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.

Flexibility in Adventuring During a Pandemic

Well, this post is a little late. I wanted to post on the day I was supposed to start my thru-hike of the North Country Scenic Trail (22 Apr 2020); however, I was actually working that day. Yes, I was working. With the development of the Coronavirus/COVID19 pandemic, I watched as shelters on the Appalachian Trail closed down, and the Boston Marathon got delayed to September. With the change in date of the Boston Marathon and states closing across the nation, I flipped my itinerary plans to start in North Dakota vs Vermont. Then, I saw more closures of the big trails like the Pacific Crest Trail, and heard stories of thru-hikers being pulled off. This pandemic started to get a little more real, and watching the news told me this was not going to be my year for doing a Thru-hike. I could not in good conscience leave my fellow healthcare workers during a pandemic that looked like it was knocking them down daily.

So, a week prior to my stated last day at work (10 Apr 2020), I notified my boss I would stay on for another year. He got me put back on the payroll, and I was included into the 4 day rotation of research nurses in the office/clinic. As Good Friday (my proposed last day) came, followed by my birthday (the alternate start date in North Dakota), I worked on embracing the idea of "training" for the North Country Trail (NCT) this summer vs actually hiking the NCT. Thank goodness the North Country Trail Association created the virtual #hikefromhome allowance to their annual Hike 100 Challenge.

Each year, the North Country Trail Association encourages hikers and backpackers to enjoy 100miles of the NCT and receive a patch. Knowing I was going to be hiking the entire 4800miles of the trail, I signed up for the 100mile challenge the beginning of the year, and even posted on the facebook group page that I would be doing the 100mile challenge x48. Well, COVID had me wondering whether I will even get 100miles on the trail. That's when I got the notice that the NCT Association, for the month of April, was allowing any miles walked/hiked to count towards the 100mile challenge, all I had to do was post to the facebook group and add #hikefromhome, #hike100nct, and #northcountrytrail to my post. I was able to complete the 100miles in just 8 decent hikes all without having to drive anywhere.

This new knowledge got me motivated to get started, and I headed out on my first hike from home adventure in training for my now NCT Thru-hike2021. Colorado was shelter in place except for essential activities and luckily, exercise is considered essential in Colorado. I left my home about midday and headed out with my trusty dog, Jasper (who won't be able to join on the true NCT due to animal restrictions in certain areas along the trail).

The first adventure I recorded was to Green Mountain and back home. An adventure that took me 9.39miles and made me realize how many people use the trails at Hayden Green Mountain Park to recreate. So, I peeled off the main trails on to the animal trails to maintain social distancing guidelines. Then followed the C-470 bike path to the neighborhoods, past the shelter where we got Jasper, and back home after a stop at the water ditch for Jasper to swim a little and cool off.




The second adventure was longer than the Green Mountain adventure, and I made sure there was plenty of water involved for the dog. Jasper and I took off from home and headed to Crown Hill Park, 3miles northeast of my home. We ventured through neighborhoods to get there, and then wandered the entire perimeter prior to moving towards the lake in the middle and thus allowing Jasper to swim and cool off. We enjoyed taking in the adornments of people's yards. On the return home, we stopped to say a little prayer at the outdoor statue of Our Lady of Fatima, enjoyed some time in a water ditch, and met up with my husband with whom we shared our day's adventures. Eleven miles completed for this hike and to get us to 20miles of the 100 goal.

On to the third adventure. For this adventure, Jasper and I took off from home again heading towards downtown Denver, namely Sloan's Lake. My husband warned me it was going to be busy at Sloan's Lake, but I was not aware just HOW busy it was going to be, and I was glad I had my thicker buff to use as my mask. A lot of my loop around Sloan's Lake consisted of walking not on the concrete path but through the grassy yard areas. Occasionally, Jasper & I would duck in to the lake to cool off the dog. Then, it was a matter of completing the loop as quickly as possible and returning home. I had hoped to stop by Joyride Brewing to pick up some crowlers and support one of my favorite beer joints. Unfortunately, they were not open at the time of my return. On the way to Sloan's Lake, I forgot to mention walking a little of the 40 West Artline. It is such a neat little artistic walk along the Lakewood Gulch bike path that then goes up and past Casa Bonita north of Colfax Avenue. I revisited this path on my birthday hike from home. This one got us 14miles.

Adventure #4 was to the west and in to Golden, CO. This one was a little more adventurous as the snow had started. The day before was the above mentioned trip to Sloan's Lake where it was beautiful and sunny. My what a night can bring. So, Jasper and I bundled up, and headed to Golden, CO on foot. It is amazing what snow does for recreation and social distancing. I have to say, it reconfirmed my love of snowy weather. The whole 14miles, I saw maybe 5 people, a far cry from the 30-50 people I saw the day before. Also, my sunburn from the day before turned into frostbite for this adventure day. We were planning on doing a loop, until I lost Adventure Jane and had to retrace my steps to find her. Luckily, nobody was on the paths, so I had no problem finding her. Another 14miles brought me to 48miles of the 100mile goal.

The next adventure, #5, was my birthday adventure where I met my 2 favorite coworkers/good friends at Casa Bonita and took them on a tour of the 40 West Artline. We had so much fun touring in the snow (a little worse than the day before). There were so many fun interactive things along the art path that we decided we would need to revisit in better weather and after quarantine. This day, I wore my unicorn onesie for warmth and my friend brought me birthday decorations that I wore on the walk of the artline as well as all the way home. It was probably my favorite hike of all of them, and covered 12miles.


Adventure #6 was to take some presents to a friend who lives 5 miles north of me. I was planning on dropping it on her front porch and then notifying her I had left them. Fortunately, she passed me along the road as I was nearing her home. So, she sat on her porch swing and I stood by the road while her kids played in the yard, and we had a great time catching up. After leaving her place, I had the pleasure of revisiting some enjoyable neighborhoods I had not toured for a long time. There were lots of tulips and hyacinth out to remind me of "wildflowers." We were nearing the end of our 100miles. This adventure brought the total to 70miles after having completed 10miles.

Almost finished...
Adventure #7 took me and Jasper south from home with our eye on hitting Bear Creek as a watering hole and cooling off spot. The creek it self was pretty busy, but we stayed near the creek and were able to do pretty well at social distancing. It was a fun adventure covering locations I had not visited for a while. Jasper enjoyed the creek, and we both were happy to see my husband at 2miles to go on the 14.5miles.





The final adventure was back to Golden, only this time we went all the way to Clear Creek and back home over South Table Mountain for a total of 16.75miles. This adventure was the longest one and completed the 100mile challenge. It was a beautiful sunshine day and there were many people out. Luckily, my paths were in neighborhoods where I could cross the road or walk down the middle of the road as needed to keep 6ft from everyone. On South Table, there was enough wind to fly my backpacking pocket kite, and enough water for Jasper to keep hydrated without the water in my backpack.


It was good to complete the miles, but none of these compare to the adventures of the NCT. These adventures are routes I have run, walked, or biked so many times I could have done it blindfolded, and were completed between stressful days of work, either from home or in the clinic. The joy of a thru-hike of any long trail is to reconnect to people and see how communities across the nation interact. It is also a joy to be able to remove yourself from overpopulation and technology to view the beauty of the woods and again how the community interacts with nature. Being able to count on yourself and remember how to take care of yourself using the minimal items available or relying on strangers/strange communities, adds to the adventure of a long distance hike, as well. I will continue to adventure close to home until I can finally head out on the NCT in April of 2021. These mini-adventures have re-ignited my love of touring on foot even in the places I have visited so many times. There are always new things to see, find, and do even in the known places of your neighborhood.