5 Peaks challenge: Peak 1 -- North Fortuna
So The Boy and I decided that this fall/winter we're going to do the 5 Peak Challenge, and yesterday we kicked it off by hiking North Fortuna.
I've avoided mountain hikes in the past because I'd get tired way to quickly as soon as I hit even a small incline. But I figured, hey, I've been going to the gym regularly for six months now and feeling much stronger, so that should help. And it definitely did -- I made it up to the summit with only a couple of rest stops, and my legs felt good and strong throughout the hike. Unfortunately, the one thing you can't improve by going to the gym is your heat tolerance.
It didn't actually start to bother me until after we'd come back down the mountain and were more than halfway back to the car. But then we hit this final uphill stretch, not very steep but really long, with no shade at all. The temperature was close to 90F by then, and I faded pretty rapidly. By the time we were approaching the end of the trail, I was all ready to go that's it, I'm done, I'm not moving another step. But The Boy was all, c'mon, you know you'll be really embarrassed if we have to call for a rescue when you're, like, two hundred yards from the parking lot. Which was perfectly true. So I pushed through to the end of the trail, and then The Boy poured about a quart of Gatorade into me and I felt fine again. Lesson learned, though -- next time I'm wearing shorts or lightweight pants instead of jeans and carrying extra water.
But hey, it was still a great hike with awesome scenery, and we have the pics to prove it.
This entry was originally posted at https://marinarusalka.dreamwidth.org/640851.html. You may comment there using OpenID.
I've avoided mountain hikes in the past because I'd get tired way to quickly as soon as I hit even a small incline. But I figured, hey, I've been going to the gym regularly for six months now and feeling much stronger, so that should help. And it definitely did -- I made it up to the summit with only a couple of rest stops, and my legs felt good and strong throughout the hike. Unfortunately, the one thing you can't improve by going to the gym is your heat tolerance.
It didn't actually start to bother me until after we'd come back down the mountain and were more than halfway back to the car. But then we hit this final uphill stretch, not very steep but really long, with no shade at all. The temperature was close to 90F by then, and I faded pretty rapidly. By the time we were approaching the end of the trail, I was all ready to go that's it, I'm done, I'm not moving another step. But The Boy was all, c'mon, you know you'll be really embarrassed if we have to call for a rescue when you're, like, two hundred yards from the parking lot. Which was perfectly true. So I pushed through to the end of the trail, and then The Boy poured about a quart of Gatorade into me and I felt fine again. Lesson learned, though -- next time I'm wearing shorts or lightweight pants instead of jeans and carrying extra water.
But hey, it was still a great hike with awesome scenery, and we have the pics to prove it.
This entry was originally posted at https://marinarusalka.dreamwidth.org/640851.html. You may comment there using OpenID.