September 13, 2017 Day
97
Needless to say I was up before first light and began making
coffee and letting my oatmeal sit.
Thanks to my friend, Sal, my oatmeal is no longer boring and contains:
chia seeds, quinoa, dried cranberries, honey and cinnamon. While both my coffee and oatmeal steeped I
packed up my tent and was visited by two island foxes which were adorable. I was finished with my oatmeal, cleaned up,
packed and on the trail by 07:00 with the sun just starting to come up in front
of me.
Hills, inclines, decline, up, down. It never ends! The whole hike was either uphill or downhill
with maybe a half mile of flat surface.
Surprisingly after the first couple miles my body realized I wasn’t
stopping and decided to dial in and get with the program. If only I could always just skip to the part
where my body adjusts and misses the difficult part. The hike was absolutely breathtaking and
there was a consistent cool breeze so although sweat was literally pouring off
my arms I felt cool. I saw another
island fox and nine gambles quail; one of which didn’t follow the others and
kept running in front of me so I stopped, for I felt bad, and let it
disappear. Then I almost made myself
fall over for I thought I was about to step on a lizard and tried to miss it;
here it was just a rock I had kicked. HaHa.
To entertain myself on the 14 mile hike when the hills
weren’t too steep I would do intervals of tightening my abs for thirty steps
then releasing for thirty steps and repeated that for around fifteen minutes
upon which I became distracted with my own thoughts and lost count. When I first started the hike and the sun was
coming up a few tears welled up in my eyes for I was just so happy and could
not believe that I am where I am. I
never understood people who cried from being happy for it just never made sense
to me but being here in this moment I was so overwhelmed with happiness that I
could now understand that feeling.
Before I knew it I was nearing the steep climb up Montañon
Ridge where I had to use both hands at some spots to climb up. It was tough but
not as bad as I anticipated. With only
one more climb up to go I stopped to snack on one of my delicious bloks
(tropical punch flavored). While up
there I turned my phone off of airplane mode just out of curiosity and was
surprised to receive messages. I
messaged Sal to let him know I made it to the island and my first campsite and
then we proceeded to talk for some time.
I also messaged Luke and I spoke to both of them simultaneously then
when I went to message my little brother to have him let mom know I was okay I
lost service: how typical. So with that
I continued on my way and the view was stunning from atop Montañon Ridge. From there the rest of the hike was all
downhill.
Now, I cannot decide if I prefer breathing like Darth Vader
and struggling for breath going uphill or if I would rather endure the pain in
my knees as I go downhill. Wow, I should
like an old person! The hike down was rather boring for it was like walking on
a road and it was really rocky so every step had to be done with caution. The entire hike went by very quickly to where
I thought that maybe I had miscalculated the distance but alas I did not. So by 11:30 am I had hiked 14 miles in 4.5
hours and was at my campsite.
Once I found my campsite, I removed my shoes and socks which
were wet with sweat and to my surprise I only had a few blisters and some worn
skin on my ankles since I am not used to having high boots. I put on my chacos and went about setting up
my tent. The campground was full and the
groups of kids (okay so they may be close to my age; but still) next to me were
very load. I was not a fan of how close
everyone was to each other but the grounds had porta-potties and drinking water
which I didn’t need for I found out in the three days and two nights that I
would be on the island I only drank 1.5 liters. Once my
site was set up I was once again bored so I heated up the rest of my dinner and
had that for lunch/dinner for it was only 12:30.
As I sat there eating, I wondered what the hell I was going
to do to pass all this extra time; especially, since I am now staying here
tonight and tomorrow until 16:00! Had I known I would have hiked so fast I may
not have stayed another night but what is done is done. I walked around for a bit and meandered down
to the rocky beach where I sat there looking out over the ocean. I slowly inched my way into the water for I
hate cold water and the water took my breath away though once I was in it was
actually quite comfortable. I emerged
myself and then got out and sat on the beach some more until I was just too
cold. Back at the campsite, I sat at the
picnic table staring off into nothing until I couldn’t take it anymore and
headed into my tent.
I don’t know if it is due to all the warm weather I have
been in for the last month or so but I get colder so much faster now; even when
it is only in the 70s. Laying down in
the tent, I had forced myself to stay awake up 18:00, I was uncomfortable and
cold. I had all my clothes on, my towel
over my legs along with my hiking pants trying to keep myself warm but it
didn’t work. I tossed and turned all
night long and eventually at 02:00 I couldn’t take it any longer and decided to
just give up and get out.
 |
| Eating my Blok! |
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