Four Days Down

The adventurers have had four days on the trail . . . gear ($$$), clothing ($$), food for six weeks ($$) . . . overall experience (PRICELESS). As far as making the grade . . . mindset (C+), sore muscles (B), weather (C), first fall (undetermined, if you fall and nobody sees you did you really fall???), food (B) and participation (A+).

Day 2 was a wet one. Ben said that it rained for most of the day with the hardest rain around lunchtime. Dale said that it rained the better part of the day with breaks in the clouds and temperatures about 70. Either way, the weather was a bit of an issue. The trail becomes an obstacle course when water puddles or runs straight through it like a river. The only way to navigate is to move from side to side stepping on rocks, hoping for solid footing. At one point a bridge set up to cross a “not too deep” riverbed was out so they traversed the water, getting their feet, socks and who knows what else wet. Let’s just say that the next day their shoes were still wet.

Day 3 was another day of sprinkles, for about an hour, combined with cooler temperatures. They were grateful for their new hiking shoes since they allow more air circulation. This year they have gone from hiking boots to shoes that resemble tennis shoes. Their goal was to find shoes that were comfortable that would allow their feet to breath a little. At this point they feel like it was a good choice. The cloud cover cleared a bit so they were able to see better views from the overlooks. This was the second day in a row that they hiked without seeing anyone.

Day 4 yielded the first “reported” fall . . . Dale is fine, but one of his trekking poles needs a doctor’s visit. Ben was pretty funny, giving his Dad a hard time about breaking another pole. Today they were greeted by a resident porcupine at the shelter. Apparently Mr. Porcupine was rustling around in the wood. Dale tossed a stone to rattle the critter enough to encourage it to leave. From the notes at the shelter it appeared that the animal took exception to sharing its space during the night and hikers had to shush it is away. Ben reported that they are also sharing the space with gnats. Sounds like they were going to have a very memorable night!

Overall the guys are slowly getting their head in the hiker mode. This is one that I’ve only read about, but I understand that the hiker’s headset isn’t always easy to achieve. Their muscles are tight and somewhat sore. From what they say it is about normal. The weather, rain and lower temperatures have been a little challenging. In the coming weeks they will certainly have more of both so they are toughing it out for now. The food has been fine with the exception of a broken squirt cheese container in the lunch bag on the very first day out. It that’s the only food issue, then they are doing OK on that front. As for participation, they are doing fine. Both guys are tired but happy! That makes this hike PRICELESS!

Days out: 4
Miles completed: 47.9