Several weeks ago I went to the Adirondacks with a good friend from the farm. He had been to the Rockies many times and hiked and climbed there quite extensively. Like so many people who have done that and then gone to the Adirondacks, he was surprised at the ruggedness and steepness of the trails.
“I figured it would be easy since we were only going up to 5,000 feet, but this is the toughest hike I’ve ever done,” he said.
We were climbing Giant Mt. in Keene Valley, which rises a little over 4,600 feet above sea level.
“Well…the trail is only 3 miles and it rises about 4,000 feet in that space so no matter how tall it is, you’re walking a lot of vertical,” I replied.
He mentioned that the steepness fooled him. “In the Rockies, there are switchbacks that make the grade more doable. This is just straight up!”
He was right and I was feeling it. I hadn’t done any training for the trip thinking that a couple of people were coming who would not set a challenging pace. They cancelled at the last minute and so Justin and I were solo to the top…and he set a good pace. I pushed through the pain that comes from not training, but vowed I’d change things when I got back and before the next trip in early October.
“I want to pack into the back country and climb those tough ones in the picture above your fireplace,” he said when we returned to our campsite – one we’d driven into.
“If that’s the case, I’ve got some training to do. It’s a rugged six-mile hike in and that’s with a full pack. The climb up Skylight or Algonquin is 8-10 hours round trip. We’ve got a month,” I concluded.
And so I’m on a mission. For the past three days I’ve hiked with a pack weighing about 40 pounds on my back. Yesterday’s hike included 230 step-ups done on logs and rocks I find along the trail. They average 10-14 inches in height and stress the hips and quads and build the kind of strength you need to climb all day.
And I need this trip for another reason, as well. Solace and serenity. My recent move to Peninsula and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park was the right one for the place I find myself in life, but it doesn’t change the fact that I miss my home of 21 years and all the things it represents. Life as I knew it there is in the rearview mirror. My high school sweetheart and wife of 39 years is gone. The kids are grown and living their lives. I’m looking to retire and trying to figure out what I want that to look like. Yes – I need the mountains and the tranquility they offer.
Hike with 230 step-ups: One hour.
Training Heart Rate: 100-140 bpm.
Calories Burned: 750
Bonus: 21,000 steps for the day.
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