An Uphill Battle

This is what happens when I have a day off with my husband and no plan…

Two hours and twenty minutes. That is the amount of time that it took us to hike up a mountain with a 2,800 foot elevation gain. I can not believe that I did it!

I suggested the trek because we didn’t have anything else on the agenda for the day and it was something I have been toying with attempting for a little while now. We left this afternoon with the vague understanding that the locally well-known climb is long, steep, and brutal. Let me assure anyone reading this, that does not even begin to cover it. I repeat, I can not believe I did it!

The distance covered was actually less than three kilometers, but the entire trail was uphill with a pretty consistent incline of over fifty-five percent. At the quarter marker we stopped – only one of probably two dozen much shorter rests that took place during the trek – and I sat for a few minutes while we debated whether or not to continue. It was just so much tougher than I had anticipated! There was a sign right below the distance post that noted that the trail became steeper and more difficult past that point. We very nearly turned around because we had already been going for a considerable chunk of time and thought that the ground we had already covered was extremely hard to hike.

But, somehow, we found the strength to carry on! (I think a big part of my husband’s motivation was the desire to defeat the trail once and for all, never to return again!) At the halfway point, once more we seriously debated turning tail and heading down the slope, yet we continued despite better judgement. At the three-quarter sign we rejoiced that going up was the lesser of two evils and put retreat out of our minds once and for all.

Finally, as the sun was beginning to set in the distance, we could make out further along the mountainous trail and way up over our heads the start of a clearing. The end! We drew from our energy reserves and – with the promise of flat terrain just a few hundred feet away – slowly climbed the last portion of trail to the summit, which sits about three hundred feet below the actual peak of the mountain.

This is not something I would have ever been able to do probably during the entire time I have known my husband. Even though I weighed less than I do now when we first met, I have never been fit enough to have even considered trying to conquer that hike. This particular trail has often been compared to a stairmaster and it is definitely the most gruelling hike I have ever undertaken. I admit that I grossly underestimated the difficulty of climbing that mountain trail, but I am absolutely ecstatic that I somehow actually finished it!

FOOD & BEVERAGES:
- 10 glasses of water throughout the day
- 2 1/2 cups Caesar salad with light dressing and croutons
- 4 large crackers
- 1 bird’s nest made with 1 piece of whole wheat bread, 1 egg, margarine, and pepper
- 3/4 cup fat free lemon chiffon yogurt
- 1/2 sweet and salty almond granola bar
- 3 cups of Caesar salad with croutons and Parmesan
- 1 bite of a chicken strip with sweet and sour sauce
- 1 mandarin orange
- 1 cup of red peppers with fat free rancher’s choice dressing
- 1/2 mug of decaffeinated tea with milk

EXERCISE:
- 2 hour and 20 minute uphill hike (with multiple short breaks)