Finding My Limits

At The Trailhead

Yesterday I tackled the Antoine Peak Conservation Area, linking trails together to make it an 11 mile loop. This was my longest hike of the season and also the longest hike I've done in a single day since my days as a much younger and fitter version of myself working in Glacier National Park.

The trail is rated as easy...yeah...we'll come back to that. The hike did start out easy enough...this trail system is for the most part, old roads so there's no really technical sections to it.

Once up the trail approximately a mile, you start getting some great views of Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake.

The views from the trail

Except for taking photos, I didn't need to stop during that initial climb, so I'm making progress towards my fitness goals. I'm sure alot of that has to do with incorporating trekking poles too. They've been a real revelation in being able to cover miles at a decent pace.

I had a tracker going that would tell me my speed and total time on trail at one mile intervals. Up until Mile 6, Every mile was faster than the last. I don't want to get hyper-focused on speed but I do want to know I'm maintaining a good pace. I wanted to average 2.5 mph and I came in at 2.58 for the entire trip.

At the beginning of Mile 7 you reach the bottom of Canfield Gulch, and start trekking on the loop trail that goes back up. IT. KILLED. MY. LEGS.

It was only 1.1 miles but it was a pretty steep climb, and I could only go 200-300 yards at a time between stops to catch my breath and slow my heart back down.

That 1.1 miles really wasted my legs so from there back to the trailhead was alot of pain.

I got some sun and I really enjoyed the views from up there. Looking forward to the next one.

Building up mileage

I wanted bad weather, I got bad weather!

I went out this morning to do the Liberty Lake Loop Trail. A 9 miler with 1370 feet of elevation gain. The forecast was for rain and wind all day. As "Darwin On The Trail" says, "Embrace the suck." I wanted to get out in less than ideal conditions just to see how I'd fare.

In the past I've done the loop clockwise. This time I wanted to do it counterclockwise because there's a mile-long section that goes straight down the mountain without any switchbacks and it just destroys my knees. I figured if I climbed it instead, and dealt with going down the switchbacks instead it might be a little less painful, and I was right.

I had to stop every 200-300 yards going up the hill because I'm not exactly fit (yet). The rain was actually a welcome distraction to the sound of my heart trying to jump out of my chest.

Once I got to the top and started down towards Liberty Creek Falls it was easier on my breathing but much harder to traverse. There were some fairly steep sections that were covered in ice and mud. It really slowed me down as every step had to be thought out.

Once I got down to the Cedar Grove, the trail is considerably better and I made tracks. I completed it in just over 4 hours. Not bad considering I'm still trying to get my trail legs and I also still have a lot of weight to lose. It was fun!

You're gonna do what?

On a recent visit to my Mom and Dad's place, I mentioned that I'm going to be pursuing one of my bucket-list goals as soon as my youngest son graduates and moves out.

What goal prompted my Dad to look at me as if he'd heard a strange frequency and exclaim, "You're gonna do what???"

I told them I'm going to attempt a thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail. a 2,652 mile footpath from Mexico to Canada.

Why would I do such a thing? Well, it's kind of hard to explain. When I was 19 years old I was constantly getting in trouble. I had been kicked off of every couch of every person I knew and things were getting pretty desperate. I may go in to greater detail on that at some point, but in order to keep things tight on this first post I'm going to fast forward to the part where I was essentially homeless and living next to a creek in a tent near Mt. Hood.

One day I decided to walk up the trail a bit and ended up at a 'T' where a sign said Pacific Crest Trail -- Canada 500 miles, Mexico 2150 miles. In that moment, I just wanted to step on to the trail and never look back. That would've been a bad choice as I was wearing a tank top, shorts and my Larry "Grand-Mama" Johnson Basketball Shoes.

Anyway, since that time I've lived a full and interesting story. But the trail has always been there, tugging at my thoughts. So...I'm finally going to listen to the trail.

The downside is, I'm not exactly in my prime. I'll be 46 when I start my thru-hike. I'm currently 300+ pounds. And because of that, my knees aren't exactly, "awesome."

So this will be fun. I'm going to post lots of videos and information, insights and who knows what else as I get ready to tackle the PCT!