Hike from Hell: Saut D'eau Bay

Have you ever seen a hill so steep it looks more like a concrete ladder? I have. In fact, I saw several.
I did my first "challenging" hike today. And let's just say I will not be doing it again. Nor any hike rated as "challenging". Hell, I'm not even sure I want to do an "easy" hike at this point.
I'm talking about Saut D'eau Bay.

Opinions differ on the intensity of this hike. I went into it thinking it was a level 5. Then I saw on a hiking website that it's a level 6. When I got home, I found out it's rated as a level 7 or 8 by other groups.
Had I known this, I would not have gone.
Anyway, I kept pronouncing it as "sort doo" but it's actually pronounced as "sho dough"...go figure.
Now, I saw the hike was rated as challenging but I went on Google and looked up the distance. Google told me the walk from Saddle Road to the start of the actual hike trail was just about 5 kilometres. Google also told me that the trail itself was 8500 ft long, approximately 2.5 kilometres.

So all in all, to get to the Bay would be just over 7.5 kilometres and another 7.5 kilometres to get back.
I got all in my glee. 7.5k is suckeye, I said to myself...ignorantly.
But what Google didn't tell me was the ENTIRE 5 kilometres to the start of the trail were all uphill.
Allyuh, I not talking about any normal hills here inno.
Words cannot describe the steepness of the hills of Paramin.
But I will try.
They're so steep, you feel like you're doing lunges all the way up.
They're so steep you have to engage all your muscles to keep from falling backwards on the way up and from falling forwards on the way down.
They're so steep, the taxis that work the area are 4X4 jeeps. Because normal vehicles struggle going up.
They're so steep, if you dropped an apple at the top, it would probably roll for an hour before it came to a stop. Hell if you slipped and fell, you would probably roll for an hour before coming to a stop.
The hills are so steep...well you get the idea.
So whereas I usually take 45 minutes to do a 5k, this 5 kilometre stretch took me over two hours.
I was relieved to see that the 2.5 kilometre trail to the beach was all downhill. But in the world of hiking...what goes down must come up.
Even though the hills were a challenge, coming back up the trail was the WORST experience of my life.
Think of the worst pain you can imagine. Childbirth? Well, coming up the trail was worse than that. I'd rather give birth to 7.5 big headed babies than to ever do that hike again.
At least on the hills, there were no bachacs, mosquitoes and other critters nibbling at my body parts. I think I may have chikungunya now.
I had to stop so many times coming back up the trail, I thought it would be nightfall before I got out.
To make matters worse, rain began to fall making the already brutal trail muddy and slippery.
There's a sign letting you know when you've reached about halfway of the trail. It took forever to get to it.

I legit reached a point where I did not want to go any further and I enquired from the hike leader if we could call the police to airlift me out of the forest.  I was dead serious too. I even cried a bit, I was so frustrated.
But shout out to Shaun Mungal of Hike Life Adventures for being the most understanding, professional and generous hike leader I've ever hiked with.
The dude waited with me each time I stopped, never showed any annoyance that I was taking too long, gave me all his water when mine ran out and kept motivating me to continue.
The group was really nice too, they shared their fruits with me because I stupidly thought 7.5k was suckeye and I wouldn't need to refuel so I didn't walk with anything.

Eventually, we made it back out of the trail and the challenge began to get back down those hills. Going down them really took a toll on my knees.
I was determined to make it all the way back down because I felt like if I didn't then I wouldn't have really completed the challenge.
But halfway down and my legs were buckling with every step. And sometimes you just have to listen to what your body is telling you.
Mine was telling me it had had enough.
So we flagged down a passing van and the driver was kind enough to let us ride in the tray for little way down the hill. He wasn't going our way so we came out and walked a little over half a mile again before we got one of those 4x4 jeep taxis I mentioned earlier, which took us the rest of the way.
What an experience!
On the positive side, Paramin people are very friendly. Everyone called out to us to say good morning and encourage us on our way. I can't remember the last time I saw a community where people had their doors open and came out to say hello to passing strangers.
The trek came up to just over 7 miles. Not including the extra distance we walked after we got out the van.
The entire thing would have been about 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) but we were only able to complete about 12.9  kilometres (8 miles) altogether.

I learned an important lesson today.
Not every 5k is equal. 5 kilometres of hills are not the same as 5 kilometres of level road. And the intensity of a hike has nothing to do with the distance.
While I admit I was not fit enough or prepared enough for this hike, I am glad I did it and proud that I made it as far as I did.
I should probably throw in some actual useful information about Saut D'eau Bay here for anyone crazy enough to try it.
A lot of people start from the trail itself, eliminating that 5 kilometres of hills I mentioned. Coming up the trail is still gonna be difficult though...I don't care what your fitness level is. You're going to feel it.
The highlight of getting to the Bay is seeing the historical statue of the patron saint Cion believed to watch over fishermen and protect them on their journey on the seas.

There is a small stream nearby with a small pool if you want to dip in some freshwater and a small waterfall across a rocky area but not much to see there. The views from the hills are great. Here are some of the images I took.

   

    


  

          

Length: Can't say for sure as we didn't complete the whole thing. But the trail itself is 8500 ft (2.5 k/1.5 miles)
Terrain: Paved, extremely hilly road leading to rocky, dirt trail through a densely forested area. Trees have fallen along the way so there are logs you must climb over. 
Time: Took me 7 hours to get there and halfway back again. I'm not even going to venture a guess at how long it would take a fitter person. Just know that this seven hours was filled with numerous rest breaks, very slow walking and, at times, limping.

Points to note: This ain't no level 5 hike. This hike ain't no joke. Armed with that knowledge, if you decide to do it, may God be with you. 

Got any ideas of scenic places to walk or hike to? Comment any suggestions down below!