One of the main attractions of the Chiang Mai area is that we are a unique plot of land that has mountains in all directions. These mountains are very traversable and to people that live in places with "real" mountains would likely consider most of what we have here to be rather steep hills rather than mountains.
There is always a risk that some of the people that make these trails for us are going to intentionally put us in a situation where we have a difficult hill climb to conquer, and that is exactly what happened on Thursday this past week.
Even though the trail only took the front runners just under an hour, parts of this were absolutely gruleing and right around that part that almost looks like the tail of a fish is where it was extremely steep and well, some people got a bit upset that there wasn't some level of warning that it was going to be that way. We take things in stride in the Hash though and since everyone made it back safe we got over our initial anger.
I feel at times as though the Hares do this to us on purpose as you can tell from the elevation readout that the big hill climbs didn't come until nearly the end of the thing so the timing, at a point where all of us were pretty tired already, is when the climb actually happened.
Also, this wasn't some sort of official nature trail that is marked off for hikers either. It is raw jungle with plenty of little stones to trip you up and make you fall. In the past we have had a couple of rather serious slips that resulted in bloodshed but I think a lot of us have learned our lesson from those instances and now seriously watch our footing when it comes to these sorts of things. Nobody took a bad spill, thankfully.
At just 4.5 km, this is one of the shorter runs we have done so far in 2025, but I'll tell you this, it certainly didn't feel easy at all! When we got back to the circle for our post-run chat with beers, we put the Hares on the ice quite a lot for putting us all through that torment. We are normally pretty quiet but our commotion attracted an unexpected visitor as well
The weather has been a bit rainy as of late so the hills were made extra fun by the constant fear of stepping on moss of some wet leaves. That's always fun. I kid a lot about how dangerous this stuff really is, it's not really and we have a great support team should anything bad happen. For me, this is a great way to get out of the house and get back to nature and get some air and exercise, even though it is smoky season at the moment.
We are still doing at least 3 runs per week and you can come and join us if you are in the Chiang Mai area. Full details about the meetups can be found at our website
ON ON!
I do admire people who have the courage and the perseverance to go on a physical and mental challenge such as this. I sometimes get invited to go on an activity like this, but I always ask first whether it is physically challenging or not. I guess I just belong to the leisure strolling group rather than climbing or hiking group, hehe... As mentioned, it was a raw jungle with plenty of stones that could trip you up. I would really be anxious because I don't have strong foothold; and if it was a slope, I really would need to hold on to something, or else I would lose my balance and fall.
Good luck on your next adventure! Another mountain or hill to conquer awaits you! :-)
oh this is definitely physically challenging especially when you consider the average age of our group!
I never experience to do hiking to the mountain, but I have a two groups of friends doing it and they always ask me to go with them, but my husband dont allow me to go his scared about the dangerous thing will happen. but I do climb when I was young at davao in Philipines its very stiff and dangerious specially if its raining one wrong step will end up dow the hill. but its so fun we use to ride a the leaf of the coconut to slide down hill.
well this isn't exactly hiking. normally these are heavily traveled trails that farmers use but it can sometimes be quite dangerous.
I don't blame you guys for putting them on ice as if they cock up too may times then the fun elements are gone and instead of doing 3 per week you suddenly are only doing 1. I know it is them playing with you, but not everyone is so forgiving and playful.
They are expecting to get worked over by the masses. We weren't really upset but we still let em' have it anyway.
As you said, there is always a risk in doing things like this, and sometimes it can lead to difficult situations. However, I truly admire your courage. I’m really happy that you made it through safely and added another adventure to your experiences.
As i read your post, i remember during my time as a public health nurse, i experienced the challenge of trekking on steep hills, rugged terrain to reach people in remote areas. The journey was often exhausting, but every step was a reminder to keep going, to bring health services of the people.
Enjoy your trail and be safe!
The only thing stopping you from making it to the top is yourself? well, that and horrible injury.
Yes! even how difficult and dangerous the area. It's a challenging mission, more than just about mental strength and sometimes those physical ones can teach you resilience you didn't even know you had.😊
It's great you had a successful run even though it was too steep when you were all tired, it was too dangerous. I wish I could do this but not anymore. It's an adventure that's worth to die for.
well I was being dramatic when I said we could die. It wasn't that tough.
hahaha I know.
⋆ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ғᴏʀ sᴏᴜᴛʜᴇᴀsᴛ ᴀsɪᴀɴ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ ᴏɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ
⋆ sᴜʙsᴄʀɪʙᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ
⋆ ғᴏʟʟᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ ᴠᴏᴛɪɴɢ ᴛʀᴀɪʟ
⋆ ᴅᴇʟᴇɢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ʟɪɴᴋs 25 ʜᴘ⇾50 ʜᴘ⇾100 ʜᴘ⇾500 ʜᴘ⇾1,000 ʜᴘ
yes, where I live we are surrounded by mountains so there are hikes in every direction!