It breaks your heart going up, and your neck going down.
This is what they say about St. Helena’s “Jacob’s Ladder”, an aged stone stairway hewed into the rock of the amphitheater that surrounds the colourful little chocolate-box town of Jamestown in the valley. The residents themselves make the climb daily, as it provides the most direct route from point A to point B, and the record for running up those 600+ steps? 5 minutes.
Our Hotel Director did it in 8.
I, obviously, did not run.
It took me 45 minutes to hike up the 687 or so steps to the top. I took in sections of 50, pausing at the end of every section to take some pictures, gulp some water and often sit down at let my knees recover from the climb. Keep in mind that this was in direct sunlight at 1 in the afternoon. While it wasn’t blistering hot like it was in previous ports, it was definitely warm, the last thing I needed was a case of sunstroke in the middle of a steep staircase. It was either keep going up or admit defeat and face the climb down from the halfway point, and I was not going to let a bunch of stairs beat me.
For those of you going ‘but Shaughnessy’s a dancer’, let me remind you that the breath and muscle control required for dancing is totally different than that required for running or climbing. The climb to the top was the easy part believe it or not, it was the descent that slaughtered me (metaphorically speaking obviously). When I stepped off the last stair and back onto flat ground my legs almost gave out from under me I was shaking so badly. Even my arms felt like jelly. But I now have a certificate that assures that I have in fact completed the insane climb up and down.
The next morning of course, the familiar ache lanced through every muscle in my body. In some ways it’s like an old friend, although I’ve not felt it since my jazz dancing days, it means I’ve worked hard is all. Thing is, I know it will be worse tomorrow. Third day after any kind of excursion the muscle stiffness is always the worst – or at least that’s how it’s always been for me.
I will say though, the various views from the top of those 687 steps? And the sense of accomplishment when I crested that last stair…that was totally worth it.