WE MADE IT! We did the 20 miles to Lake Morena, barely alive.
Left Scout and Frodo's at 6:00am with 6 liters of water.
We didn't really consider the fact that we would need to be carrying a lot of extra water because it is a dry year.... 6 liters of water weighs over 13lbs.
My base pack weight (my pack weight before food & water) came in at 12ish pounds but with 6 liters of water and my food bag... I was carrying MUCH more.
The only words to describe today: brutal. Hot. Heavy. Or in the words of Ben - "punishing."
Some brief tidbits:
I don't think I can get tired of Ritz Cheese Cracker Sandwiches.
A few hours in, our feet already looked like we'd been hiking for days.
I can't believe we made it 20 miles, none of us had ever walked that far...
Back of knee sunburn.
We rolled into Lake Morena Campground at 8:00pm and it was dark. Walking on pavement after what our feet had gone through was HELL. We had to hunt for the "office" and find a spot in the dark - delusional from cumulative lack of sleep.
Got in my sleeping bag with the absolute filthiest feet I've ever had.
Words can't describe how demanding yesterday was... I know some of you (past hikers, fit humans) are thinking "pshh - I did that amount of miles by noon." But for us, it was grueling. Every fiber in my body was screaming at me. Neck, back, shoulders, knees, feet (duh) and ankles.
No rattlesnakes - yet. Although we did run into a couple of hikers that came up behind us at lunch and said they just nearly ran into 2 of them! So... We had just missed meeting out first snake.
It's gorgeous out here - I love the desert!
In summary - I think that day was the most physically challenging thing I've ever done (so far). I know there will be tougher days ahead on the trail but this may rank as one of the toughest, because we basically started freshly out of shape. We will only get stronger and tougher from here, right?!?!
Spotty and unreliable service. And I'm using the blogger app and it doesn't let me insert photos between text and instead forces me to dump them all at the end of the end of the post. So the blog will become slightly less polished.
8 comments:
Congratulations on your first day on trail! We'll be watching and cheering you on from Portland. We'll be on trail for hikers beginning mid-July.
wow. i can't fathom your physical sensations.... i think maybe if i was with you guys i'd have a migraine every single day. but then maybe once my body acclimated i'd never have one again. anyway........... i'm feverishly checking all 3 blogs at every opportunity. tell angela i love her sound clips. the desert is beautiful. rattlesnakes.... umm.... please name them all, snakes need trail names too
Brian-Portland,OR-Wow! 20 miles that is so amazing Thyra, Ben,and Angela. I'm sure it will get easier. I ran 3.1 miles today. I'm pretty slow these days. It took over 31 minutes. I had some pain today indoors. I cut my finger on a Ninja Blender. They are sharp. I learned the hard way. Kim got first place in a 5 mile run in her age group. It took her 42 minutes. I hope your Sunday hiking was better on your bodies. Take care. We are all proud of you three.
20 miles is very impressive for the first day regardless of conditioning which you can't really get except by actually hiking. You will be monsters soon.
I have been doing little 5-6 mile day hikes with my dogs lately and it gets painful on my feet, but then I'm 58 and they have gotten pretty beat up over the years. Lately I started doing some ibuprofen before I set out and it helps a lot.
I am stoked for your journey and will enjoy the vicarious ride. Thanks for blogging it!
Brian-portland, or----good morning! Have fun on your journey today!
Hmmm maybe you should work up to 20 mile days? Don't kill yourself the first day or first week, you've got plenty of time to catch up on miles. It's a long endurance race. Take good care of those feet :) btw, with those dirty feet, you now know why some bring sleeping socks and pants, cause we know your legs are just as dirty, oh yeah and baby wipes.
Great Job and Congrats on a successful first day. Appreciate you sharing your experiences with us. You have encouraged my daughter and I to strike out on our own PCT adventure 2014. Thoughts are with you on the trail. If you need any mailed Trail Magic, let us know.
Allan- NEW ORLEANS
What a stealth woman you are! Sending love from Portland. Excited about shipping my first package. I wish it could hold a hot tub.
XO
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