Day 3
And Day 2 recap:
Yesterday I did what I said, I grabbed my new boots and loaded up a daypack. I knew I wasn't going to get lost or be out long enough to need food, so I just filled my new Camelbak with water and went to it.
First, however, I grabbed a fleece and added some weight to the pack to make it 20 lbs. and started walking. Our dog was so excited when I started getting ready, I took her with me. So, my 2 mile walk that should have taken 30-45 minutes ended up taking over an hour. It turned out pretty good. We mainly walked on the street so there was nothing really challenging as far as elevation or tricky footing. Afterwards, I jumped in the Jeep and drove the same route just to be sure of my mileage. Yep, 2 miles. Man, that's a long way from 10 miles...
So, today, I did the same thing: had the 20 lbs. pack and took off down the same route. I ended up taking a longer route just to add some miles. When I drove it on Tuesday, I thought is was 5 miles, but I double-checked today and it's just 3.5 miles. Hey, that's better than only 2! As I was walking along, I started to feel the rain. The forecast called for scattered thunderstorms for the entire week, but as the forecast was the same last week and didn't rain at all, I just took off in some cotton shorts and a performance T and planned on dealing with whatever happened. Well, it did rain. It started with the light sprinkle and then came the fat, drenching drops. It wasn't all that bothersome and as I came to the end of yesterday's route, I made the decision to keep going. After all, I was as wet as I was going to get. So, I trekked on through the rain with my toes nice and toasty. The boots have, after all, a Gore-tex membrane to keep the wet out and the warm in. Have I mentioned I love my new boots? Yeah, they're the best.
The rest of me was drenched, but I didn't mind. It reminded me of hiking the Ozark Highlands Trail on Spring Break my senior year. We hiked a 55 mile section from parking lot to parking lot, basically. It was day 3 when the rain came. Over halfway through the day (maybe 5-6 miles down the trail) when the rain started. We hiked through the mud and ended the day in a shelter that was carved out of the side of the mountain. Around the turn of the 19th century, they carved out the stone and shaped what they carved out into bricks and put them around the outside of the shelter stacked to meet the celing with two spaces for doors. It was just amazing sitting there on the floor of that shelter listening to the rain outside. Ahh, nostalgia.
But at the end of this hike, I was able to come home, take off my wet clothes and jump into a nice, hot shower. I finished the 3.5 miles in in just 65 minutes. That's better. I'm thinking about either doing that same route the next couple of days, or heading to the Ozarks Greenway Trail
that starts just south of where we live. That trail is 5 miles one way and I would have to go all the way down and back. I might leave that for this weekend or next week... Get into shape a little more, you know?
Yesterday I did what I said, I grabbed my new boots and loaded up a daypack. I knew I wasn't going to get lost or be out long enough to need food, so I just filled my new Camelbak with water and went to it.
First, however, I grabbed a fleece and added some weight to the pack to make it 20 lbs. and started walking. Our dog was so excited when I started getting ready, I took her with me. So, my 2 mile walk that should have taken 30-45 minutes ended up taking over an hour. It turned out pretty good. We mainly walked on the street so there was nothing really challenging as far as elevation or tricky footing. Afterwards, I jumped in the Jeep and drove the same route just to be sure of my mileage. Yep, 2 miles. Man, that's a long way from 10 miles...
So, today, I did the same thing: had the 20 lbs. pack and took off down the same route. I ended up taking a longer route just to add some miles. When I drove it on Tuesday, I thought is was 5 miles, but I double-checked today and it's just 3.5 miles. Hey, that's better than only 2! As I was walking along, I started to feel the rain. The forecast called for scattered thunderstorms for the entire week, but as the forecast was the same last week and didn't rain at all, I just took off in some cotton shorts and a performance T and planned on dealing with whatever happened. Well, it did rain. It started with the light sprinkle and then came the fat, drenching drops. It wasn't all that bothersome and as I came to the end of yesterday's route, I made the decision to keep going. After all, I was as wet as I was going to get. So, I trekked on through the rain with my toes nice and toasty. The boots have, after all, a Gore-tex membrane to keep the wet out and the warm in. Have I mentioned I love my new boots? Yeah, they're the best.
The rest of me was drenched, but I didn't mind. It reminded me of hiking the Ozark Highlands Trail on Spring Break my senior year. We hiked a 55 mile section from parking lot to parking lot, basically. It was day 3 when the rain came. Over halfway through the day (maybe 5-6 miles down the trail) when the rain started. We hiked through the mud and ended the day in a shelter that was carved out of the side of the mountain. Around the turn of the 19th century, they carved out the stone and shaped what they carved out into bricks and put them around the outside of the shelter stacked to meet the celing with two spaces for doors. It was just amazing sitting there on the floor of that shelter listening to the rain outside. Ahh, nostalgia.
But at the end of this hike, I was able to come home, take off my wet clothes and jump into a nice, hot shower. I finished the 3.5 miles in in just 65 minutes. That's better. I'm thinking about either doing that same route the next couple of days, or heading to the Ozarks Greenway Trail
that starts just south of where we live. That trail is 5 miles one way and I would have to go all the way down and back. I might leave that for this weekend or next week... Get into shape a little more, you know?
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home