"Let's climb two"

Wednesday, August 22, 2012
I received a distressing email from a friend who had been on a camping trip recently.  She’d had the misfortune of being part of a group where one member was wholly unprepared for what they were going to do, which can ruin a trip…and it pretty much did.  She’s got a lot of dignity and chose to keep quiet about the inconveniences this person was creating, much to her credit, but learned a valuable lesson about the first principle of ‘Leave No Trace’ camping, which is ‘plan and prepare’. 

That means for everyone in the group.  She and I had had a conversation about the hazards of leading unknown groups into the back country.  We’d talked about ‘the weakest link in the chain’…the person in the worst condition and how you needed to stay together, which meant moving at that person’s pace.  The question of course, is how do you know ahead of time?  Just looking someone over doesn’t tell the whole story.  I’ve hiked with some really lean people that had no endurance and heavier ones that could walk my feet off.  Conditioning is all about doing ahead what you plan to do the day of competition.  For climbers and backpackers, that means hiking and building up the legs to bear the weight and deal with the trail.  I’ve talked more than one person out of backpacking by describing in great detail what it means to use a privy or a cat hole, eat dehydrated food, fight with bears to keep your food intact and them out of your campsite, issues with biting insects, sleeping on the ground and hiking many miles over rough terrain with thousands of feet of elevation change to challenge the cardiovascular system.  Better they know ahead, and I know that they know, so we both understand what we’re dealing with.  Only then can you enjoy the experience. 

Apparently, this guy showed up eight hours late, drove to the trailhead without a tent or sleeping bag, and couldn’t walk a mile without complaining about the effort.  She dealt with it by planning to come back again without the nimrod where I would have pegged him out on the ground, stripped him and spread peanut butter all over his body, and left him to consider the sins of his ways.  I suffer fools poorly.
Having said that, I’ve been reminding Jack that some running or hiking before our trip wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world.  I questioned him about hiking shoes and he said the Nike’s he had would do the trick.  I checked over the soles…they’re in pretty good shape because he plays basketball barefoot.  He did take me outside to demonstrate how he could dunk the ball without a running start…a feat that impressed me quite a lot.

“That won’t do you much good in the Adirondacks, though.  They don’t play basketball up there,” I said.

“Dad…as strong as I am, I’m sure I can handle a little hike with a backpack,” he said.

And he’s probably right.  He is young and quite strong.  He’ll feel it when we climb 4,000 feet over three miles though, but he’ll make it through.  So will the girls and Kyle, all of whom run, cycle and work out.  Between the four of them, there’s probably only ten pounds of fat, as well.  If we were going further into the back country and for more days and climbs, I’d insist on different shoes and some hiking from Jack.  For this trip, I’ll let him learn.

I went for a ride determined to get through two hours without leg cramps.  That meant starting easier and not jumping out of the saddle and attacking every hill.  I made it to my 1-hour check point about 3 minutes slow, but feeling great.  I added an extra loop to my Waite Hill course to make up the two hours and finished strongly and without cramps.  My goal in hiking is to always be at the front and always looking for another peak to climb.  I’m the Ernie Banks of the Adirondacks.  He was the famous Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer who loved to play the game so much that he became known for saying “It’s a beautiful day for baseball.  Let’s play two.”

Bike Duration: Two hours.
Training Heart Rate: 125 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1700.