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Wednesday, November 13, 2013

The big trip report

Beautiful Hanalei.  Evil mountains!



We had the most adventerous, wonderful 25th wedding anniversary trip in October.  It was everything I hoped it would be and more.  My spine was a trooper and I asked more of it than I ever have!

My 15# back pack ready to go at 5:30 am!

So after months of "training" (as much as you can train in a barely hilly Indiana neighborhood with an 8 year old lab along for the hike), my husband and I caught a ride to the Kalalau Trail on the North Shore of Kauai and started our trek by 6:30 am.

I won't elaborate too much... but at about mile 2, I noticed that my left knee (one of the few body parts that has never given me grief) decided that I had taken a step a little too large and a little off center... It wasn't seriously injured, but my knee was a little angry and starting to catch my attention.  I tied a bandana around it for a little support.  Walking an additional 4 miles through steep and muddy conditions made my knee more than a little angry- it was downright pissed.  (Spine:  perfect and not even tired.  Me:  not perfect, very tired).

At a rate of 1 mile per hour (yes, calculate that.... 6 miles in, 6 hours in...) we were not looking good for the 11 mile adventure that was supposed to culminate at the beach with overnight camping.  We stopped at a stream for food and a cold knee soak and 4 ibuprofen.  That helped renew my energy and decrease my pain, so we continued to head in, followed by the afternoon rains.  At the start of mile 7, and seeing "Crawlers Ledge" just down the slippery path (hundreds of You Tube videos of this nauseating area are available), I waived the white flag. 

I was in no shape (my spine said "LET'S DO THIS!") mentally (my mind said "YOU ARE GOING TO DIE IF YOU TAKE ONE MORE STEP") or physically (my knee said "NOT TOO BAD NOW, BUT WE HAVE TO REPEAT THIS 11 MILE TREK TOMORROW... AHHH, NO THANKS"), so, around 3pm and the start of mile 7, we turned and headed back to mile 6 to camp.  Once we arrived, I got a little angry, ambitious, or crazy maybe? and I just wanted to be back at our house and on the beach, so we kept going allllll the way back to the trailhead.

So, at 1 mile per hour.... 7 miles in and 7 miles out... 14 miles total.... we were exiting the trail at 9:30 pm.  No cell phone service, illegal camping, night river crossing, etc are stories for another day.

HUGE SUCCESS:  My spine!  Are you kidding?!  14 miles in one day with a 15# backpack on up and down mountains on narrow, rocky paths for 15 hours... GO M6L! GO STALIF TT! I love my little buddies!   My spine was perfectly fine.  No tired, achy feeling.  No pain.  Nothing.  The rest of me... spent beyond belief.  My thumbs were sore 2 weeks later from leaning so hard on the hiking poles.  I had trouble walking for days because of my legs being so sore.  My hubby took videos of my crazy walk the rest of the week.

HUGE SELF DISCOVERY MOMENT:  I'm afraid of heights!

HUGE DAY WITH MY HONEY!  He took such good care of me!


Before leaving Hawaii, I got my first and only tatoo.  WATER.  Not mountains!





1 comment:

  1. Thanks for your post on my blog... glad to see you are kicking 4ss with your back as well! I still thank Nick every day. :)

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