So...the easiest trail ended up being a "moderate" one in difficulty, which isn't the best idea for a gal who is out of shape. A few girls from school and myself decided to get out in nature and get a little exercise while we're enjoying it. So during the drive to Whiskeytown Lake, we figured out which trail to take and somewhere read that it was a little over a mile long; it was actually over three miles.
Anyway, we find the trail start and head out with our water bottles, which soon emptied and had to be refilled in the stream several times during the two and a half hour hike that should have been like one hour. A little uphill and some rocks to begin with...this isn't so bad, right? And then thirty-minutes later we're still going uphill. The burning in our legs wasn't the only thing letting us know that uphill hiking isn't good for out of shape people.
Our main goal was to get to one of the falls and get some pics; we start running short on time, so one of the girls and I decided to jog the rest of the way to get there quicker - we find a road that's fairly flat going the same way as the trail so we stick with that for our 15 minute jog only to come to another part of the trail that definitely did NOT lead us to the falls. Now running late we decide to truck it the rest of the way back - down the road and down the trail; so an hour of jogging later I'm apologizing to my legs and feet begging them not to hate me in the morning...especially since it was going to be my birthday!
A few things I learned from this hike:
Anyway, we find the trail start and head out with our water bottles, which soon emptied and had to be refilled in the stream several times during the two and a half hour hike that should have been like one hour. A little uphill and some rocks to begin with...this isn't so bad, right? And then thirty-minutes later we're still going uphill. The burning in our legs wasn't the only thing letting us know that uphill hiking isn't good for out of shape people.
Our main goal was to get to one of the falls and get some pics; we start running short on time, so one of the girls and I decided to jog the rest of the way to get there quicker - we find a road that's fairly flat going the same way as the trail so we stick with that for our 15 minute jog only to come to another part of the trail that definitely did NOT lead us to the falls. Now running late we decide to truck it the rest of the way back - down the road and down the trail; so an hour of jogging later I'm apologizing to my legs and feet begging them not to hate me in the morning...especially since it was going to be my birthday!
A few things I learned from this hike:
- Moderate trails+running+higher elevation=not so great for someone out of shape that hasn't exercised in months.
- If there's a flat road available instead of a trail the whole way - take it! Uphill can't be good for beginner hikers for a long distance.
- Everyone is at a different point in their hiking skills; go at your own pace and don't worry about holding someone else up - you'll all get to the same place; enjoy the climb.
- The first 15 minutes and the last 15 minutes are the hardest. Use your friends motivation for the first part and your body's need to crash and get out of the woods for the last.
- It's always better with friends, so that when you yell in pain to help you get motivated to finish, they can laugh with you at the fact that you're in the middle of the woods, sweaty, dirty, blistered, out of shape and yelling at no one.
- The flowing stream is the best place to be cool down, re-energize and be refreshed.
- It sucks at first, and it sucks toward the end, but you get some good memories in the middle and man do you feel GREAT afterwards...I mean, immediately afterwards...not like the next two days, because then you're really sore!
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| This was as close to the "falls" as we got Friday |
You drank from the stream? So glad for the supernatural protection from Giardia. As they described it in Salida, CO, "Giardia is where the bottom falls out of your world, and the world falls out of your bottom." Had a great time with you!
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