Tyler and I had a quick breakfast and hit the trail. I confessed to him that the 16 miles we were
to cover today would be a new backpack record for me (previous 13 mi). This seemed to worry him a bit more than I
expected. I wanted him to know that we
were both venturing to new territory together, but I think he took it as “Oh
my! She’s never even gone this far and
I’M going to try to…” My friends seem to
think I’m the Energizer Bunny, but really, I get tired just like they do, I may
just be better at telling that fatigue to shut up.
We took in a series of beautiful views over sandstone
cliffs. That never got old. Softer rock within these majestic formations
had washed away over the years, leaving only the sturdiest rock behind. Someday they will cease to exist
altogether. That is pretty cool and sad
to think about.
What did get old, however, were the miles of pine forest we
trudged through. By mile 5, I seemed to
be headed for a bonk, not because I was depleted physically, but mentally, I
admit it was a bore compared to my other trips, ones always in the
mountains. I joked that I was
“sleepwalking on the trail”. Putting my
body into auto-pilot, I completely zoned out.
It is a pretty comfortable place to be seeing as I could ignore the fact
my feet hurt.
It was neat to see the next towering cliff from a
distance. Then when we hiked up to the
top of it, we sort of knew what the formations beneath our feet were like. I never knew if the slab of rock I was
perched on was hollow. It was exhilarating and terrifying to think about as I stood there, 100 ft. above the
glittery blue waters of Lake Superior.
In the time it took us to go 12 miles yesterday, we
completed the 16 miles today. They
seemed to pass much slower though.
Apparently, the key to me not mentally bonking and being a total
crankypants is a lot of food. Yay
Lara Bars!
5 comments:
What an epic hike! THe pics are amazing.
Oh my gosh, that is just gorgeous scenery! I love anything water, living land-locked and all. So pretty! Great job on the 16-miler hike PR, too. Woohoo! :)
So pretty! I hear what you're saying on long hikes of desolation. When we did the tour du mont blanc, almost all of it was gorgeous and varying, but there were a couple of miles that felt like I was just trudging through. I always tell myself that it's worth it, and what else would I rather be doing? I could be sitting on the couch complaining of boredom there. Exploring is so fun!
Awesome pics! I wanna hike with you guys in the warm weather!! Hope you're having a blast (for some reason, I got really, really hungry while reading your post.)
Have fun,
Fantastic hike and fantastic pictures.
Love, love Lara Bars especially lemon flavor. :)
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