Meanwhile they bounded down the same precipice with ease, usually carrying heavy bags full of garden produce, firewood, or even babies. I usually took a "sit and slide" approach, seeing no plausible way to stay on two feet and get down safely. We all spent a lot of time on the ground – me crawling on all fours gazing down in terror over the mountain ledges that would surely end my life, them sitting casually up- mountain taking in the good view and enjoying a smoke. Every step of mine seemed so heavy and clumsy compared to the graceful and light dance they did as they bounced from tone to stone. My friends skittered up and down mountains with ease in their bare feet while I clobbered and hobbled along. But they were no match for these mountains. In preparation for this, I bought the best boots I could afford – stiff and strong, with mean-looking teeth promising plenty of traction. My colleague Dan Jorgensen, who did fieldwork just a few valleys away, calls it "vertical rainforest." It is as rough and steep as any other mountain range, but then it is blanketed with a thick, wet rainforest teeming with painful fire ants, sharp stones, and slick mud. The mountainous interior of New Guinea offers some of the most treacherous hiking challenges in the world.
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