Walking to the End

by Jessie Kerndt (United States of America)

A decision that pushed me to the edge Italy

Walking the Cinque Terre in one day is no small feat. I mean, almost 25 miles, spread through 5 towns, in one day? Not the smartest decision I’ve made. And that’s not even walking on flat ground. You hike up into the mountains; using stone steps built into the side that are so old you’re both captivated by their rusticness and terrified they will crumble beneath your feet at the same time. After hiking on what felt like an extreme Stairmaster the entire day, I honestly didn’t know if my legs would function long enough to get back to our hostel. Of course, I was able to drag myself to the nearest restaurant and get the best tasting pasta of my life (although to be completely honest I could have eaten a stale piece of bread and been perfectly content). But I wouldn’t have done it any different. Waking up at 6 am to start our hike and finishing at 7 pm meant we got to see both the sunrise and sunset while walking along the coast. Yes, you read that correctly. That’s 13 hours of hiking. 13 hours. 13. And all I have to show for it is a few souvenirs picked up along the way and some very sweaty-looking pictures. What I can’t show are my memories. Eating gelato along the coast, getting lost, looking at the towns from above, falling down, it all happened along our trek. Most of the path was a thin, worn down patch of dirt surrounded by incredibly vibrant green trees and the Mediterranean Sea. The trees seemed to hit you in the face no matter what side of the path you walked on, but the Mediterranean was such a large expanse of water it made you feel infinite. We would just stop on the path and look around us. We wouldn’t even take a picture. We just wanted to take in the view. Have you ever just stopped and taken a second out of your day to breath? It’s invigorating yet calming at the same time. But that calm feeling was not continuous throughout the hike. Every trip has its ups and downs. Remember how I mentioned getting lost? That happened. Twice. Yes, there are trail markers and yes, we managed to lose them. While that lead to some laughs, most of that time was spent in contempt of one another, resulting from our complete exhaustion and our embarrassment that we lost a huge, very noticeable, trail. I return my original statement: walking the Cinque Terre in one day is no small feat. By the end my legs were jello, my feet were stubs, my stomach was growling like a monster and my physical limit had been found. And I wouldn’t give it up for anything.