Elevation Gain: Approximately 3500 ft.
Time: 8:15 am - 5:05 pm
Weather:
Did 26 miles today. Ran 5, hiked 16, ran 5 again. Total time 8hours and 50 minutes.
The last time I did this specific hike was in July, back in week 99 (or 14 weeks ago). It is the longest day hike I have ever done. It kind of kicked my butt too. I reread my blog entry, and I mentioned my sore feet. What I did not mention was my feet were destroyed. The hike down from the lake back in July literally destroyed my to big toe nails. The problems with my feet in the Wind Rivers two weeks later had been because of this hike. In the last two weeks, I lost both toe nails finally, and this week I returned to the hike that took them from me.
It is a long story how this hike was picked. Basically, Creighton had decided he was going to do it, and I tagged along. I was a tad nervous, but I went anyway. We were at the Carbon River Road trailhead early enough and geared up and walking by 8:15 am. I have been running, and Creighton is a runner. I looked at him and asked, "Doesn't make sense to walk this road does it?" 50 minutes later we were at the Ipsut Campground.
I took out my hiking boots from my pack, and I changed into hiking mode. We then walked up at a good clip. At the suspension bridge, half a mile below the glacier and 4.5 miles from Mystic, we took a snack break. The sun was out, so was the glacier and the mountain. We got going about 10~15 minutes later, and we didn't break again until the lake.
It is amazing how much stronger running has made me. It is a steep hike from the bridge up to the lake, and we were breaking fresh tracks in the snow from Moraine Creek all the way to the lake. We were at the lake around 12:30 pm, about 4 hours and 15 minutes after we started. The lake was covered in a thin layer of ice. The quiet solitude was perfect.
We took off at 1:15 pm. The hike down was uneventful but perfect. We were back at Ipsut around 4:15 pm. I changed back into my running shoes, and we were back at the car 40 minutes later after we started running. Total time was 8 hours and 50 minutes to do over 26 miles.
Orchid: Doing the longest day hike I have ever done, and feeling like I had more left in my legs.
Onion: Cold, wet, feet, the whole hike back down.
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wow! this is beautiful! i enjoyed this post a lot. thank you for sharing. i'm heading out to washington in february & i hope the mountains are still snow-capped. i can't wait to read more of your entries!
ReplyDeleteI don't know why it took half a year for me to see this comment, but it did. Thank you and I hope you enjoyed Washington while you were here.
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