Sokeh's Ridge

Sokeh's Rock (Picture taken from Sokeh's Ridge)


The airport and shipyard


Looking over the edge...


That is me standing right at the edge of the rock...just enjoying the view


And me again....


Mitch on the top of the light tower thing


Fishing boats...with the reef in the background


Mitch


Looking back towards Sokeh's Ridge


I had to put this picture in...I really like it...he is just looking out at the island and the ocean

Friday:

I was up rather early Friday morning; I haven’t really got a clue what exactly I was doing. I wasn’t sure if they guys were seriously going to want to climb Sokeh’s Rock, I mean it is a hard climb up there…and we would have to walk to the island, which actually takes a long time. So I went down to the office to see what the Pastor’s number was and then I went back up to the apartment, I was trying to decide if I should call them when I heard a commotion outside. I looked out and there were the boys. I left the door open and went to get some Neosporin so that I could clean up the cuts on my feet. When the guys came through the door they looked like they were still asleep. In reality what really happened was that for breakfast they had consumed about 3 bowls of pure sugar cereal each. That type of cereal makes small children hyper, but that much sugar just drains the energy from adults. So they just sat on the couch and groaned. They said that they would have to wait a little bit before they climbed Sokeh’s rock, and asked if we could watch the movie they brought (how they got that movie is actually a relatively long story, one that I will not tell). The movie was mission impossible III…it was a pretty good movie I guess. And after it was over they decided that they were somewhat more in the mood to go hike up a rock. So I had to go and get ready…I have learned from past hiking trips that it is better to be prepared, so in my camelbak I had a headlamp, a small first aid kit, a bag of peanuts, a granola bar, water, my camera and keys. I put on some sun block and told the guys that they should too…
Finally we were off, now the walk to Sokeh’s rock takes a really long time. Sokeh’s is actually an island, that has been connected to the main island by a bridge. For some reason I had forgotten about how long of a walk it actually was…we walked along the side of the road for a really long time…we crossed the bridge and headed through the small little village that is nestled at the bottom of Sokeh’s Ride/Rock. Up ahead we saw some Jehovah witnesses coming out of a house…Mitch wanted to talk to them so we stopped for a bit. The guys were really nice and they thought that all three of us were from Kosrae, I didn’t bother correcting them, cause I figured that they didn’t really need to know. I was amazed to find out that they actually knew the language, the guy’s house that they were just at camp out and asked where we were going, we told them that we were heading to Sokeh’s Rock, they told us to hop in and they’d drive us there…since they were going that way. I wasn’t quite sure about this arrangement…but I figured that Jay looked like he could tear them in half in a matter of seconds if they tried anything…so I didn’t worry about. It was actually nice to have a ride, we got to the trail head in a matter of minutes instead of having to walk for 45 extra minutes. The guys who gave us a ride wanted to know if we knew our way, I assured them that I had been there before and that we would be alright.
The hike up was to tell the truth not bad, rather slippery in flip flops, but not bad. I was a little out of shape, but we had a lot of fun following the trail. It took about 30-45 minutes to climb to where the actual rock started. At which point I took off my flip flops and told the guys that they had to at all times be holding on to something. I led the way up the first section that is a mass of vines, roots, and trees. You had to climb up on section, squeeze between the rock and a tree and then climb up a slippery rock by sticking your fingers into small openings in the rock. If you fell from that position you wouldn’t stop for a good 40ft. Hence why you are always holding on to something at all times. Once at the top of that I waited for Jay to climb up and we rested while Mitch climbed up. The next challenge awaited us…it was actually a very windy day…and as the wind rushed around the rock it created a type of wind tunnel…but about 10 feet up, the wind died down a bit and the climb was easier. Jay was such a trooper; he tried to climb up, but decided better of it because of his broken toe. Mitch was already almost to the top, once past the beginning the climb is relatively easy, you have the rock to hold on to with one hand and a pipe bolted into the side of the rock to grab a hold of if there are no good hand holds around. At the top I tromped over to where Mitch was and handed him my camera, I told him that if he wanted pictures he had better start taking them. We walked around through the small little trees and through the pineapple plants to the front part of the rock. There the ocean stretched out before us, and once again I was awed by the site. I love it up there; I could stay up at the top of that rock for a really long time, just enjoying the breeze and the view. It is actually my favorite spot on the island, you can see everything up there and you are able to just able to sit and relax and look at the beauty around you.
After taking lots of pictures and climbing the small light tower up there…Mitch and I decided that we should head back down to where Jay was. I decided to eat a snack first, I knew how tired you get from the climb, and the last thing you want to be is light headed on the way down…I offered Mitch some peanuts and then we headed back. Mitch wanted me to go first and I told him that going down was actually easier then going up, I could tell by his face that he didn’t believe me. For those that have never climbed Sokeh’s rock you will just have to take my word for it, the climb down is very easy. I got down in probably 10 minutes or so…I talked with Jay as we waited for Mitch to get down, I climbed down really fast, I didn’t pause much…so he was still far up there.
I took video of Mitch climbing down the rock, I found it rather hysterical that he didn’t like being videoed. I suppose that I don’t think much about it, I’m used to cameras…I talked to Jay while we waited for Mitch to make it down in one piece. I asked him how his toe was doing and gave him more tape, so that he could tape his toe again. When Mitch stepped foot on the ground, we climbed up to where Jay was sitting and talked for a while, just looking out at the view and just having a nice time. But soon it was time to head back down, unless we wanted to get caught in the dark, which none of us wanted all that much.
The climb down wasn’t that hard either, you had to watch your step and make sure that the next rock you stepped on was sturdy, but other then that everything was fine…Mitch’s empty water bottle swung back and forth from my camelbak, but I told him that I didn’t mind, after all it was empty. Once we got down to the road we had to walk fast, for it was almost sunset. There were plenty of things to see and random people to talk to. We talked to a guy who had graduated from Pohnpei SDA School and we talked to some little kids. But we always kept walking.
We made it back to the school in time to see all the SM’s leave for vespers, none of us were in the shape to go anywhere…I asked if the guys were hungry, I already knew the answer to that one, but I thought that I should at least ask. I decided that we would have spaghetti, so I went to work, while the guys sat on the couch and talked to Marla. She had been sick all week long; we had missed her on all of our expeditions into the wilds of Pohnpei. I dropped a spoon, which then made Mitch want to know if he could help, I told him that I wouldn’t mind the help. He helped me finish making the spaghetti sauce, while I put the veggies on to cook. It didn’t take too awfully long before the pasta sauce was done, and then the pasta and veggies were done. It is easy to be really hungry after being in the outdoors all day long. Jay and Marla did dishes after supper, at least some of them.
I don’t recall what we did the rest of the evening, we probably just talked about different things.