Cucamonga Peak hiking
I’ve been hiking more. When I was in Japan, I would arrange those trips and get a handful of people who were always down to go. I would look at a map, pick a mountain peak, see if there was some kind of trail nearby, and then go. It was something for me to explore the bits of Japan that were overlooked and it felt assuring that I can connect with my friends through a common activity.
I like that I have that time to think in those stretches of dirt, concrete, boulders, and foliage – it’s a meditation for me while not having to sit still. That I’m still moving forward to somewhere, even if eventually I have to come back down.
A few weeks ago, I hiked up Cucamonga Peak with a group of people who were hiking fanatics. They were training for a backpacking trip around Mt. Whitney portal, but I was aiming to clear the 6-pack peak challenge.
I still had those out of breath moments, those burning muscles that only get used from hiking upwards for five and something hours. But, this time I had aches in my joints. I had pain in my ankles and knees, my hands felt more swollen…and a twinge of fear perked up.
My parents have arthritis and my mom has more severe symptoms. She has rheumatoid arthritis, which causes severe swollen and pain in the joints. It can be caused through genetic and environmental factors, although, exact causes aren’t clear (x).
So that fear came out of me that this might be the start of it. Hiking up mountains and taking on these activities. A process of getting older, maybe. A process of genetic factors, also a maybe. I started wondering how much longer I can do this. I started limping because I couldn’t put too much weight on my right leg since my knee was acting up. I felt a dull pain complaining in my hip flexors most of the day. And then thinking about how my mom lived with her ailments…and the possibility that I would live through that…and then how selfish I must be for thinking just about myself and my imaginary future pain while she is still living with hers.
I still made it to the peak, fog and mist and all. I still made it down, with the rain and clouds following us all into our cities.
Nancy Yeang 