it's very hard on my knees and feet, and i am old, fat and slow. i can't do anything about that first thing, but the other two are things i can improve to a certain extent.
so partly because it's on the venture vermont challenge and partly because i have been meaning to hike some of vermont's more mountain-y mountains,i looked at the weather forecast for the week and decided thursday would be a good day to hike up camel's hump.
wednesday night i was at my desk googling "easiest way up camel's hump". ok, so the burrows trail is just under five miles round trip and has the gentlest terrain. i'm sold.
plus i've never been up the mountain by way of the burrows trail, and that's a five point bonus!
i am slow moving on foot, even when i am in good shape.
i knew i was not in good shape, but it was a little upsetting to learn just how badly out of shape i am. ok, right, it's two and a half miles to the summit? i left the parking lot at 0901 and arrived at the summit just after 1230. ok, granted, i stopped more than i strictly had to because i had decided to go with the extra weight of binoculars so i could look at birds because it's a different habitat up there and you see little guys up there you don't see farther down. i probably didn't rest more often because of the birds, but i did rest for longer, because i can HEAR that little duffer right up in that tree. WHY CAN'T I SEE HIM???
about .2 mile short of the summit i started having the kind of pain in my left foot that usually serves as an indicator that it is time to turn around and go back.
had i been closer to the bottom and not nearly at the summit, i would have. at the summit i took my shoes off and lounged around and it was a little after 1400 when i began my long, painful descent. i saw young people scrambling down those rocks as if knees are an inexhaustible resource.
i go slower on the way down, but i need to stop to rest less often. the return trip takes nearly four hours.
ah, anyway. so i went up there. it was more of a challenge than i expected. my feet hurt.
2 comments:
Woo Hoo!! I contemplated Greylock this weekend, but didn't think my knee had it in me. Last mountain I summited, Monadnock. I always thought I would backpack for the first part of my retirement. Didn't count on my body betraying me...
jane! i remember we summited camel's hump OH, so long ago. yeah, my knees and feet do not have backpacking in them anymore, plus i require comfortable sleepings. you should come camp with me on waterbury reservoir. you can pack in HUNDREDS of pounds of gear to a remote site, so best of both worlds.
bring the kids!
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