Lessons Learned on an Overnighter

First Overnighter - January 15, 2011

In my life I have taken up numerous hobbies. Bowling, pottery, scrapbooking, photography, painting, gardening , etc. One thing common to all of my hobbies is the learning curve. I can read all the magazines and books on a hobby and think that I know what to do, but what it boils down to is practice and getting out there and doing it. So on our first overnight hike in January we had read all the books and had a lot of new gear to try and a big learning curve to climb

Our JetBoil stove worked wonderfully. It was able to boil water within 2 minutes which came in very handy for that morning cup of coffee. Speaking of coffee, we used the new Starbucks Vie packets of instant coffee which were delicious. Dirt Track and Nibbles tried the Tasters Choice brand and were less than thrilled. While the Starbucks is significantly more expensive, it is an expense I will pay for a good morning cup of joe! For our food on this trip we bought the freeze dried variety of backpacking food. Mountain House was the brand we used. We had macaroni and cheese which was very yummy and creamy. Dirt Track and Nibbles had Beef Stroganoff which was super yummy, and Chili Mac which was also good. In the morning Dirt Track and Nibbles had scrambled eggs and bacon which was just okay in my opinion - it was a bit too bacony (if there is such a thing). But the biggest suprise was the freeze dried ice cream. It was a bar of neopolatin and the consistency was like the marshmallows in Lucky Charms cereal. You would break a piece off and put it in your mouth were it would dissolve into a creamy bit of flavor that was really good. It really did taste like ice cream without the coldness which considering it was about 40 degrees outside was okay with us.

The biggest lesson learned on this hike though was about sleeping bags. When we were shopping for our sleeping bags we were very concerned about weight since we have to carry all of our gear and every ounce counts when it is on your back! David chose a 20 degree sleeping bag since he is cold natured and was willing to carry a little extra weight for more warmth. I on the otherhand am hot natured so I chose a 40 degree sleeping bag which weighed less. I thought that since I am hot natured and will be wearing warm clothing while in the sleeping bag that a 40 degree sleeping bag would surely be warm enough. WRONG!!

The temperature on this trip dipped into the low 20's that night. When I first got in my bag I was all nice and toasty having just left the warmth of the campfire. About two hours later I awoke freezing! I took my jacket and laid it over my feet. Put my gloves and hat on and tried to snuggle deeper into the bag. An hour later my teeth were chattering and I was certain frostbite was setting in on my toes. I put on another pair of socks, another shirt and pants. Still freezing! We took David's jacket and zipped it up and then I put my legs into the arms so it would cover my feet the put the whole thing into the sleeping bag. Eventually I warmed enough to fall into a fitful sleep. Now while all this is going on David is in his 20 degree bag NAKED because he is so hot! But in his defense he offered to let me have his sleeping bag numerous times that night and at one point about 4 in the morning he actually ORDERED me to take his bag. I refused all his offerings and orders (I am not a good military person). He chose wisely when he bought his bag and I chose poorly, I did not think it was fair to ask him to be cold because of my poor choice. Personal responsibility and accountability applies on the trail just like it should in real life! But I love that he was willing to make that sacrifice for me!

As soon as daylight broke David covered me with his bag and went out to make a fire. I was so happy for that night to be over and to have survived the experience. Once I warmed up enough I took my socks off to check my toes for frostbite. They weren't black so I dodged that bullet. I can honestly say that I have never been that cold in my entire life nor do I ever want to do that again. I will be buying a new sleeping bag before the next overnighter and it will be a 20 degree bag. The lesson learned is that warmth is worth a few extra ounces of weight!

All in all the first overnight trip was a huge success. David was disappointed that he didn't get to try out his technique for pooping in the woods. I was thrilled to discover a discreetly placed Port-a-potty in the woods so we didn't have to poop in the woods.

The hike was beautiful.

The companionship of good friends was comforting.

The coyotes didn't eat us which is always a plus!

Happy Hiking!

Mental Weakness/Mental Toughness

Mental Weakness vs. Mental Toughness

A few years back we adopted a saying around our house called "mental weakness". This term is used in our household in many situations. For example, the whole house gets a stomach bug except one person, well the sick people are just mentally weak. Can't talk yourself out of a nice warm bed on a winter morning to exercise then you are mentally weak. We pride ourselves on avoiding mental weakness at our house and frequently challenge one another by calling them mentally weak. So this past weekend when David and I decided to tackle the hiking trail at Torreya State Park we were having no part of mental weakness talk. We had read that this trail was the closest you could come to Applaichain Trail conditions in the state of Florida. Great, we're up for it. David's sister had done this trail and told horror stories of the difficulty of the trail. Surely she was just mentally weak. Well let me just say I was wrong. There was a river of mental weakness flowing off my body while we hiked this trail.

Torreya State Park has two hiking trails. One is a 7 mile loop and one is a 5 mile loop called the Torreya Challenge. David and I were drawn to the challenge loop like a moth to a lightbulb. It had the word challenge in the name so it had to be hard right, RIGHT. We missed the trailhead where the maps that had mileage were located so using a posted map we found an connector trail to the main 7 mile loop where we then hiked to another connector trail to the challenge loop. Of course we had to reverse this process on the return trip. No problem it doesn't look that far. No mental weakness for us.

Well 5 1/2 hours later we finally emerged from the trail. Challenge was an understatement. This trail was up and down hills all the way. You would hike down a long trail into a ravine and then hike back out of the ravine only to do it all over again. I was doing good for the first 3 hours and then all these mentally weak thoughts started creeping into my head like "what are you thinking?"; "just think how hard this is going to be when you are carrying a 40 pound pack on your back!"; "are you crazy, you can't do the AT"; "are you sure you even want to do the AT?" and it just went on and on as my legs got weaker. After 4 1/2 hours I really hit a wall and just had to stop, sit down and drink a lot of water. I was so hot and tired that I just thought I would die. MENTAL WEAKNESS!

But guess what? I didn't die! I took a deep breath, a long drink of water and told myself to get my butt off the ground and get moving. I can do this, I want to do this and I will do this. It won't be easy...if it was easy everyone would be doing it! MENTAL TOUGHNESS!

It takes mental toughness to make it through life. The mentally weak see themselves as victims. The mentally tough see themselves as survivors. This hiking thing is about getting out of my comfort zone and pushing myself to the limit and coming out on the other side stronger and tougher!

In the end we calculated we hiked 10 miles in 5 1/2 hours. Now 2 days later the pain in my calf muscles is finally easing off and I am left with a stronger sense of mental toughness and memories of the 7 deer we saw while on the trail. We may just drive to Torreya this weekend and do it again!

Happy Trails!