It was suspiciously windy in the valley when we set off for my tenth Ha Ling Peak ascent of the year, and the Moosling’s first ascent on the outside.
We were just below the treeline when a stop was called for a nappy/diaper change and a feeding. The change on the mountain side went smoothly, apart from the boy starting to slide down off the changing pad thanks to the lack of handy flat ground. Then it was onwards and upwards and into the wind. And by golly was there a lot of it.
We were about 100 metres short of the summit when we were hit by a gust strong enough to leave everyone crouching (and one of us minus a pair of sunglasses) – and that was about when we decided we didn’t want to be blown off the mountain, so maybe we’d just go and enjoy the view from the saddle.
So after narrowly avoiding a terrible windy fate, we hiked back down again (as you do), and were terribly grateful to arrive in the trees where the wind could no longer throw rocks at us.
And the Moosling slept snug in his baby sack and sling all the way to the bottom of the mountain, blissfully unaware of any wind (or the trembling leg muscles).
