and it turned out that the other woman I passed had injured herself and that was why ... Anyhow, learnt a lesson. We waited for her friend to catch up. I had extra water that I offered. Maybe they were just unsure if I would have enough water for myself. But I could not help but wonder if it is typical human nature or more Indian to refuse help in a statement to the effect that it was not needed? They said they were fine and they did not need water. On insistence that the water was extra and would travel down the mountain without the bottle being opened, they accepted and gulped down half a bottle! So, I showed them a bottle of ibuprofen and handed them a few tablets and asked them to keep them just in case they needed them. Sure enough, they refused again, "Ohh, we can make it." And equally surely, once they accepted, she did have a tablet. While thanking me, they showed me a bottle with an inch-depth of water and mentioned that if I did not show up, the two of them were going to have to share that for the remaining trip. Once the ice was broken, it got progressively easier. They did not have backpacks (the gents with them were far ahead) and were carrying their bottles in hand. It wasn't too difficult to suggest that I could carry and dispose their empty bottles for them.

I have a tendency to be like that myself. Maybe not the best idea, maybe we should be as open to receive a helping hand as we are to offer one.

And its amazing how good it feels to be able to help someone. Immediately reminded me of the guy that helped me in NH when my motorcycle had a flat a few years ago. But then biker camaraderie is definitely a different beast :)