A walk of Epic Proportions
I just hiked 27-28 miles this weekend.....
So my friends and I decided to go on a crazy adventure and walk to High Cliff State Park (which is about 12 miles from campus) and camp the night.
We set off on this crazy excurtion about 10:30 saturday morning and took a stroll down college avenue right through Oktober fest and got many a strange look. We had good weather for most of the way stopping a few places to rest our bags and snack and then the typhoon hit a little over half way there. Lucky we had panchos. They covered out gear well enough but most of us were soaked from the waist down. The thunder, lightning, gale force winds, and sheets of water only lasted a good 20 min luckly. Then we had a spot of good weather in which to dry off in.
We made it a good hour from the park before we watched the next storm thunder across the lake towards us at alaming speeds. However, we managed to reattach our ponchos in time and we seemed to only get the edge of the storm so we didn't get drenched like the first one.
Upon arrival at the park we purchaced our sites and a bit of firewood and set off towards our destination. Little did we know our site just so happened to be at the completely other side of the park and as such added another mile or mile and a half to our journey....up hill (they don't call it high cliff for nothing)
luckly some nice laydies drove by and offered to take our wood up to our site. There is NO way we would have made it otherwise that was too much wood for ANY group of hikers to carry. We managed to make it up to the site as the sun was setting and quickly set up camp as the darkness fell upon us. We enjoyed a hearty meal of sasages and meals cooked in tin for which worked quite well. We ate our fill then roasted marshmellows. After clean up we sat around for a bit enjoying the fire then wondered off to our tents.
In the morning we cooked a grand breakfast of canned oranges and oatmeal and sasages. Then took down the site and packed everything up. we were ready to set out at about 10 but for some reason didn't leave until about 10:45. The march back down the hill was much easier than the treck up had been at the end of the day the day before. We stopped off at the front office to refill out waters before setting off.
Today was much more pleasant then the day before. The sun smiled on us (possibly a little too much) I managed to get myself sunburned (woo....only I can get sunburned in october) and we managed to make pretty good time. The stretch across along the highway was a bit long. we took a break at a local golf course the walked a good mile before getting onto the high way where we couldn't really take another break until we reached the other end of lake winabego (sp?) we probably managed a good 3 miles before we got another break. that was extremely painful on the back.
When we reached the lake we bought some apples and rasberries at a neaby fruit stand and ate a nice little meal of fruit, cheese, crackers, and bread. Then began the last 4 miles to campus. Those were the LONGEST 4 miles of my LIFE. I never thought my entire body could hurt so much. I was going strong until those last 4 miles. They were tough, but i made it and I am stonger for it :P
I am just extremely glad to be back here and have about 40 pounds lifted from my shoulders. My feet, shoulders, back, and legs feel like they are going to desert the rest of my body, but other then that (and the sunburn) i'm feeling quite well. It feels nice to know i can accomplish something like that relatively unscathed. We'll see how I feel in the morning, but all in all is was quite a fantastic weekend. Now i need to get to all that homework i should have done before this adventure :)
Hope you all had an exciting weekend as well!
So my friends and I decided to go on a crazy adventure and walk to High Cliff State Park (which is about 12 miles from campus) and camp the night.
We set off on this crazy excurtion about 10:30 saturday morning and took a stroll down college avenue right through Oktober fest and got many a strange look. We had good weather for most of the way stopping a few places to rest our bags and snack and then the typhoon hit a little over half way there. Lucky we had panchos. They covered out gear well enough but most of us were soaked from the waist down. The thunder, lightning, gale force winds, and sheets of water only lasted a good 20 min luckly. Then we had a spot of good weather in which to dry off in.
We made it a good hour from the park before we watched the next storm thunder across the lake towards us at alaming speeds. However, we managed to reattach our ponchos in time and we seemed to only get the edge of the storm so we didn't get drenched like the first one.
Upon arrival at the park we purchaced our sites and a bit of firewood and set off towards our destination. Little did we know our site just so happened to be at the completely other side of the park and as such added another mile or mile and a half to our journey....up hill (they don't call it high cliff for nothing)
luckly some nice laydies drove by and offered to take our wood up to our site. There is NO way we would have made it otherwise that was too much wood for ANY group of hikers to carry. We managed to make it up to the site as the sun was setting and quickly set up camp as the darkness fell upon us. We enjoyed a hearty meal of sasages and meals cooked in tin for which worked quite well. We ate our fill then roasted marshmellows. After clean up we sat around for a bit enjoying the fire then wondered off to our tents.
In the morning we cooked a grand breakfast of canned oranges and oatmeal and sasages. Then took down the site and packed everything up. we were ready to set out at about 10 but for some reason didn't leave until about 10:45. The march back down the hill was much easier than the treck up had been at the end of the day the day before. We stopped off at the front office to refill out waters before setting off.
Today was much more pleasant then the day before. The sun smiled on us (possibly a little too much) I managed to get myself sunburned (woo....only I can get sunburned in october) and we managed to make pretty good time. The stretch across along the highway was a bit long. we took a break at a local golf course the walked a good mile before getting onto the high way where we couldn't really take another break until we reached the other end of lake winabego (sp?) we probably managed a good 3 miles before we got another break. that was extremely painful on the back.
When we reached the lake we bought some apples and rasberries at a neaby fruit stand and ate a nice little meal of fruit, cheese, crackers, and bread. Then began the last 4 miles to campus. Those were the LONGEST 4 miles of my LIFE. I never thought my entire body could hurt so much. I was going strong until those last 4 miles. They were tough, but i made it and I am stonger for it :P
I am just extremely glad to be back here and have about 40 pounds lifted from my shoulders. My feet, shoulders, back, and legs feel like they are going to desert the rest of my body, but other then that (and the sunburn) i'm feeling quite well. It feels nice to know i can accomplish something like that relatively unscathed. We'll see how I feel in the morning, but all in all is was quite a fantastic weekend. Now i need to get to all that homework i should have done before this adventure :)
Hope you all had an exciting weekend as well!