When I got to Holden Village last week, after the shock and awe of the beauty of the mountains, I was struck by one thing: how very UNPREPARED I was! I didn't do any sort of exercise to get ready for the higher elevation or steep climbs. I also didn't pack the right kind of footwear!
Day one we met some friends who invited us along with them on a hike Sunday morning. A 9mi roundtrip, "moderate" hike at 3900ft. My first instinct was to say no. There was no way my first hike was going to be a long one. I needed to start simple, with one of the 1-2mi hikes. Acclimate myself to the elevation, etc. But, not wanting to be left out, I agreed to go along, despite my better judgement.
It started off just fine. I was keeping up and feeling good. For the first 30min. The next 30min were alright. But, I was still feeling ok. And then the last leg of the hike-- up, up, and more up. We'd been warned by some other hikers that it was coming. And it was as rough as they'd said. By the time we finally got to Hart Lake, 2.5hrs after we began, we were super psyched to see that lake.
I whipped my shoes off and stuck my aching, hot feet in the icy mountain lake waters. And then we laid back, had some snacks (no lunch, because we stupidly forgot to pack them!), and rested. But eventually we had to pack up and ready ourselves for the long hike back.
I whipped my shoes off and stuck my aching, hot feet in the icy mountain lake waters. And then we laid back, had some snacks (no lunch, because we stupidly forgot to pack them!), and rested. But eventually we had to pack up and ready ourselves for the long hike back.
And the return trip was even worse. Though much more of it was downhill, my body was exhausted and I just couldn't keep pace with the group. Emmy kept me company at the back of the pack. I started to notice that I was stumbling more-- because I was tired, and because the sole of my left shoe was starting to come undone. And then I started to notice soreness on my heels. Ugh, blisters. But, I powered through. Hungry, thirsty... I kept going.
When we finally arrived at the trail head, I couldn't remember being more pleased to be anywhere! I had survived!
Unfortunately, the hike left me with a HUGE (and somewhat painful) blood blister on my left foot. Though I woke up the next day feeling good (not sore, like a couple of my friends), my hiking days were done because of that blister. No way getting around it. [sigh] Bummer...
But hey, I did it!
But hey, I did it!