Wow, I went on my very 1st winter hike yesterday. I picked a real challenge for my 1st one, I can tell you. I hooked up with a hiking acquaintence after she emailed me about this hike the Chimney Mt. With a short bushwhack to a nearby pond, the round trip was 6.5 miles. I've done that distance many times so I said sure, why not?
So yesterday was a great learning experience.
Lesson 1: Winter hikes are much harder than summer hikes. I think from now on I'll multiply the distance by 2 or 3 to get an idea of just how tired I'll be at the end.
So we get to the trailhead and due to a delay in the rest of the group's arrival, we didn't get hiking till nearly 10:30am. It was only 20 or so, maybe less, with wind gusts to 25 or 30mph. I dressed in layers; long johns, flannel shirt, Stadium coat. With a fleece jacket with me. I had heavy gloves, Smart wool socks and light hiking boots cause we were going to snow shoe. We didn't snowshoe and I thank God for that. The hike was hard enough.
Lesson 2: Rethink how I dress. I was too heavily dressed. By the time I got to the leanto, about 2.5 miles, I was soaked with sweat, my boots were wet and my gloves were soaking. If we stopped moving, my clothing began freezing.
Lesson 3: Bring extra, dry gloves and other essential clothing.
So we stopped for a quick lunch, only about 15 minutes. I ate a food bar and had a couple swallows of hot tea I brought in a thermos. We hiked on about 1/4 mile or so to a trail marker to the pond. The sign said .7 mile. This is the bushwhack part of the trip. It was the hardest .7 mile I have ever done. By the time we got to the pond I'm even wetter. My water is frozen at the top of my water bottle. I had to knock it against my hiking pole to loosen it but I did manage a drink.
Lesson 4: Water bottle upside down in the holder will help (not prevent) keep the water from freezing in the top opening of the bottle.
We sat for a rest at the pond but the wind was gusting so hard that we didn't stay long. I was seriously concerned about frost bite. So now we get to bushwhack back but it's a little easier cause we've already blazed a trail. We get to the leanto and we rest but now the sun is going down. So, we decide we can rest in the cars and we hurry on our way. Note that every time we stop, my hands and feet start getting cold cause all by clothing is wet. As we force our way along, the circulation rewarms me but at this point, I don't want to stop cause both my shirts, my pants and everything else is beginning to freeze as the temp starts dropping.
Lesson 5: Always have a jacket with a hood. (Which I did) The hood pulled up over my fleece hat gave me a wind break and added alot of heat to my head and ears.
Luckily, I didn't notice on the way in that the way to the leanto was 95% uphill. That meant that when it counted, on the way out, we were going downhill. Certainly more treacherous but lots faster when it's so cold and the sun is setting. It felt like a death march. The last mile was a constant forcing of putting one foot in front of another. This, after 3 days a week at the gym. Finally, after the sun set, we get to the trail head.
I took my hat and stadium jacket off at the car and put on my fleece jacket for the ride home. As soon as I took the hat off, my hair froze. I didn't have any extra shoes or socks or boots with me so I had to ride home in wet feet.
Lesson 6: Bring dry shoes and socks and leave in the car for when you get back from your hike.
So now I'm home and dry and have had a good night's sleep I feel ok. My feet were a concern but this morning only a little heel pain from the plantar facsitis. Also a little overall stiffness. It's -8 degrees this morning but the sun is up and in a few minutes I'll take the dog for a quick walk and stop to see my mom. I'll do some stretching too to loosen up. I dropped 2 pounds yesterday. I'll do another winter hike but probably skip the bushwhacking and perhaps do a shorter hike.
