Saturday Went snowshoeing for the first time! On a mountain which my friend and I had never hiked before. A solid 14-mile round trip adventure. There was fresh snow at around 3,500ft from previous snowfalls, and nobody had been up the trail in probably two days. We didn't actually make the summit because we: A: Made a navigational error that put us above where the trail really was. B: Took too long to figure that out and C: Didn't bring headlamps and had three hours to make it back to my car. Still an amazing day, snowshoeing is so much fun!!! Tuesday/Wednesday Another climbing night last night. Went to a bar after and re-encountered a guy I had met there a couple of months ago. It's basically been the neighborhood bar since the 1930's and is my favorite bar out of any place I've lived in. But the interesting part: turns out this guy is an Olympic swimmer who has won medals. What are the odds? Good guy to drink with, too, maybe I'll convince him to go climbing or running with us. Aaaaaaaaand I met somebody again. Date number one was Sunday, date number two is tonight. There was this moment where she was just looking at me. And I was looking at her. And there was silence. It felt like she completely disarmed me in that exact moment and I haven't been able to shake that feeling since. I'm excited to see her, and maybe more importantly I'm nervous to see her. I've complained about lacking that sensation here on Hubski and elsewhere but I very much have it right now... The Run Down Between all the above, ETH, and more, I've been thinking a lot about what I have earned, haven't earned but lucked out upon and where life is going. It's starting to feel like there's a guiding force that keeps putting me in the proximity of some incredibly interesting people, places, and scenarios. But ultimately, I have made the choices that have led to this, nobody has forced me to make these choices.
14 miles in snowshoes the first time out is great, especially with the elevation gain! So is turning back when necessary! Any hike that ends with all hikers safe and uninjured is a successful hike. Any interest in a post to geek about gear? I know I'd enjoy discussing stuff.
Only four of the fourteen were with the snowshoes on! But it was great any way you dice it. A gear geek thread would be awesome! Gear, clothing, and training!
Training is a good one! I follow an Adirondack hiker forum, and the conventional wisdom there is that running isn't hiking. But some of my strongest hikes were during my marathon training or a month after the race. Maybe road running on comparatively flat areas isn't ideal for mountain hiking training, but it seemed pretty effective. I'm considering signing up for another marathon in part to motivate myself to be in good shape for hiking.