Preist, Southbound

Prepping for the Real Deal

The day is here and my wife Bobbi, her sister Jackie, my brother Craig and I are stoked…..1st hike to prep for the real deal.  I had decided it (the real deal) wouldn’t be until I was eligible for retirement.  That would be spring of 2016 at the earliest and it would give us plenty of time to really prepare.  My brother and I both hunt and grew up camping, so we had a reasonable amount of initial equipment.  It was summer 2012 and our packs with food and water were 35 and 36 pounds, respectively.  With me in front, the hike to Priest was on!  I started out like a bat out of hell and being all up hill, it didn’t take long for me to hit the first wall.  image

Maybe this wasn’t gonna be so easy after all… slow your roll.  I’m maybe and hour and a half into the hike when I feel the throbbing of a muscle spasm in adductor #1.  It’s a good time to stretch and take a break.  10 minutes later, we’re on our way again.  My brother is having little problem and patiently slows down and waits for me.  30 minutes later, that 1st adductor is joined by adductor #2.  Are you serious?  At this point, we’re close to the top, or so it seems.  First rule about getting to the top is that just when you think you’re there, you’re not!

Another 45 minutes or so and Priest is right in our sights.  We’re alone at Priest, take lunch and refill our water.  We have another 8 miles or so to go.  At least it’s not uphill… my legs are still throbbing… is that rain?  Out of nowhere on a really nice day a storm blows in and starts drenching us in a deluge.  It actually is making my legs feel better.  We slosh down the path heading for Seeley-Woodworth evading the growing river we’re walking in.  Late afternoon we pull in and it’s off with the packs.  I lay on the floor of the shelter and pray that my legs don’t cramp up, working hard not to move.  Ok, this isn’t going to be easy and we only went 11.4 today… am I in that bad of shape?  This thru-hike ain’t gonna be no walk in the park ya moron!

Affiliate Disclosure

This website contains affiliate links, which means The Trek may receive a percentage of any product or service you purchase using the links in the articles or advertisements. The buyer pays the same price as they would otherwise, and your purchase helps to support The Trek's ongoing goal to serve you quality backpacking advice and information. Thanks for your support!

To learn more, please visit the About This Site page.

What Do You Think?