No promises!: I did it!

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

I did it!

I survived all 15 miles of the Western Gate's 2007 Sweat Hike. I tell you - had they been selling t-shirts at the end of the trail, I'd have bought one. As long as it matched my new hiking pants...but more on those later.

I bought a pair of Columbia hiking pants Friday...for $35. I didn't realize how incredibly cheap I've become clothes-wise until I was standing in Academy having the following argument in my head:

"Thirty-five dollars??! For PANTS?!?"
"Well, they are UV-resistant...and you'll get a lot of wear out of them..."
"But really....thirty-five dollars??"
"Look - they zip off into shorts!
"...yeah...."
"Aaaand, they're quick drying! If you want to take a quick dip in the river you'll dry off in no time!"
"Well...yeah..."
"And look at the price tag from Columbia - it's originally SIXTY dollars!"
"Look, I work retail - I know how that price tag crap works. Just shut up - I'll buy the damn pants."

So $37 and change later, I have a pair of pants. On my way out of Academy I immediately called Billy and ranted about my new expensive pants. I ranted about them when I got to work about 45 minutes later. You can bet I was ranting to myself the entire time in between. After I ranted at work, I set the bag down on my desk and started, you know, working. A few moments later I had one of those forehead-slapping Homer Simpson moments. Do you know what size my $35 pants were? Large. I had even tried them on to be sure they fit! LARGE, people! No "extra" anywhere on the label! Anyone care to hazard a guess as to the last time my rear end fit in a size LARGE?! No, nevermind - forget that I asked. I was much happier with my pants after that point. Large!!!

So...Saturday. Billy and I get up, get dressed, and get our stuff together. We're both taking a Camelback-style system, with a 2 liter bladder full of water each. We brought another 2 liters of extra water to refill with - 2 were frozen. We got our not-cotton hiking clothes on (Patagonia underwear is the BOMB, and the sports bra I got for running was ideal for this), grabbed our big wide-brimmed hats, and 2 trekking poles each, then headed out the door. I ran back IN the door a couple times for things I'd forgotten, with much teasing from Billy about making us late. We stopped for breakfast on the way out, at which point Billy realized he had left his WALLET at home. Uh huh. *I* was going to make us late.

We got there about 5-10 minutes late - but someone else pulled up about the same time so we weren't the latest. That makes it a little better. There were 10 of us setting out for this thing. We piled into 3 vehicles, which were all left at various points along the way back. Billy and I left our refill bladders there so we could fill up along the way. We drive to the trail head and all get up and get geared up...packs on, boots tied, bug spray applied, wrist straps on the trekking poles adjusted...let's go!

I'm not going to give a blow-by-blow account of the hike. It would be god-awful boring, and I'd never finish this post. The main reason is that I spent about 90% of the hike staring at the ground immediately in front of me. We weren't running through the woods, but we were moving at a very brisk clip. The trail is cleared, but it's not leveled. There are still root balls and vines and such everywhere. I am probably one of the clumsiest people you will ever meet. Or read, in the case of my blog. Extraordinarily clumsy. Too many sprains to mention; all my wrists and ankles, and even my back at one point. I fall...a lot. I'm no stranger to skinned knees, even at my age. So I was very, VERY certain to pay close attention to the trail - I did NOT want to be carried out of the woods with a broken ankle, thanks very much.

We paused in a few places and I got a good look around, but for the most part, the scenery consisted of my feet, the pine straw, vines, leaves, and branches on the trail, and the back of the boots in front of me. I managed to remain upright and only bled once from a sticker bush that ended up wrapped around my leg. Whoo hoo!

We stopped after the Steep Head for lunch. This was about 7 miles into the hike. I had finished off most of my water by this point, but knew I would be refilling shortly - no biggie. We finished eating and continued up the trail to the first drop-out point, and our refills. We topped off our bladders, MOSTLY.

Christine, the hike leader, asks, "Anyone want to drop out?" "No!!! Let's go!" we all say. We're all still pretty much on top of our game. I know *I* was. Billy asked me how I felt, and I said, "I'm fine now, but then I also enjoy running up to the last 5-10 minutes, so I'm not going to answer now. Ask me again in a few hours." I am wise beyond my years, my friends.

We came to another drop-out point at the 9 mile mark. One person dropped out, but it was planned - she had to work or something...I admit I didn't really pay attention. At that point, I was starting to wear down. We stopped for a break there, but it wasn't going to be long enough to sit down...my feet were starting to get really, really warm (it was past noon by this point) and I wanted to either sit or walk - standing around wasn't doing it for me. We got back on the trail FINALLY, and sucked it up for another 3 miles.

At that point we came to a little creek...I was assured that it is usually MUCH more impressive but thanks to the lack of rain lately it was about 5 feet across and about 6 inches deep. Had I not been sighing out loud at the pleasure of my hot, achy feet in the cool water I'm sure I would have heard them sizzle when I stepped in. That was pure delight. It was so delightful that I pulled everything out of my pockets (knife, chapstick, and inhaler - only the necessities) and eased down onto my butt in the water. Oh...words cannot describe that feeling. Good stuff there, people.

A couple other folks flopped down in the water, too. I saw Christine climb out of the water and very nearly whined out loud, "But I don't WANNA go now..." I got my boots back on and sulked back onto the trail. Christine says, "If we follow the creek, it's only about a half-mile to 87." Now...I'm not a math major, but under normal circumstances I'm not too shabby with basic addition and subtraction. At this point in my day, however, "normal circumstances" no longer applies. I realize that she said it was a half mile to 87 - but in my mind I was thinking it was a half mile to the CARS. If it's only a half mile to the cars THAT way, why the HELL are we walking another three miles?!? I admit that I obsessed over this point for the next 1.3 miles a little bit.

I know it was 1.3 miles because we stopped again...at this point, I was CERTAIN that we were most of the way to the cars. I would have bet my car on it...no more than a half mile to the cars, max. HA! Or not. I was making an angry face because the hose to my water bladder was doing to something funny & I couldn't drink when Christine says, "There's only 1.7 miles to go!" The HELL?! I was sulking over this fact when it finally dawned on me that my hose wasn't acting up - the bladder was empty.

I was crushed. I told Billy that if someone were to ask if I wanted to drop out then, that I'd have said yes. As it was, dropping out was out of the question. I could drop out and sit in the woods, trying to levitate myself out. I could stop walking and make them carry me out. I figured my best course of action was to suck it up and just walk out. Be a grown-up about the whole thing. Bah.

So I did. We made it to the cars, and we followed Christine back to the halfway point to get our cooler and bladders back. We headed home and stopped at a Tom Thumb to get some caffeine...I knew I wasn't dehydrated, but I was DEFINITELY caffeine deficient. I thought my skull was going to split open from the headache. I tossed back about 3/4 of a Vault Zero and felt MUCH better. We stopped at Diary Queen on the way home and I REALLY felt much better. Aah.

I learned a lot from this.

It's too effing hot to be hiking in NW FL after 10AM.
10 people hiking end up in a long line which prevents much conversation. Lots of time in your own head.
People that hike 15 miles a day, every day have my respect. Through-hikers TOTALLY deserve a t-shirt. And a bumper sticker!! Maybe even a key chain.
I can push myself further than I thought.
I can hurt in places I didn't know I had.

There are many other lessons, but none I'll put up in public. Shoo. I'm not going to rule out doing the sweat hike next year...as of now, I say no. I'll probably change my mind next year. We shall see.

posted by Jen @ 9:01 AM

4 Comments:

At 11:08 AM, Dawn Contemplates Life said…

You go girl!!! Never had a doubt. But damn that's a hot time of the day to hike...
At 5:51 PM, Anonymous said…

I'm amazed you found them for that cheap - and that *is* cheap for Columbia gear, because most of it is not under $100.

Oh, and CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
At 9:19 PM, Anonymous said…

Woo-hoo for you! I don't think I could hike 15 miles.

Oh, and I did a search for Patagonia underpants and found their website. Did you know they have a Patagonia moisture-wicking thong? Seriously. How does a thong wick moisture? there's not enough material with which to wick. (say that 3 times fast!)
At 10:11 AM, Anonymous said…

Yup, now you must come do the Breast Cancer 3 Day with me in Dallas. 60 miles in 3 days. You've already done 15 miles in 1 day and that was hiking. 20 miles walking should be a breeze.

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