Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Adirondacks, October, 2018

I rolled out of my sleeping bag in the morning covered in dew.  Everything was soaked and down sleeping bags, if they are to offer any insulation, must be dry.  I knew I would be meeting up with Paul and Justin that evening and that I would be in proximity to a small town where I could dry my bag if it needed it.  I shook as much dew off as I could and bundled it up for packing.

I ate the last of my cream of wheat and assessed my lunch supply.  I still had three bars, but that was it.  I’d really tried to pack light when leaving the guys two days earlier.  I had a blistering wound on my left hip where my hip belt set, which made each step painful.  I bandaged it as best I could before putting my pack on.  A young couple hiked by as I was finishing, but didn’t say hello.  They looked to be on the trail, as well.

I only needed to go 13 miles to reach Blue Mountain and hopefully Paul and Justin would be waiting at the trailhead.  If they were not, I’d have another 4-mile hike on the road into town and the grocery store that was holding my resupply.  After an hour of hiking, I overtook the young couple. 

“How’s it going?” I asked.

“He’s got bad blistering on both feet from new shoes that weren’t broken in, so we’re moving kind of slow,” the female responded.

We talked briefly about the condition of the trail and then I started out in front of them.  I would see them again when I stopped for lunch and they overtook me.  They were also headed for Blue Mountain and hoping to get a ride into town from someone at the Lake Durant State Park campsite located at that trailhead.  It was my backup plan, as well.

I hiked through the worst section of the trail to date with much mud and blown down and had several issues finding discs and staying on the trail.  I was under 2 miles per hour and so it was after three by the time I reached the state park on Lake Durant.  I saw a park employee working and asked him about rides into town.

“I’m going that way in about ten minutes if you’d like to wait.  We’re shutting down for the season so the bathrooms are locked up,” he said.

So much for planning.  I hadn’t anticipated the campgrounds being closed and had been counting on staying the night here and getting my first hot shower in almost a week.

Paul and Justin were not at the trailhead and I had no cell reception to discern their whereabouts.  George, the Assistant Park Ranger for the park, drove me to the grocers where I discovered that Paul and Justin had already gathered our resupply box.  I had a cell signal and gave them a call.

“We were looking for the trailhead, but couldn’t find it and no one in town seemed to know where it was,” Justin said.

“You took a picture of the location from the map.  Did you look at it?” I asked.

“Umm…no.  That would have been a good idea,” he said.

He’s pretty, but not always so smart.  I didn’t want to hurt his feelings so I said, “you’re dumber than a box of rocks.”

They arrived at the store ten minutes later, impressed with the time I’d made over the past three days in getting to this point. 

“How do you feel?  That was a lot of miles you covered,” Justin asked while Paul went inside and bought me a pint of ice cream and a Mountain Dew.

“Actually, other than the blister on my hip, I feel great!” I said and I did.

My long-time hiking partner and best friend John was enroute to this point where had planned to hike the last three days with us to Lake Placid.  John had gained about forty pounds since his peak hiking days and was in no kind of shape for what lay ahead – three days of hiking over 15 miles a day through conditions that were like to get worse before they got better.  I’d already decided for him that he was not going into those woods with me.  Paul and Justin were still rehabbing and if I got back over ten miles into the woods in what was some of the most remote areas of the Adirondacks and John was not up to it, it would be a struggle to get him out again.  I know better than to put another’s health in jeopardy and have a deep respect for the back country and what it can do to you…and how quickly.  I told Justin and Paul my altered plan.

“Let’s just do some camping and day hiking.  I’ve done what I came here to do.  I now know I can handle long days in the back country carrying a pack.  I’ve also discovered it’s not what I thought it would be.  I was bored much of the time and disappointed that there were no vistas to speak of.  I’ve been rethinking my whole plan to walk one of the major thru-trails once I retire,” I said.

Justin was ready to return home, but Paul was willing and able to stay and meet up with John for more hiking.  It was supposed to rain all night and I wanted a hot shower, so Justin and I sprung for a hotel room in town while Paul slept in his van.  John would be coming tomorrow afternoon and we’d assess the situation and plan from there.

Hike: Eight hours.
Training Heart Rate: 70-120 bpm.
Calories Burned:  5,000.
Bonus: 36,000 steps