Lessons Learned - Kesugi Ridge
First things first, I remembered by camera, but apparently forgot to put the batter back in it after charging it.* So I don't have any pictures to put up at the time (Marissa let me use her camera though so I did get to do some photo taking, I just have to wait a couple days to get said photos and then I can post them). The lesson learned: Triple check camera and all parts/accessories. My main reason for wanting to hike is photography. Not that I think you're ever going to see my pictures in National Geographic, but it's still a lot of fun for me.
Now the actual hike...
By a mile into it I was questioning my sanity in deciding to do this hike. For one, my pack (Northface Crestone 75) wouldn't sit right and was putting a lot of its weight on my shoulders. That is definitely not where you want 45 lbs. of weight when hiking, especially up and down hills. Later investigation showed that the sizing piece on the pack had come undone and let the pack fall. However, I was unable to get it fixed while up there. I also began to wonder if I didn't buy a pack a size too small. Now every review I read on this pack before I bought it had nothing but praise for it, so I'm hoping my problems were just a personal thing. Still, I kind of wish I'd looked into other packs. Lesson learned: Go to a outdoor retailer with staff that can actually help you (if you're a beginner like me) in picking a pack instead of some giant sports store with apathetic stoned teenagers for employees.
By our first major ascent, I was really beginning to lag behind the rest the group. And while I wanted to blame my age for my slowness, the truth was I was completely out of shape for a hike like this. I don't even know how/why I thought I was in decent enough shape to do this. I guess I was thinking something like "Oh, 27.4 miles in three days; that's like only 9.13333 miles a day, I should be able to do that. Sure, it'll be hard, but easily possible for me." Nine miles of almost constant uphill and downhill is, as far as I'm concerned, just as bad (if not worse) than 20 miles of straight walking. Lessons learned: I'm a lot more out of shape than I thought and never ever again underestimate the difficulty of mountainous hiking.
We saw a decent amount of sun on the 1st day, but there was also a decent amount of cloud cover as well. So when I woke up on day 2 feeling like there was a thousand tiny needles fiery hot needles in the back of my neck, I was a bit surprised. Turns out I got some serious sun burn back there (and a good bit on my arms and face). Lesson learned: Even if the weather forecast is nothing but clouds and rain and evening if you don't think you're getting that much sun, being some sunscreen and use it (especially if you burn easy, which I didn't think I did, but apparently I do).
Day 2 had a ton of rain in it. It also had a lot of descending into very forested area, which had wet soggy ground and tress dripping a lot of water on us. Being out of shape as I was and having the sunburn, I didn't mind the rain or the water dripping on me. In fact I rather enjoyed it. However, my brand new hiking shoes (Patagonia P26) took in a lot of the rain. And kept it. Which was really a bummer for me as they were awesome on the first day.Now admittedly, with as much rain and water-drenched terrain as there was, I don't think there's a hiking shoe in the world that could've kept someone's feet permanently dry. However, my feet got wet early and stayed wet the whole day, which felt like insult to injury considering how sore my feet already were from all the hiking. Somehow, I still didn't get any blisters on this whole hike, so that may actually be praise for the shoes. Still, I'm wishing I took something else (though I'm not sure what). Lesson learned: Make sure your boots will keep your feet dry in extremely wet conditions.
I will say that my rain jacket (Mountain Hardware Typhoon) did amazingly well. I'm not trying to product whore stuff here (I'd be doing a bad job of it if I was being how many different competing companies I'm putting out there), but if you're looking for a new rain coat for hiking, I'd recommend it. Kept me dry and was very breathable. I'm thinking of getting a second one just in case anything happens to this one.
As I've mentioned, this is supposed to be a 3 day hike, or at least that's the amount of time those who've done it before recommend doing it in. And to me that seems like a good amount of time for doing this hike, maybe longer if the weather is good just to enjoy some of the amazing scenery. However, we didn't do it in 3 days; we did it in 2. When doing this was mentioned I was already not a fan. But I didn't want to be the one guy to hold the group up (anymore so than I was already doing with my slow hiking). But then there a few times on the trail we discovered we were much further back than we thought, making me even more not liking this pushing 2 days thing. In the end though, we did it. And yes, it was very nice to be back in my own bed a day early. Still, for myself, it was a dumb idea. I was beyond exhausted and I was literally worried at every step my legs might give out and down the mountain I would go. Lesson learned: I'm still retarded.
I've also come to the conclusion that the fact I survived this hike is either proof that God loves me, or that He loves to torture me and kept me alive merely so He can put me through something like this again.
And this seems like enough to write for now. All things considered it was a good time and I'd like to do the hike again (or even make a Summer tradition of it), though I'd do it with all these lessons in mind.
*Also, I have scoured the house since returning home, both the places I used while packing for the trip and places the battery should have no chance of being in, and still have not found the damn battery. Couple this with the fact that my other point-and-shoot camera is missing (and was quite possibly stolen) and I'm pretty far from feeling happy about all this.
Now the actual hike...
By a mile into it I was questioning my sanity in deciding to do this hike. For one, my pack (Northface Crestone 75) wouldn't sit right and was putting a lot of its weight on my shoulders. That is definitely not where you want 45 lbs. of weight when hiking, especially up and down hills. Later investigation showed that the sizing piece on the pack had come undone and let the pack fall. However, I was unable to get it fixed while up there. I also began to wonder if I didn't buy a pack a size too small. Now every review I read on this pack before I bought it had nothing but praise for it, so I'm hoping my problems were just a personal thing. Still, I kind of wish I'd looked into other packs. Lesson learned: Go to a outdoor retailer with staff that can actually help you (if you're a beginner like me) in picking a pack instead of some giant sports store with apathetic stoned teenagers for employees.
By our first major ascent, I was really beginning to lag behind the rest the group. And while I wanted to blame my age for my slowness, the truth was I was completely out of shape for a hike like this. I don't even know how/why I thought I was in decent enough shape to do this. I guess I was thinking something like "Oh, 27.4 miles in three days; that's like only 9.13333 miles a day, I should be able to do that. Sure, it'll be hard, but easily possible for me." Nine miles of almost constant uphill and downhill is, as far as I'm concerned, just as bad (if not worse) than 20 miles of straight walking. Lessons learned: I'm a lot more out of shape than I thought and never ever again underestimate the difficulty of mountainous hiking.
We saw a decent amount of sun on the 1st day, but there was also a decent amount of cloud cover as well. So when I woke up on day 2 feeling like there was a thousand tiny needles fiery hot needles in the back of my neck, I was a bit surprised. Turns out I got some serious sun burn back there (and a good bit on my arms and face). Lesson learned: Even if the weather forecast is nothing but clouds and rain and evening if you don't think you're getting that much sun, being some sunscreen and use it (especially if you burn easy, which I didn't think I did, but apparently I do).
Day 2 had a ton of rain in it. It also had a lot of descending into very forested area, which had wet soggy ground and tress dripping a lot of water on us. Being out of shape as I was and having the sunburn, I didn't mind the rain or the water dripping on me. In fact I rather enjoyed it. However, my brand new hiking shoes (Patagonia P26) took in a lot of the rain. And kept it. Which was really a bummer for me as they were awesome on the first day.Now admittedly, with as much rain and water-drenched terrain as there was, I don't think there's a hiking shoe in the world that could've kept someone's feet permanently dry. However, my feet got wet early and stayed wet the whole day, which felt like insult to injury considering how sore my feet already were from all the hiking. Somehow, I still didn't get any blisters on this whole hike, so that may actually be praise for the shoes. Still, I'm wishing I took something else (though I'm not sure what). Lesson learned: Make sure your boots will keep your feet dry in extremely wet conditions.
I will say that my rain jacket (Mountain Hardware Typhoon) did amazingly well. I'm not trying to product whore stuff here (I'd be doing a bad job of it if I was being how many different competing companies I'm putting out there), but if you're looking for a new rain coat for hiking, I'd recommend it. Kept me dry and was very breathable. I'm thinking of getting a second one just in case anything happens to this one.
As I've mentioned, this is supposed to be a 3 day hike, or at least that's the amount of time those who've done it before recommend doing it in. And to me that seems like a good amount of time for doing this hike, maybe longer if the weather is good just to enjoy some of the amazing scenery. However, we didn't do it in 3 days; we did it in 2. When doing this was mentioned I was already not a fan. But I didn't want to be the one guy to hold the group up (anymore so than I was already doing with my slow hiking). But then there a few times on the trail we discovered we were much further back than we thought, making me even more not liking this pushing 2 days thing. In the end though, we did it. And yes, it was very nice to be back in my own bed a day early. Still, for myself, it was a dumb idea. I was beyond exhausted and I was literally worried at every step my legs might give out and down the mountain I would go. Lesson learned: I'm still retarded.
I've also come to the conclusion that the fact I survived this hike is either proof that God loves me, or that He loves to torture me and kept me alive merely so He can put me through something like this again.
And this seems like enough to write for now. All things considered it was a good time and I'd like to do the hike again (or even make a Summer tradition of it), though I'd do it with all these lessons in mind.
*Also, I have scoured the house since returning home, both the places I used while packing for the trip and places the battery should have no chance of being in, and still have not found the damn battery. Couple this with the fact that my other point-and-shoot camera is missing (and was quite possibly stolen) and I'm pretty far from feeling happy about all this.
posted by Paul | 3:34 PM
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