That time we climbed Octopus Mountain

My alarm went off at 6:00 am on a Sunday morning, but I wasn't the least put out. Because today, we were finally going to get our shoes dirty and reach new heights. We were going hiking.

I wandered around the compound for a bit, taking pictures of the sunrise and stretching my toes, and then we packed up our little bags with snacks, first-aid kits, water, and cameras and then piled into the van. It was Jules, Mecha, Karson, Hanna, Khafson, Stephanie and I who had scored places on this adventure. We started down the potholed road towards the other side of town; it was different to see the town so empty at 8:00 in the morning. The streets are usually filled with men carrying yellow bags of rice or sitting around chewing betel nut, and women picking their way carefully around lake-like puddles of murky rainwater wearing their colorful, shapeless muumuus.

It had rained the day before (surprise!) but the air hadn't retained the fresh coolness that the rain had blessed us with, and so we knew that it would be a hot one.

Soon, our final destination was in sight, Octopus Mountain – the second highest point in Weno. It looked short. From sea level we could see grass and vines around the top, and we scoffed at the estimated time we were told it would take us to summit. Four hours was definitely overshooting it… or so we thought.

fresh coconut!

We parked, and started heading up this road that was covered with slick rocks and slippery breadfruit leaves. Apparently Karson and Khafson had lived up that road years ago, and if you followed it a ways it led to a place where the U.S. CAT-team used to stay at. But now the officers are gone so the road had gradually been taken over by nature. Grass fanned over the rocks, and flowers, trash, and old cars lined the road. I was intrigued to see some of the plants that we used to sell at Mac’s Garden Center growing naturally there. We waited a bit for a couple Chuukese locals from the Ifa’s clan to guide us, and were soon met with 5-7 guys armed with machetes and kitchen knives.

Hiking in the jungles on the equator is definitely something else. It rains almost every day here, so trails are always going to be slick, and you’re always going to be dodging geckos. The first bit we hiked through was pretty open, but we soon got to where the going was a little bit more difficult. Our guides were the best though, at one point they climbed a coconut tree and then cut and sharpened a stick to open them up. They wore flip flops – known here as slippers – and were constantly offering their hands when there was a difficult section. On the “trail” we walked through ferns, winced at thorny sensitive plants, and grappled through tall grass as we neared the top.

My reaction to coming
out from the jungle covering
into the sun... 

Have you ever tried hiking in a skirt? It’s hard. Being an active football-playing and shorts-loving lady in a place where pants are seen as being mostly worn by “loose” girls is a struggle at times, and hiking is no exception. In places where I would typically just slide down the rocks on my rear, I couldn't, because skirts don’t stay down.  My shins were subjected to such abuse by the thorns lining the trail. I definitely missed pants that day…

When we got closer to the top we entered a sea of grass. It seemed like not a soul had tried to summit Octopus Mountain in years, it was so thick! The grass reached over my head and the hikers who were still committed to reaching the peak fought to get through it. Even the guys with their machetes were struggling to conquer this strange beast, but we forced our way through! It was awesome.

I slipped too many times to count, received a glorious amount of grass cuts, but finally made it to the top – just to be met with more grass… and, so much heat!

Thankfully, there were some old triangular metal towers that we could climb on to catch the breeze, and we followed the locals’ lead and tried to hide from the sun in the grass…

Going down was just as exciting as coming up. Now I had tender and cut legs that really didn't appreciate all the grass and ferns and thorns that they were being forced through… I slipped and yelped my way down the mountain (and to those who know what I’m talking about, there wasn't another “Shut up!” moment, but it was close). Jules’ personal favorite fall of mine was when one of my legs fell down this hole right by a person-high drop-off. I guess it was a little entertaining.  We made it successfully down, met the others, inspected our injuries, and then headed back to the school. So, in all it ended up taking a good four hours, and was a fantastic way to spend an otherwise unproductive Sunday morning.

My only complaint was the complete lack of octopuses on that mountain.

The view from up high