This was a tough hike in terms of milage, there was a lot of rolling hills and a steep, though short incline as well as an uphill trek for the last 0.5 miles to get to Leith Hill. I made the mistake of not having snacks readily available so by the last push on the trail I was low on energy and asking myself why I ever thought this was a good idea. Just do it.What a misnomer. Don't just go through life doing things y'all, prepare and then do. There were unprepared 'hikers' on the trail who had little water, not enough food, and thread-bare tennis shoes. They'd never hiked long-distances before and ended up slowing down the core group of hikers a good deal. By which I mean we were 2 hours later arriving at the train station than we anticipated. To put things into perspective, the hikers who hike the PCT, AT, CDT and other long thru-hikes average 16-20 miles a day. They get to that level by training hard for months before setting out on trail. It takes work, it's a little harder than just "walking". Last year I went hiking a lot. I built up my ability to tackle 10 mile day-hikes over the course of eleven months which included me getting out on trail and tackling 5-8 mile hikes. I huffed, I supplemented the hike with pre-post-stretches, I incorporated yoga and mediation into my daily routine. I learned that I am the type of hiker that takes my cues from my breath. I relearned how my body moves and what it needs help with. With that backing I undertook this 15.6 mile hike. The trail. |
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