Hiking season is open!
Finally! I’d been watching the weather with anticipation, and I had a small window of mild weather with only a little bit of rain to go on another hike! So I headed out on this hike on May 3rd!
As you all may remember, the last time I went on a long hike, last year, I busted up my ankle really badly. So I wanted to tackle the same path again to prove to myself that I could do it without any disasters.
Since it’s the same path as last time, I don’t have so many pictures. The landscape is fairly brown and muddy, too, so it’s not the most gorgeous at this time of year. But it’s a kind of rugged beauty that I enjoy, regardless!
And of course, I needed food. I made my own hard bread this time. It was very tough on the outside, but a little chewy on the inside. They’re like thick crackers, very bland, but something to fill my belly as I walk!
And one of my students from NOVA, Hayato, sent me many Japanese sweets a few weeks ago. I’ve already eaten them all… but I wanted to save his favourite for the hiking trip! They were sweet gummy candies that gave me a great boost of energy. Thanks Hayato!!
And I stopped one more time a little bit close to my campsite. This is the highest hill on the hike, and it was the one I stopped at last year right before I sprained both ankles. The first picture below is from last year, the next one is from this year.
This time, I got down the hill with no problems! I got to my camp site with no pain (other than my back with a heavy pack) and settled in. I ate a sub sandwich as I relaxed and listened to the ocean waves.
Some of you might remember that on last year’s hike, because of the ankle problems, I ran out of water on the way out the next day, and I had to squeeze water out of my towel! So this time, I made sure I had a way to get more water. There’s a stream near the campsite where I could get fresh water, which was good because I needed to clean my filthy legs and feet, haha! Using warm water on my legs in the cold weather was quite soothing!
I also wanted to test a water filter straw that I had bought last year, so I could actually drink the water. I could have boiled the water to make it safe, but that would have been too annoying. But this time, I had no problems with drinking water, thankfully!
After a mostly comfortable, but quite cold, night, I started out the next morning. I was very tired the next day, so I didn’t take many pictures on the rocky road out to meet my husband. But I got out after 5 hours, and was happy to finally finish this hike properly, instead of the mess I was in last time!
I’ll be posting another blog next week about some more trail maintenance that I did a few days ago, so come on back and check it out! :D
