Matt the Hiker

The 5:15 train was packed, it always was. All the seats were taken, they always were. Matt had been sitting in one of the extremely rare seats but had given it up for a pregnant lady who had gotten on at the last stop and was clearly struggling. No one else had moved. Matt couldn't sit there while she stood so was currently sandwiched, nose to armpits, between an overweight businessman and an underweight gym rat, both of whom could do with a decent antiperspirant recommendation. Matt had had enough, he said as much to his flatmate Gary.

" I've had enough" Matt said 

"Tough day?" Gary busied himself making coffee, Matts outbursts were NOT a rare occurrence

" I've had enough of it Gary, I've had enough of smelling like armpits whenever i come home!" Matt took his coffee and sat on the sofa

" you could always get a later train" Gary suggested as he switched on the tv

" no way am i hanging around for another hour, to be honest, the train is only part of it. My work sucks, i really need a change" Matt sighed as they settled down to watch the recorded highlights of that weekends football

The next few monotonous days at work made Matts decision for him, his life wasn't going to change unless he changed it himself.

" You seem happier tonight" Gary remarked,

Matt had arrived home with a takeaway from the local chinese restaurant

" I've handed in my notice" Matt grinned " Two weeks from today i am done" He dished out the meal and handed a shocked Gary his plate

" What do you mean done? You can't just quit, what about your half of the rent?" Gary snapped

" Its ok, i've thought it out" Matt had expected this reaction " i have plenty of savings sitting doing nothing, i can comfortably pay rent for the rest of the year if not longer and still have more than enough for what i have planned"

" and what, exactly, do you have planned" Gary asked

"Well..." Matt began between mouthfuls of food " first off, as soon as my two weeks are up i am off to Scotland for two months hiking in the hills, maybe even try and climb a few of those Munro hills"

"MUNROS" Gary gasped "Matt you haven't climbed anything bigger than a flight of stairs in your life"

"EXACTLY" Matt smiled " I need a proper challenge to get myself out of this rut. What better way then doing something i've never tried before" 

" Matt you can't just turn up and start climbing mountains, they're dangerous. You hear of people getting stranded and having to be rescued all the time" Gary shook his fork Matts way in admonishment 

"Don't worry Gary, I'm going to get properly kitted out with hiking boots, maps, compasses, something called a bivvy tent, and even a stove. I'm going to have all the gear" Matt replied

"Yeah, all the gear but no idea" Gary muttered

"I'm going to research everything too, obviously, I'm not going in blind. I just need to get away from all this and be in my own space for a while" Matt ended the conversation by turning back to the tv " look i can start now, Bear Grylls is on"

Matts two weeks notice flew by. The train never got less packed, the seats never got less taken but Matt grit his teeth and blocked it out. He was getting out. Every night he went online and watched life hacks for hiking and camping in the wild, he was determined to make this a full blown adventure and was sure it would help 'reset' his life. Once it was time to go he packed a few things in a backpack and readied himself to leave.

" THAT'S all you're taking" Grant shook his head " dude you cant be serious about this, you need to prepare properly for something like this"

" I'm travelling LIGHT Grant, i have a cottage booked and will get everything else i need when i'm there" Matt was starting to get annoyed, he had thought this through and Grant was clearly just jealous that he didn't have the guts to do it for himself.

Matt stormed out and was still fuming as he caught his train. This wasn't the packed train he was used to, he had a whole set of seats and a table all to himself with hardly anyone else in the carriage. He soon calmed down and before long was content to get lost in his thoughts as he watched the countryside flash past. He was glad he packed light, there was no point buying all the gear and then traipsing it all the way up to Scotland when he could simply buy all the best stuff when he arrived. The journey was peaceful but uneventful with Matt even falling asleep. He woke up to change trains and bought a sandwich and a bottle of Irn Bru 

"When in Rome" he said to noone in particular.He arrived in Inverness, sorted out a rental car and (after a few wrong turns) followed the sat nav to his rented cottage in the middle of nowhere. 

He felt better already, the air felt fresher and he had never seen so many stars in the sky, this was the best decision he had ever made. He had woken up feeling better than he had in a long, long time and headed into the local town to gear up. Two hours and the best part of two thousand pounds later he was ready to conquer anything nature could put in his way, he had hiking boots, walking poles, a one man Bivvy tent and a sleeping bag that was designed to withstand an arctic tundra not to mention the array of gadgets and gizmos that would make the Swiss army look ill prepared. He spent the rest of the day back at the cottage putting up then taking down his tent and playing with his new purchases before cooking supper on the camping stove then heading to bed, the fresh air must be doing something right as he was sleeping before his head hit the pillow. 

Matt woke up early and set off to claim his first mountain, the sun was shining and he already felt like a new person. The car park was busier than he expected, filled with campervans (why didn't he think of that) and even a pair of full size buses but no matter the direction all he could see were mountains so surely he wouldn't meet anyone else while he hiked. Matt set off at a brisk pace but it didn't take long for him to rethink his whole wait to buy policy, it may have been a better idea to break his new boots in before starting out. He already thought he could feel the beginnings of more than one blister.

As much as it hurt Matt to admit it, Gary may not have been completely wrong about how hard this was going to be. Matt could figure out the map and compass, just about, and the weather stayed sunny, that wasn't the issue, the issue was that it was much tougher than Matt had expected. By the time Matt reached the summit his blisters had blisters, the sun had disappeared taking the warmth with it and to top it off the mountain top was mobbed with other hikers. This wasn't the introspective experience Matt was expecting, not with meeting more hikers every other minute of the climb and now almost as packed as his train journey at the top. He had to get away.

"I'm going to have to go proper wild country" Matt muttered to himself and set off down the mountain before veering off the path and into the deep heather.

Matt walked for what seemed like ages without seeing anyone,

"This is more like it" he thought to himself " proper wilderness survival"

He stumbled upon a clearing as it was beginning to get dark and thought it was the perfect place to set up camp. He was an expert at setting up his little tent after all his practise the day before and soon had his stove going and a bottled water filled kettle boiling ready to make some tea, the weather turned pretty rough pretty quickly and it started pouring rain before Matt had even finished his drink so he hurriedly packed everything away, got into his sleeping bag and wiggled his way into the bivvy tent.

"Well i wanted a change" Matt thought to himself as the rain battered against the fabric above his head but if he was honest this wasn't that bad, the sleeping bag and tent did exactly what they were supposed to and kept him warm and dry and the sheer exhaustion of his days exertion combined with the rhythmic smacks of the rain actually lulled him off to sleep. 

He woke up in darkness, his phone said it was 2am and that he had 1% battery left, the one gadget he forgot to bring was something to charge it, it didn't matter, the whole point of this trip was to get away and his phone was part of the problem so he put it in his bag and settled back down to sleep.

He needed to pee

Grudgingly Matt shuffled out of his sleeping bag and into the cold night, at least the rain had stopped, he'd watched enough survival clips to know not to pee near his tent so took off to find a suitable spot. Matt had never seen the moon as bright as it seemed just now and the stars, oh wow the stars, he couldn't help himself but stare at them in awe, right up to the point he ran out of ground to walk on and tumbled over the edge of a cliff.

Matt came to shivering and in pain, he remembered falling forward and, vaguely, landing. He went to stand up but as soon as he moved, his leg screamed in agony, he couldn't remember being able to bend his leg that way before. This wasn't good.  

"HEEELLLLPPPPP" Matt screamed but deep down he knew no one could hear him,he had purposely and in hindsight stupidly went as far away from the path as possible. He tried to stand again but his knee screamed again and he passed out in pain. He didn't know how long he was out for but it was now daylight but the warmth of the sun gave him little comfort. He could make out his surroundings now, he was halfway down (or halfway up depending on your optimism) a cliff face overlooking a valley. How could he be so stupid,who falls off a cliff going for a pee, which incidentally he appeared to not need anymore but he tried not to think about that. He spent the day in and out of consciousness as the pain in his leg kept reminding him of its existence. At one point he was sure he heard a helicopter but couldn't be sure how far away it was and didn't have the energy to wave it down even if it did fly past.

The night brought back the cold and with it the shivering which of course made his leg ache, he didn't know how or even if he was going to survive this but as the sun rose over the mountains the next morning Matt couldnt help but appreciate the irony of his situation

" I wanted to be by myself" he laughed "I wanted a challenge, I wanted to get out of my comfort zone! Mission accomplished"

"Well" he thought " if i'm going to die then at least there are worse places to do it" 

He had to admit the view from his apparent final resting place was spectacular. The sun was rising into a cloudless blue sky and all he could see was mountaintops and patches of thick forest. Just then he heard a thump, next to him was a coil of rope, he looked up and saw,looking over the edge of a the cliff, a face

"You ok down there?"

Matt looked back at the view in front of him and cried.