Fear

Day 4: Overshadowed by Fear. During this trip I've been reading about Dietrich Bonhoffer. He was a man who knew what fear was, and how to stand firm in the face of it. Today I faced fear, a different type though, and definitely not as serious or grave. Until today I've never biked a trail. I've always wanted to but never new how to get into it. I drove on a logging road, which was still in use. I then I bike up for about an hour and a half. I got to the top of a Trail called the Half Nelson. On the map it was a blue square run. I got ready and started my decent. 

Trail map I purchased

The sign where Recycle trail split off the Half Nelson

After not very long there was a fork in the road. A route split off to the right called the Recycle. As a novice biker, I still have to learn my limits, especially on a new route. There was a hairpin turn that was unbanked, and blind. My front wheel locked and I understeered. I slid off the trail and my bike hit the tree and stopped. I flew over the handlebars and I hit my head on a branch breaking the branch and I jerked to a halt. I looked down to a good 30m fall. Fear. The roots of the tree I was caught on were exposed and I used them to climb back onto the trail. My nose started bleeding. A small scratch on my knee and a 5 minute nose bleed was all I suffered. I picked up my bike and continued. After I the crash my gear selector had broken off. I didn't realize this until after I reached the bottom of the trail and tried to shift down to repeat the ride. I walked back to my car, disappointed. 

Mud and Blood after the Half Nelson

I dropped off my bike for repairs, will cost 140 for the repair. I'm waiting now and have returned to my campsite at the chief. I have just explored the base area a bit more and will go on a quick hike until I get a call about my bike.

My view from the top of the Chief was about the same no matter where I went.

My campsite is very cool. It is at the very base of a face of the Chief, which looms over it, but between my camp site and the face is a rock. At first notice this rock looks small, by comparison to the wall, but when I walked up to it, this thing was at least 30 ft tall. It even had a cave beneath it that I could walk into. This boulder while grand was just overshadowed by the Chief, making it small by comparison. While exploring, I found a small path that went up the face. It soon turned into a scramble and had ropes somebody had left from a rappel. it looks as if they brought one single rope but had to make a 60m rappel. I climbed up most of this section. I wanted to see the top of it. But I got scared. I had already had a near death experience today, I didn't need two. This time fear made me turn back. 

Right behind my camp-site was this beast. Behind it the Chief.

I hiked the Chief trail to the first peak I call about my bike while I was up there. I got back and picked up my bike and returned to camp. After updating my diary, I made spaghetti and met Ken. He is from Maryland. I don't remember much about him accept him complaining about getting stopped for an hour at the border. I guess I would be pretty upset if that happened to me. After eating spaghetti and sandwiches I headed out back to the trail that I had done earlier. Biking was fun. After I got back a group of Quebecers invited me to join them bouldering. Their Anglicized names were Oliver, Antoine, PL, Oliver(two of them were named Oliver) and Luka. One of the Olivers is camping next to me. Antoine, Oliver and Luka were camping together. The three travelling together were very good at bouldering, so was PL. I don’t know if Oliver was any good. They spoke french most of the time, but the Oliver who climbed well told me that Climb on had shoes on sale. I will go tomorrow to see if I can buy a pair, and hopefully chat with the cute clerk.