Yesterday I went on a hike arranged by Emily. It was incredible! We walked close to 7 miles. The highest elevation was 520 feet dropping to -12. It was 30 degrees and thankfully it didn’t rain.

We went to Palisade interstate park. Initially we missed the first bus (sucked for me because I had only 3 hours of sleep and got a lot of caffeine in my system). The group was pretty good about entertaining each other for the 2 hours we had to wait for the next bus.

We got on at 11 am and took the 45 minute trip to one of the entrances. I set my GPS watch and joined the others ahead of me. We walked a mile to the rest stop area and I realized that my bag might be a bad idea. I had packed so much liquid (including caffeine) and a full lunch that made it difficult for maneuvering. We set off on the path and immediately I realized why Emily’s email had mentioned that the hike would have been “moderate to challenging.”

We descended down tiny stairs and led unto rocks along the water. Of course I became concerned. I hate heights (I get vertigo) and my huge bag wouldn’t allow me to be as nimble as I could be without it. Allegedly I was the person who would have been the most in shape for this trip (yea right). Let’s just say weights and running doesn’t really prepare you for tiring climbs on 3 hours of sleep… But, how amazing it was when we saw the scenery and ate lunch at the top of the climb. Everyone did incredibly well keeping up despite the cold.

After lunch, we continued on, stopping at the rest stop one more time, before we continued on our way. We proceeded again before dusk approached. At the bus stop we stretched (which I’m sure helped today), and waited about half hour before it rolled in. We got up, I napped and headed home.

By the way, all this time, I had no phone (it died and I had to have it replaced). It was quite liberating. I synced my GPS watch and screen captured the images.

 

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  1. Giant Stairs | Emily!Duong

    […] GPS map & data from Jerlyn – read more about the hike at her […]

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