This was my preparation for the hike and the many blisters I was going to receive.
In class we got separated into food groups. Of course Bailey, Addie and I wanted to be in a group but they had to be four or more and so we really lucked out with Jackie. This is a picture of us on day one at the ORC before we even left for Swan Lake.
We really didn't know the daunting task that was ahead of us on this hike but it looks like we are ready to tackle it. We hiked for about 5 or 6 miles the first day. We don't really know because our TA was leading the class and I swear he was making up the mileage as we walked.
We ended up camping right near Chicken Spring. By the end of that day I had a nice collection of blisters forming and I knew there was no way to stop them coming by masses now. Addie and Bailey slept under the stars because they only brought a tarp. That threw Jackie and I into a tent together. We all told her that there might be some spooning going on to prepare her for her wedding night in a few months.
Day two rolled around. We were looking as dapper as ever in the same clothes we wore the day before. We started out the hike that day. It was mostly up hill but not too bad. We passed by another lake that most of the class jumped into. I really wanted to but that would mean I would have to unwrap my feet and then wrap them up again. No thank you.
We found this really cute outhouse on the trail. I used it and probably got 5 different STDs from it. That is okay. It is all about the experience right? While having a little break by the outhouse is when we found out that Jackie has the same love to Celine Dion as the rest of the food group. Basically, there was a moment and a lot of love shared all at the same time.
My blisters were getting really bad this day. I made the whole group stop twice. I felt so bad but it needed to be done. The first time we stopped it was because I thought I had two blisters on my pinky toe and they were driving me crazy. Brother Wood and Porter (the TA) thought it would be less painful if they were popped. I completely agreed. Sooner than I could say "pepperoni," Brother Wood broke out a pocket knife and cut them open to find that there was another blister under the blister he popped! I am so prone to getting blisters that I produced a double decker blister!! That is impressive. We had to get all of the liquid out of the blister before we could wrap my feet again. Brother Wood was being so kind to me but it just hurt so bad that I burst into tears and asked him to stop. He continued after I told him I was ready. I was over after a lot of pain and he wrapped my feet up again.
The next time I asked to stop, Porter was the one who took care of me. Brother Wood went out in front of us and so Porter was in charge. He thought it would be best to unwrap both of my feet, pop all the blisters, dry them out a little bit and then wrap them up again. That is exactly what we did. The picture above is of Porter's wrapping job in the process. Everyone was so nice to me and did not complain when I asked to stop or took a lot longer than we all expected. After he wrapped my feet we hiked for about 10 minutes and we were at the place were we were going to camp for the night... I wish he would have told me that and I could have just toughed it out.
This man right here is named Chris but really I know him as Indiana Jones. He thinks he is the know it all about everything. Oh my gosh. He drove the whole class crazy. The first day he started out with a long sleeve button down tee shirt and by like 2:00 he had it unbuttoned to his bellybutton with no shirt underneath. Nasty! Every time he would walk up to us we would all start humming the Indiana Jones theme song. By the end of the trip most of the class had caught on except for him. We kind of always expected him to swing in on a vine of break out a whip out of his backpack.
The second night we slept right by a water fall. Some of the boys hiked behind the waterfall but this is about as close as we got. That night it rained and I thought I was going to die. We had no rain fly. We used 3 small tarps instead to hold back the rain but they did not work very well. We still got soaked from every side. Bailey was in our tent that night as well. When the rain started to get really hard along with the wind we all started screaming. Bailey and I both asked Jackie to say a prayer. She started and then we screamed at her to, "SAY IT FASTER! SAY IT LOUDER!" Then after the prayer to calm ourselves we broke out into Celine Dion music. We also screamed for our TA Porter to come save us because he was about 5 feet away. He never came. There was apart of us that thought Indiana would swing in from a vine and lash ropes or something and save the day but that didn't happen either.
In the morning everyone said they heard us that night. They were all so comfortable in their tents with rain flies when we got shafted. We asked Porter why he didn't come to save us and he said, "I thought about it." Oh my. Don't worry we didn't die. That night was just the camping trip from Hades.
There was another boy in our class named Kyle aka Aquaman. He wore those shoes that are toe shoes. He would get leaves stuck in between his toes and just walk around like nothing is happening. It was like he had broccoli in his teeth. Everyone knew about the leaves except for him but I am pretty sure he was aware. He also wore these funky wilderness tights that just made it awkward to even look at him. At least he was comfortable.
Look at how wrapped up my feet got by the last day. This is also our last picture as a food group. We were ready to finish our hike!
Porter warned us that the first part of the hike that day was going to be steep but holy crap was it steep. I thought I was having a stroke or something. Not only was it steep but the elevation and altitude was killing me. There was not enough air. I got to the top after we trudged through snow and completed what felt like the walk of death. Once we reached the summit we ate lunch and had a water break.
I don't know what is worse... walking up hill or walking down hill? There is that rule or theory or whatever that, what goes up must come down. We had a long hike down the side of the mountain. I hiked about 1/4 of it with Katie, Brett and John but shortly all got separated and the rest of the 3/4 I hiked alone. It was about 4 miles of pure silence I had. I swear that trail was never going to end. I got to a creek and had no idea which way to go. So what do I do? If I said I knelt down in prayer I would be lying. Instead I peed basically right on the trail, drank some water and waited for someone to catch up to me. Porter came up the trail because he already finished. He showed me which way to go. He also offered to take my backpack but shoot! I was so close to finishing I wanted to do the whole thing by myself. I said no thank you and then pressed on to the finish line. I also ran into Aquaman coming up the trail and he also offered to take my pack. I said no thank you again and about the longest 1/2 mile of my life I finished the hike.
Was it worth it? Maybe. Would I do it again? Heck no! NEVER EVER!
My class is awesome and now we are all BFFs. I am so glad that I really got to know theses people.
My favorite quote of the weekend:
* mosquito lands on Brett's shirt near his nipple*
He says, "It wants to nurse!"
This is part of the damage done to my feet this weekend. It could have been worse.
