Insanity and a mountain!
If you didn't think I was crazy before, you will see/know soon enough how insane I truly am...
I did the HUGE hike at Golden Ears, the one I've been wanting to do for years but I don't think I've ever talked about it on here. Anyway, I did the hike with Coby. I got up and out of bed at 5:30, got ready, scarfed down a high protein/carb cereal, and he picked me up just after 7am. The park didn't open til that time. We got there at 7:30 and took a look at the main sign in the lot which had a map of the trail. It also read (something like)... "This 14 hour hike for EXPERIENCED and PREPARED hikers..." blah blah blah. I'm FAR from being experienced!! I do have a great deal of strength and stamina, where I get that from I'll never know. I knew it was going to be hardcore but I don't think I ever imagined it was going to be like it was. Crazy-insane!! But it was... wow... awesome, beautiful, breathtaking. And I think my senses were off the chart at times, too. Like, he brought some grapefruit juice boxes. It was the same brand/flavor I drink but lately, I hadn't been drinking it cuz I guess I've been sick of it. But I had the box anyway and it was THE BEST TASTING JUICE EVER!!!! I couldn't believe it was the same stuff. After the hike, we got ice cream. Not unusual for me, I think I go to DQ three or four times a week. But again, it was the best that ice cream had ever tasted. Anyway, I get distracted so easily *lol* So we go to the park at 7:30... We completed nearly 11km of the 12km hike which I should include the fact that it is 12km ONE WAY!!! We figured we needed another couple hours just to get to the top where there was this snowy glacier patch. It was pretty cool. And there was also this really neat crater of water that was this phenomenal clear peacock-blueish color. It was a bit grayer and more subdued but still had an amazing teal hue to it. Didn't even attempt going over to it, though. So yeah, damn close to 11km but we turned around at 2pm and it was just the right time, too. Any later and we would've been walking basically in the dark. Darkness rolls in pretty fast here after 7:30 and that's when we finished. So it took EXACTLY 12 hours! Anyway, I can't believe I'm actually on here writing all this crap cuz I'm mighty exhausted and I know if I don't get out of this cross-legged position soon, I'm going to be stuck this way for life. Heh, I'm just whining. I'm not in bad shape right now. A little stiff, a little sore, but doing surprisingly a-okay. I have two average sized blisters on one toe, semi-raw arches (totally wearing the wrong footgear but I knew that going in... it's all I had), got a lump on my right shoulder from my backpack digging in, and a well-bruised knee which I just noticed right now and there's a small spot of blood on it. I knew I twacked it at one point but I didn't think it was that bad. It certainly didn't feel bad walking. There were three parts of the trail that were absolutely horrid...
1) the creek bed - long path with LOTS of hand-sized rocks of various shapes and points. Very awkward to walk on with my lil feet. The walk down was far worse than up.
2) 7.5 - 9.5km stretch - lots of switchbacks which were at a steep incline for me, being so short and all. I found I had to cling and pull myself up a lot. And there were a bunch of insanely large man-made stairs which, no word of a lie, each step was at least 15 inches high. I basically had to crawl up them *lol*
3) last, but certainly not least, there was the scary not-there cougar that I freaked over!! I spotted the phantom cougar on the way down when I was getting delirious and hallucinogenic *roflmao* It turned out to be a cougar-colored tree that had fallen over and, well, it was looking mighty shifty *shakes head*
Actually, I must add the walk down was hard and I knew it would be, but it was much worse than I thought. All this sounds so negative but it really was great!! One of the coolest things for me was when we got close to the end. There were lots of huge rocks that we had to pull ourselves up over, reminded me very much of rock climbing with trying to get the right footing and digging the fingers into the right edges and nooks. Up, down... it was a totally incredible feeling both ways!!!!!!!! But no regrets, all this pain is worth it and I will most likely be feeling it tomorrow. I'll be ka-thudding outta bed for sure. I bet everyone will be laughing at me at work tomorrow. I'll be waddling and flapping around like a penguin, during the moments I actually have to move. Don't care what Sheila says, I'm sitting on my ass for the better part of the day.
So I leave you all with some great photos, although a bit fuzzy cuz I resized them and lost some of the clarity. But I must say, I took some awesome ones for being extremely camera-stupid. I really impressed myself, moreso with this than doing the hike *lol* Mmm, maybe not...
This was taken from inside a rotted out tree. Kinda reminds me of The Ring. Very cool.
I'm not sure what I was trying to take a picture of, to be honest with you. Not fond of this one.
You see, I placed the crappier shots first. I suppose this one's not so bad. I'm liking it the more and more I look at it. The mountains are awesome, though!
This is an okay shot, I took it quite randomly. Not my fave. I think this was taken just after the 10km mark where we sat and had lunch.
I can't quite remember where we were exactly. I'm thinking around the 9.5km mark. On our way back, we got a side view of where he was standing. It was indescribably creepy! There was a sudden drop off and a big portion of the side was cut out underneath... as if the slab we were on was "not supported". Know what I mean? Hard to describe, but it looked neat.
Coby, pointing to the top where we were hoping to get to.
This is Pitt Lake, very pretty. The clouds look pretty amazing in this pic.
End of the trail WAY up there in the upper left corner where the lil glacier is. At one point, we seriously thought we could make it but we made it to a steep, craggly edge... looked down, looked up and said no way. It would've taken nearly two hours to get up that last 1km and much, much longer coming back down. This photo is really deceiving. It looks like you can make it over those few humps and you're there, easy peasy. But that's so not the case. I think I took this photo cuz I really liked how the clouds were beginning to creep over the top (in the center abouts). In person, it looked as if the mountain was starting to smoke. The details are kinda lost in the photo.
Yep, stripped down... I found it to be incredibly hot and there wasn't even a lot of sun shining on us. We had a fair amount of tree cover. I wanted to wear a tank but I had no clue what it was going to be like and I didn't want to wear like five layers of clothing. Now, I'm not sure if I'm still in the delirious stage or not, but I gotta say it... I look "cutesy" like Drew Barrymore in that pic. Chubby apple cheeks, flirty devlish grin... Don't you think??? Maybe not what she looks like now, maybe more when she was a kid *lol* Gah, I love that bra... ;)
This is the winner right here... National Geographic, baby!! The only flaw with this pic is that this is the full size. I accidentally set it to 640x480. I'm quite upset over this. The leaves in the foreground were not intentional but I'm glad they showed up cuz it puts everything in a great perspective!!
I did the HUGE hike at Golden Ears, the one I've been wanting to do for years but I don't think I've ever talked about it on here. Anyway, I did the hike with Coby. I got up and out of bed at 5:30, got ready, scarfed down a high protein/carb cereal, and he picked me up just after 7am. The park didn't open til that time. We got there at 7:30 and took a look at the main sign in the lot which had a map of the trail. It also read (something like)... "This 14 hour hike for EXPERIENCED and PREPARED hikers..." blah blah blah. I'm FAR from being experienced!! I do have a great deal of strength and stamina, where I get that from I'll never know. I knew it was going to be hardcore but I don't think I ever imagined it was going to be like it was. Crazy-insane!! But it was... wow... awesome, beautiful, breathtaking. And I think my senses were off the chart at times, too. Like, he brought some grapefruit juice boxes. It was the same brand/flavor I drink but lately, I hadn't been drinking it cuz I guess I've been sick of it. But I had the box anyway and it was THE BEST TASTING JUICE EVER!!!! I couldn't believe it was the same stuff. After the hike, we got ice cream. Not unusual for me, I think I go to DQ three or four times a week. But again, it was the best that ice cream had ever tasted. Anyway, I get distracted so easily *lol* So we go to the park at 7:30... We completed nearly 11km of the 12km hike which I should include the fact that it is 12km ONE WAY!!! We figured we needed another couple hours just to get to the top where there was this snowy glacier patch. It was pretty cool. And there was also this really neat crater of water that was this phenomenal clear peacock-blueish color. It was a bit grayer and more subdued but still had an amazing teal hue to it. Didn't even attempt going over to it, though. So yeah, damn close to 11km but we turned around at 2pm and it was just the right time, too. Any later and we would've been walking basically in the dark. Darkness rolls in pretty fast here after 7:30 and that's when we finished. So it took EXACTLY 12 hours! Anyway, I can't believe I'm actually on here writing all this crap cuz I'm mighty exhausted and I know if I don't get out of this cross-legged position soon, I'm going to be stuck this way for life. Heh, I'm just whining. I'm not in bad shape right now. A little stiff, a little sore, but doing surprisingly a-okay. I have two average sized blisters on one toe, semi-raw arches (totally wearing the wrong footgear but I knew that going in... it's all I had), got a lump on my right shoulder from my backpack digging in, and a well-bruised knee which I just noticed right now and there's a small spot of blood on it. I knew I twacked it at one point but I didn't think it was that bad. It certainly didn't feel bad walking. There were three parts of the trail that were absolutely horrid...
1) the creek bed - long path with LOTS of hand-sized rocks of various shapes and points. Very awkward to walk on with my lil feet. The walk down was far worse than up.
2) 7.5 - 9.5km stretch - lots of switchbacks which were at a steep incline for me, being so short and all. I found I had to cling and pull myself up a lot. And there were a bunch of insanely large man-made stairs which, no word of a lie, each step was at least 15 inches high. I basically had to crawl up them *lol*
3) last, but certainly not least, there was the scary not-there cougar that I freaked over!! I spotted the phantom cougar on the way down when I was getting delirious and hallucinogenic *roflmao* It turned out to be a cougar-colored tree that had fallen over and, well, it was looking mighty shifty *shakes head*
Actually, I must add the walk down was hard and I knew it would be, but it was much worse than I thought. All this sounds so negative but it really was great!! One of the coolest things for me was when we got close to the end. There were lots of huge rocks that we had to pull ourselves up over, reminded me very much of rock climbing with trying to get the right footing and digging the fingers into the right edges and nooks. Up, down... it was a totally incredible feeling both ways!!!!!!!! But no regrets, all this pain is worth it and I will most likely be feeling it tomorrow. I'll be ka-thudding outta bed for sure. I bet everyone will be laughing at me at work tomorrow. I'll be waddling and flapping around like a penguin, during the moments I actually have to move. Don't care what Sheila says, I'm sitting on my ass for the better part of the day.
So I leave you all with some great photos, although a bit fuzzy cuz I resized them and lost some of the clarity. But I must say, I took some awesome ones for being extremely camera-stupid. I really impressed myself, moreso with this than doing the hike *lol* Mmm, maybe not...
This was taken from inside a rotted out tree. Kinda reminds me of The Ring. Very cool.
I'm not sure what I was trying to take a picture of, to be honest with you. Not fond of this one.
You see, I placed the crappier shots first. I suppose this one's not so bad. I'm liking it the more and more I look at it. The mountains are awesome, though!
This is an okay shot, I took it quite randomly. Not my fave. I think this was taken just after the 10km mark where we sat and had lunch.
I can't quite remember where we were exactly. I'm thinking around the 9.5km mark. On our way back, we got a side view of where he was standing. It was indescribably creepy! There was a sudden drop off and a big portion of the side was cut out underneath... as if the slab we were on was "not supported". Know what I mean? Hard to describe, but it looked neat.
Coby, pointing to the top where we were hoping to get to.
This is Pitt Lake, very pretty. The clouds look pretty amazing in this pic.
End of the trail WAY up there in the upper left corner where the lil glacier is. At one point, we seriously thought we could make it but we made it to a steep, craggly edge... looked down, looked up and said no way. It would've taken nearly two hours to get up that last 1km and much, much longer coming back down. This photo is really deceiving. It looks like you can make it over those few humps and you're there, easy peasy. But that's so not the case. I think I took this photo cuz I really liked how the clouds were beginning to creep over the top (in the center abouts). In person, it looked as if the mountain was starting to smoke. The details are kinda lost in the photo.
Yep, stripped down... I found it to be incredibly hot and there wasn't even a lot of sun shining on us. We had a fair amount of tree cover. I wanted to wear a tank but I had no clue what it was going to be like and I didn't want to wear like five layers of clothing. Now, I'm not sure if I'm still in the delirious stage or not, but I gotta say it... I look "cutesy" like Drew Barrymore in that pic. Chubby apple cheeks, flirty devlish grin... Don't you think??? Maybe not what she looks like now, maybe more when she was a kid *lol* Gah, I love that bra... ;)
This is the winner right here... National Geographic, baby!! The only flaw with this pic is that this is the full size. I accidentally set it to 640x480. I'm quite upset over this. The leaves in the foreground were not intentional but I'm glad they showed up cuz it puts everything in a great perspective!!