Hiking

Went hiking with my dad and his friend yesterday. We and climbed about 5 miles (10 miles out and back) of San Gorgonio. We weren't able to summit due to the hard hard-pack snow, but I honestly don't think we would have made it in one day. My dad has foot problems and was struggling just to make it to the camp site we stopped at. Though part of the trouble was at one point we lost the trail and rather than using switchbacks and a dirt road to come around one of the lower peaks, we ended up trailblazing through snow up an unstable mountain. Until we found the trail on the other side. The beginning of the trail was 1.2 miles up hill at about a 20% grade with 100 feet worth of ascension every 10th of a mile. Getting the hardest part of the trail out of the way first was better than having to tackle that monster at the end. Though it being an out-and-back trip, the wear and tear of the trail with the addition of the steep hill pounding away at our knees at the very end left us all sore and drained. I carried about half the weight of what I'd be carrying with a week's worth of supplies, including 5 liters of water and ample amounts of gear (I had everything except food and clothing packed). I'm not in shape and quickly fell out of it when school started up at the end of January. I've got a few weeks to re-condition myself. I know the trail was grueling yesterday, but completing only 10 miles in 8 hours isn't really making good time. I know the break for lunch was about an hour, as were the multiple stops to wait for my dad, but I can't imagine I would have done much more than 18 miles on my own only going one way. I suppose the terrain, elevation gain and loss would dictate how much I could do. I remember back in January I completed 10 miles in 4 hours, but the gain and loss wasn't great and the grade wasn't severe when I did climb. Either way, my dad's friend Larry has given me his trekking rods as a graduation gift. They're actually really helpful and saved me from tripping and injuring myself plenty of times yesterday. They're designed to ease some of the stress of a pack's weight and provide stability. I hadn't really considered using them, but after being fatigued and being as clumsy on your feet as I am, they're more useful than you might think. The fact that they're lightweight is a huge plus as well. I'll have some time before school ends to get a few more hikes in.