Hoofing it in Hocking 11.9 miler

Well today I started out making breakfast at 0400! Then it followed by me driving 3 hours to the Hocking Hills State Park. I chose a route that I did last time, and I added 5.5 miles to it. I believed the route I had calculated was closer to 11.25 miles.  Well, when I was done today to my surprise it was 11.9 miles.

I chose this stretch because it was away from the majority of the popular attractions.  There were also limited access points to the trails I was going to hike.

This hike would have the most ascent 2129 feet and the decent of 2172 feet I have done in an extremely long time. This obviously was all done throughout the hike and not all at once. It was nice to feel my body go through and complete it.  It’s still amazing me to me after all these decades of how swinging your arms to keep pace with your legs can assist you in hiking.

I would have to share this trail with the occasional pasture puppies’ “horses”. I saw 4 horses and a crew of hikers coming towards me. I only saw the hikers once and the horses once. I took this for a win today.

I carried two extra water bottles today and my 70 oz bladder in my Atmos 35. For snacks all I had were cliff bars.  I was off my pace today but I was still happy with the 4 hours and 35 minutes it took me to complete the hump. I was taking plenty of photos to show you fine folks the trail.

The route went from dirt soft/hard, muddy at times, river rock road, to number 57 stone, and soft pine needled pathway. I had to cross a few creeks, but it’s late July and I had no issues.

I felt my hands swelling from dehydration but had plenty of water. I needed to drink more and more often during the hike. At the end of the hike, I had to put water on my head to assist in the cooling process.  My body temp was starting to overheat with the pace vs how much water I was not taking in. I paid close attention to this or so I thought.

I am not as sore today as I thought I would be and that was a personal win for me. I hope you enjoy the photos.

Be well,

Sonder

Headed down to Hocking Hills for a 11.5 Miler on Saturday!

 

Holy Wildfires Batman

 

9.5 miler in the CVNP

The overnight low was in the high 50’s last night and hiking in the woods for the 10 miler I knew I would be primarily under cover.

This would be my longest hump in a long time. I filled my 70 oz water reservoir and made sure I had Bluetooth earpieces to listen to music. I got out of bed at 0800 and after breakfast I finally hit the road at 1000.

I knew I would not be alone on some of the trail, but once I got out of the 3-mile loop it would be me and the occasional pasture puppies (horses).

I would need to share the trail with the horses. I felt good throughout the entire hump and wanted to keep my 3-mph pace.

The hump would have been 10 miles, but I did not want to traverse a large grass hill diagonally across the slope.  There was no trail that I could see so I hiked into the saddle at the toe of the slopes and continued into the woods.

My hiking speed was an average of 3.1 mph. I ascended a total of 1453 feet and descended a total of 1443 feet. This was spread out over the entire 9.5-mile loop.

At the end of hump I had less 10 ounces of water left in the reservoir!

The conditioning won’t stop, and this was a good check to see how I was progressing!

Be well folks,

Sonder

I will change up my conditioning routine

 I am going to walk three miles on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and long hike on Saturday. This will allow for a better routine I think.

For a good start I walked 3.1 miles tonight @ about 3.5 mp/h

Continued conditioning for Maine

 Last weekend I was elbows deep in water and cutting wood and chain dragging the timber with my cousins down home. 

I took the entire week off this past week to get rested and to heal up!

Today I went for a 6-mile hike to continue my vacation conditioning. I am going to attempt to summit Mount Katahdin with a dear friend.

I wore long hiking pants and long sleeves not to look like an idiot, but it’s part of my conditioning regiment. 

I carried my Osprey Atmos 35 with just 70oz of water in the reservoir and my otter boxes carrying my phone so I could listen to tunes while I jammed along the trail.

I saw a lot of fungi today. I saw a lot of chicken of the woods and their colors were amazing.

I saw some people who should know better than to carry no water while its hot as Satan’s Taint out hiking.  They were also dressed just like they played 18 holes lol. I don’t understand people a lot of the time.

Overall, the hike was 6.7 miles long and I did it moving at 2.9 mph average.

Be well folks!

Sonder

I will be hiking Mount Katahdin, Maine this fall

Mountain Accent Video

The truth of my life

 

There I was in and out of the children’s home without a clue how my life would turn out. There I was with major trust issues with life ahead of me. I was expelled in the 3^rd grade and that may have been the best thing that could have happened to me.  I know it seems strange as heck to say that but let’s put some things into perspective quick.

I was in the public school system, and they are looking at me as a statistic.  I come from an abusive broken home and if it were not for my grandparents, well, let us just say I would not have the life I have today.

I went into the service and that brought things into perspective fast.  I did not realize it till after that I will never have a family like that again out of the service.

I leave the military and begin my civilian life.

I have my guard up and because of past life experiences I did not trust anyone.

Fast forward 18 years and then I would find myself working on myself with no distractions.  I would learn how selfish I was and how rigid I had become ever since leaving the military.

So, let’s fast forward to today. I am a shadow of my former self. I am not perfect and never claim to be. I am mindful and respect the boundaries of others.

I have a few people in my life who I call friend.  This last sentence brings me to where I am now. As you may know, in 71 days I go to Maine for two weeks.

A dear and great friend is going to join me in the Baxter area. 

He has offered to bring his canoe to fish on some sections of the West Branch while we are up there.

I am blown away at the generous offer. I never expected this and on this trip because of him while I am in the Baxter Area turned into a ten as far as vacations go from a scale from one to ten.

I am blown away at the generosity of others.

Thank you ole friend!!

Gotta get outside this weekend!

Headed down home for family, food, laughter, and work!