Holy Mother Nature

or how I became a whiny hiker girl in less than 10,000 steps, suffering from a form of Hiker Tourette's Syndrome in which every other word out of my mouth was some form of cussing usually beginning with some form of "WTF was I thinking" followed by my mantra, my prayer for help, my constant affirmation that I can do this (while a huge question mark floated over my head). I was so humbled and hobbled it is a complete surprise that I did not sit down in a heap and cry. Such was the glory of Hike #3. Fun, huh? Nothing like taking on a challenge you aren't remotely ready for to give you some perspective on what you need to do before challenging yourself at that level again.
The good news: I did do it, I finished what I started.
The bad news: I was not sure at any point that I could do it and I couldn't stand my own whining and yet, I couldn't stop.

Saturday was a beautiful day. It promised lovely sun, a nice breeze and temperatures hovering in the mid-80's near Spooner Lake, starting point of #3. The trail guide describes the trek from Spooner Lake to Marlette Lake as moderate in difficulty and 4 miles one way. However, once you hit the trail and get about a mile in the mileage is posted as 4.5 one way. Hmm...okay...well...we're here let's do it. That first mile is very deceptive, a wide fairly flat meander around a meadow. Then you hit a trail head where biker path and foot path separate. Here is where the trouble began. The trail is gradual but steadily goes up, up, up....steep even in places. It took a long time for my legs to even feel warmed up and even longer for my head to shut up. At the halfway point my quads and my lungs were screaming that we had made a huge mistake and from there it was a good hiker, bad hiker dual all the way up...cussing and chanting because who knew which of the two were gonna get me there. I took no pictures because it just felt like too much trouble, I hardly noticed the scenery except to gauge where we might be in relation to the lake we were seeking. SP and I endlessly discussed how it would be downhill once we headed back...this cheered me for....oh...6 seconds at a time. It seemed an endless amount of time passed before we finally cleared the top of what we were climbing and finally saw the lake.

Here is the only picture I took, confirmation that I did actually make it to the lake. Once you clear the summit the trail heads steeply down to the lake. Ever so easy but I am already thinking "I have to go back up this to get to the downhill....AAARRRGGGGHHHH". I was ready for lunch and possibly a Med-Evac copter. After some rest and an encounter with several crawdads on the lakeshore we headed up that g*dawful steepness and I am telling you...I was like a rental horse when he gets a whiff that you are heading back to the barn, he is suddenly more lively, moving more quickly and really, there's just no stopping him. That was me. I was not stopping, I was moving, letting that downhill grade propel me back to my car and a shower and a complete rethinking of how to continue doing this at a pace I can handle. I could hardly pick up my feet by the time we hit the parking lot, the slightest incline caused my legs to turn to tree stumps, stiff and unyielding. SP and I had the conversation of how we just can't even think about trying this again unless we can do it reasonably comfortably. It wasn't FUN by any stretch of the imagination...still...I DID IT!