Sunday I hiked over 20 miles. No breaks. No stops. Ran out of water and food. 30 pound pack. I was racing against the sun.
(Back story)
My step dad drove to Gaithersburg then took a bus to the airport. So there sat his car in the middle of a parking lot 20 miles away. Since I swore to myself that I would hike/camp every weekend I accepted the challenge. After church and eating at grandma's I set off on my first long distance hike. My first mistake was I left super late. I left at 2 in the afternoon. This gave me 5 hours of day light. Keep in mind I have no idea what my hiking pace is and im completely hoping that i'll make it to the car before dark. Gaithersburg isn't a safe place at night….So im hiking along the side of the road dodging cars and hoping that I dont get hit. I'm carrying over 30 pounds of full gear as if I was hiking for 2 days. Hours go by and im doing an excellent job staying motivated and just being by myself. All was going well until hour 4.5 came……..all of a sudden im out of water and food….I had drank all 4 liters and eaten all my food…."Ok thats fine we're almost done….Easy." Then my feet start to hurt. Once something starts to hurt it never stops…ever….it only gets worse. Now my feet and knees are hurting from the stress, speed and distance i've gone. Every second seems like years and every step feels like a marathon. My legs shake from the weight of my body and pack. But I have to keep moving so I can get to the car before dark or else i'll have alot more than hurting feet to worry about.
At this point im probably 4-3 miles away and a homeless lady starts to walk with me. She is talking to me about anything she thinks and I mean anything. She kept asking me if I was homeless and showed me all the 'good' places to sleep are. Now the question was, who was the crazy one? The guy walking for hours by choice or the one who didn't?
The closer to the end I got the more impossible the trip seemed but once I saw that shine of Keith's silver car I swear I couldn't have been happier haha.
6 hours of a pace of 4 miles per hour, i'd say that was a good pace. I couldn't rest because I left to late and needed to race against the sun as I said. I realize now that breaks are key in survival while hiking. There is no one to impress, no one to beat and no one to prove anything too. Once your out there it is a matter of keeping yourself safe and healthy so you can continue the next day.
This was once again an excellent learning experience.
I drink like a camel, eat like a horse, walk like a champ but plan like action movie hero.
Time to heal and prep for this weekend.
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