Memorial Day Adventures in Backpack training

 With my North Country Trail trip postponed until next year, I have the chance to test out gear, get in shape, and figure out things like food, pace, and rest. The first adventure in practicing/testing all of this was Memorial Day weekend.

My husband and I left from work on Friday after work and headed to Lost Creek Wilderness area with the hopes of having decent trails and minimal snow. We chose a lower route again hoping for good trails. A good portion of the Lost Creek Wilderness consists of open valleys divided by groves of trees. It is a beautiful area that few people are aware of in the Metro Denver area. 

Upon arrival to the trailhead, after getting Wendy's for dinner, we found a place to setup camp just up the connector trail a little. It was a perfect place for the night. We were close enough to return to the car in the morning to fully pack up and get started, but far enough from the trailhead to not be bothered by people passing on the road.

The next morning, we got up, packed up our packs, and headed out on the Colorado Trail Segment 4 to do a lollipop loop of the Lost Creek Wilderness. The first day was planned to be on the Colorado Trail from Long Gulch Trailhead to the connection with the Brookside McCurdy Trail. Along the way, we decided to take a detour at Payne Creek trail as the trails appeared pretty dry and clear. This would lead us to do the Brookside McCurdy Payne loop instead of going past The Castle. We found a great spot to setup camp next to a stream, and got in at such a time to be able to relax, which was much needed as I had vomited at one point during the day and was having trouble wanting to put more food into my body. 

I'm not real sure what caused the vomit episode. I was trying to make sure I took plenty of breaks as I often power through things and then deal with the repercussions later. That has not helped in the past as I just perpetuate the problem. So, I had stopped to rest while my husband chatted with some runners he knew doing the Brookside McCurdy loop on a long run. Upon returning to our trek, I coughed a little, and then threw up. From there, my stomach was unsettled the rest of the day, and I was afraid of putting in more food. About 4 miles from the end of our day, I finally pooped, which I had been needing to do since the beginning but had trouble with because we kept leap frogging another duo in the woods with their dog. This helped my stomach a little and by the time I reached camp for the night, I was able to eat...after some rest.

After wonderful sleep for the first real night out on the trail, we got up, had breakfast, and headed out for our new route. Day 2 brought us across a section of the Payne Trail that my husband and I had hiked previously. It was nice to have the familiarity.

 

This day, I woke up feeling good, and had hardboiled eggs and some cheese for breakfast. These did not stay down long, and I found myself vomiting more than the day before. It was a really weird phenomenon as I felt fine otherwise, but just ended up puking everything I had in my system. Once I got it all out, then I was mostly alright except for the lack of energy as the day wore on. At one point, I discussed camping at the Payne Creek Trailhead and having my husband run to get the car in the morning to come get me. He talked me in to continuing. I was able to get a little bit of food into my system and keep it down, so I agreed to keep going. At this point, the thunderstorm rolled in.

We moved along the trail slowly, making many stops to rest. With our slow pace, my husband finally took some of the weight from my pack. That helped for a little while, until it didn't. He then took my pack for awhile and I took the dog. My husband had the task of finding us a camping spot and setting up camp as it was beginning to snow. We made it to a trail junction and I took my pack back, as I was warmer with it. This of course slowed me down along with the increasing nausea as we climbed to 11,000+ feet. At the top of the pass, the wind whipped up from the valley and nearly froze me. We found the first flat spot with a tree covering it and minimal snow, and set up camp. My husband moved quickly as I was shivering too much. I should have stopped to put on my warm layer, but just wanted to find camp. Lesson learned there. 

As soon as the tent was up, I was inside with my pack digging for warm, dry clothes, and getting in my sleeping bag. Thank you Wilderness First Responder course from March 2020. I was still having trouble warming up, and once my husband got himself settled, he draped himself over me to help warm me up. It was not long and I was finally not shivering and had warmed up enough to think clearly. At that point, I was very tired, but semi-hungry. My husband cooked us dinner after making hot chocolate (my favorite calories on ANY backpack trip) and I was able to put some calories in. 

In the morning, we woke to this beautiful winter scene     We got up, packed our packs for our final hike of the weekend...back to the car! I was actually feeling better despite having had a major episode of vomiting in the tent, where I brought up the acidic yellow contents of my stomach. I was still nervous about eating, but at least I was feeling good enough to get moving. 

The day was magical in the beginning with all the snow cover, although it was challenging finding the trail at times. Then it started warming up, and things got sloppy. It had not snowed enough to really cover the trail, but made it sloppy enough to be careful as we hiked along. After a rough night with our first winter camping experience, learning on the trail, we put on our packs and hiked with purpose to get back to the car. The trek to the car seemed longer than the whole weekend put together. We started to wonder if we somehow missed a turn. Once back at the car, it was nice to remove the muddy/wet shoes and put on flip flops. We had survived, and we were thankful for the experience.