Unreliable memories

On a human timescale you might think of a mountain range as something relatively unchanging. And therefore all the more easily fixed definitively in the memory. I find it not so. For starters change creeps in under many guises over the space of a decade or more, and secondly there seems to be nothing that is immune from our ability to be selective both in what we store and the significance we attach to it. 

I have been asked why I would want to walk the same route again. Even if I had stuck diligently to the previous route, after thirteen years, it would still have been an almost wholly new experience. And I knew it would be thus.

I was constantly surprised at how I had confused or misremembered things. Of course there was some familiarity, but it was often somewhat intangible, relating to the feel of a place rather than its details. So "this feels familiar" rather than "this looks familiar".

Distances can become wildly distorted in memory, as they are based on how long we felt it took rather than any objective measurement. If we felt good that day a col might be a short easy climb. While if we were having an energy low, then it could appear to last almost indefinitely.

Similarly the degree to which one remembers a passage as technically challenging or even scary, is hugely dependent on the weather at the time and previous experience. How big one's comfort zone has become hugely changes one's perception of danger and risk. Experience improves our ability to assess those risks and act in a knowledgable but fear-free manner, even under difficult circumstances.

One of the most enjoyable aspect of the entire trip was being in a state of constant surprise and anticipation. And for this reason I have repeated a number of walks I have done in the past. Each one has been a fresh adventure.