Peak Performance - Hike #2

We've just returned from a two-day backpacking trip that was the second in our training hikes for Half-dome.  Our goal was to do a long enough hike to simulate the hike from Happy Isles to Little Yosemite camp ground (approx. 7mi).  Here is our weekend recap...

Day 1 - We arrived at the Mission Springs trail head around 3PM, parked our car, and hiked about 2 miles into Fish Creek to set up camp.  The hike in was a little difficult.  We were at an elevation of approximately 7,000 - 8,000 feet carrying in the things we would need for two days.  The girls were tired from school and got hungry pretty quickly.  The terrain consisted of dirt and rocks, and much of the hike was up hill.  Once we arrived and set up camp, we had dinner, and everyone's mood was a little lighter.  We didn't know what was coming the next day!

Day 2 -  Day two was beautiful.  We could see the moon, and the girls were amazed at the blue sky.  I had had a headache all night which was at migraine status by morning, but thank goodness for migraine meds!  The headache was gone by the time we left camp.

This day's hike was supposed to be 5 miles to San Gorgonio Peak from Fish Creek (10 miles round trip).  Kelly knew it would be tough, but I don't think I quite wrapped my brain around it.  Kelly carried all the water and snacks (eternal thanks be to Kelly), so all the girls and I had to do was endure.  We figured if we hiked half-hour miles, we'd be to the peak in three hours.   Let's pause here to have a chuckle...

A half-hour mile is what an uber in-shape backpacker hikes, one who is around 20 years old and does this kind of thing a lot.  I am in my 40's and about sixty pounds over weight.  We also had a 12-year-old and a 10-year-old in tow.  Let's not forget that we're also hiking from 8,000 - 11,000 feet.  Oxygen is a necessary item for this kind of work out, let me tell you.  I really had a good attitude about the hike until about five hours into the three-hour hike.  Up was the word of the day.  We hiked up, and up and up.  The terrain was rocky and unstable and a heck of a lot of work.  As I said, I had a great attitude until we reached Mine Shaft Saddle, the beginning of the Peak trail.  Then I began to worry.  Did we bring enough food to be gone all day?  What about water?  We'd packed a lot, but this trip was taking a while!  A ligament in my left leg (the one that assists in picking your foot up and moving it forward) was hurting.  Kelly was having issues with one of his feet due to the pressure of the pack (although he is still super stud because it wasn't stopping him).  The girls were getting tired and headachy, and it was getting harder to breathe.  

 A view of the trail from our first mile or so

 The scenery

 Mine Shaft Saddle

Although we were all feeling fatigued, we knew we were close.  How could we have hiked this far and not be close??  We started the trail up to the peak and felt positive we were getting there.  Then we ran into the first hiker that said, "It's about 3 miles up."  What??  The next hiker we saw after about 30 more minutes of hiking said, "It's about 3 miles up."  By that time, I was discouraged.  I was also beginning to worry that we'd already been hiking for 6 hours.  We would be hiking back in the dark!

 If you click on this picture from the blog site, you'll see three tiny little people-like things in the middle of the picture.  Those are myself and the girls hiking the Peak trail.  

 A very sad, but cool thing we saw on the trail was the wreckage of a plan that went down in a severe snow storm in 1952.  To the right of us is the wreckage. Click on the picture to read (from blog site).

After we had hiked about 4 of what was said to be 8 of the switch backs to the peak, we sat down and had a family meeting.  What was our goal?  Was it to reach San Gorgonio Peak or was it to train for our  Half-dome hike?  We determined that we had exceeded our goal which was to train for the hike to Half-dome.  We had limited food, water and light, and we worried about making it back to camp before it was really late.  At 2:59PM, after s i x hours of hiking, we took the picture below with the peak in sight.  Jenna was crying because she'd wanted to make it.  Kelly and I felt good about the decision, and even Heather, our Energizer Bunny, said it was time to call it.

We were pretty sure we had exceeded the 5 miles that Kelly thought the hike was (he later told me he found one site that said 5-6 mi and one that said 10mi. one way), so we set a mile calculator on the way back.  We really booked on the way back because #1 down is easier, and #2 mom was torqued and walks faster when torqued.  I felt like I'd been deceived!  How could this be only 5 miles??  Well, it wasn't.  Our app calculated that we had hiked a little over 6 miles making our round trip total 12 miles!  We found out from another hiker that the peak would have been another 2.5 miles from where we'd stopped, making the hike to the peak closer to the 10 mile estimate Kelly had read about.  I would never consented to hiking 20 miles in one day.  Can you imagine??  A couple of hikers commented on our party which contained the ONLY children we saw on this trail.  I see why now.  This isn't your everyday happy hike.  It is hard work!

Our return time was 4 hours.  Kelly and I had blisters and we were all dehydrated.  We drank water, cooked dinner and went to bed.  We slept great primarily due to exhaustion.

Day 3 -  Our girls were troopers.  Did I mention they hadn't complained at all on the super hike? They woke up on day 3 with energy and spunk for the hike out.  Oh yeah, we had to backpack our stuff out two more miles today.  My body rebelled every step of the way.  Luckily, we knew we could do two miles after our 12 mile adventure.  The girls did some archeological digging while we finished up our last-minitue prep.  Then it was up and out.  I have to pause here to mention my husband who just may be a demi-god.  He is strong and very camperly (is that a word?).  It is a great feeling to know that the dude you're with can handle anything -- honey, I hope you read this far because I'm telling the world that you're amazing! We were never so happy to see our truck!  I am secretly hoping that Half-dome is a little less grueling, but even if it isn't, we're prepared!