“On a Mish” #361 Barely Made it to Bealey (Part Four). Bealey Valley. Arthurs Pass National Park. 1.1.2023. Waking up in paradise is something that will always put a smile on my face, and waking up with a smile is how everyone dreams of starting their day. I am lucky that it only takes nature and the wilderness to make me happy, but for a while it seemed like that had been taken away from me. My passion for the outdoors is stronger than the pain inflicted on my hip by a fridge door, and no matter how sore I get I will keep dragging myself into the outdoors to let my mind be at ease. While many do their best to do very little while injured, I put up with some discomfort in order to place myself in paradise. And when there I let Mother Nature take care of me and my problems…
During the night I rolled over onto my hip a couple of times, and each time I woke to sharp pain running down my side. As annoying as the pain was, it was quickly pushed to the side with one quick look out of the tent door at the epic environment I was in. Sore and satisfied is much better than being stuck at home with the wilderness only one of many thoughts rolling around in my head. Just before 5am I was at a point where I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get back to sleep due to my hip, so I got up and began to enjoy 2023.
The year couldn’t have started any better as the sky was clear and the air was very still. The morning was so good that somehow I found the motivation to slowly plod my way up to the top of the valley. The German couple were right when they said the valley head was incredible, and as I surveyed the area I really got an appreciation of where I had got myself to.
After my side trip I got back to camp and began to pack up. As I was packing up I began to grow nervous about my walk back to my car. I knew it was going to hurt but I couldn’t be bothered waiting for an uber!
Totally soaked in satisfaction I began my slow wander home and slow is the best way to describe it. My walking poles were getting a good thrashing as they would act as my legs in places, and on a couple of occasions I slipped and without the aid of the poles I might have been sporting new injuries to go with the old ones.
Eventually I got back to a point where I could hear the cars on the highway over Arthurs Pass, and I knew I was close to the end of mish. My last challenge was a climb up to the road, and the staircase leading there nearly defeated me. It felt like the gravitational pull of the earth had got stronger, with each step seeming much harder than the last.
Finally I reached my car and the physical side of the adventure was over. The mission was just what I was after and as I began my drive home my discomfort was overridden by the fear created by driving on the road in the crazy holiday traffic. Oh well, at least I had had an awesome last night of 2023, even if I had just Bealey survived the mish!!
