kkuter

This weekend’s hike was much more tame than last weekend’s. There was hardly any bushwhacking and absolutely no rock scrambling. In fact, there was a rather discernible trail for most of it, quite the luxury when hiking here in Zim! I was incredibly appreciative of the more low key hike this weekend given that I caught some sort of bug early in the week and was just starting to recover this weekend.

The route was essentially an out-and-back to the top of a mountain. As usual, we parked the cars at the property of a local, who in return for watching over the vehicles was gifted with a sack of food supplies (a tradition at every hike I have been on with the Mountain Club). We then headed up a gently sloping rock face and encountered a man and two young boys walking down with collected firewood. The man had a second name of the meaning “don’t waste away”, which inspired him to become a sort of environmentalist. He was leading recycling efforts in his village and educating the youth about his efforts.

We saw many cattle on this hike, as the villagers walked them up the trails into the hills to graze. They also used the cattle to help them bring down larger pieces of timber for either construction or firewood (pictured below). We guessed that the villagers were not allowed to cut trees down in the village and so had to climb into the hills to get wood.

The area we visited was a new one for me, but the terrain and views were similar to the first hike I went on. In addition to the hike being low-key, we also had the best weather for hiking. It had rained in the area the day before, which kept the dust down. Plus, we started the hike early and the sky was overcast for most of the morning, thus the temperature was moderate (maybe low 70s). All in all, this hike was exactly what the doctor ordered!