Another sidebar: this particular hike took a toll on Chris. It was a little tougher than she might have anticipated, and she hit a wall about 1500 feet below the summit. She did, however, persevere and got a standing O when she topped out. She showed a great deal of resiliency and determination in summitting, and maybe learned a little something about herself. Kudos Chris! Just the beginning!
"How hard is cross-country going to be, right?" nice in theory at least. I'd never done anything like this hike before and all that shifty scree crap and the steep inclines definitely took a toll on me. I got into a place in my head where "whats next" encompassed not only the summit, but the return trip and the only thing my brain could work itself around was "Oh my god I'm going to die if I have to try to go back down that scree slope".... this gave Laura lots of ammo to holler at me about ;-) Actually she didn't holler, but again, coached me through a new experience in my life and helped make me a stronger person and hiker.
So... Gary... things I learned on this trip....
1- I -can- walk on steeply inclined, ever shifting, one step up-three steps down, no trail stuff without dying.
2- Sometimes the easier way down is on the OTHER side of the hill
3- Looking at the "whole" picture can lead to a very defeatist attitude. Chunking the picture into segments... even if it's just another 20 paces up the trail... helps things soooo much....
4- My pace is my pace... if I get there 20 minutes or 2 hours after the rest of the group... so long as I get there, thats what matters.... sticking to it and not giving up
5- Contrary to popular (or just my own) belief.. it's not a 12 hour drive from Lone Pine to Furnace Creek.
6- If I'm going to DV from SD... the Trona Road turnoff from Red Mountain cuts about 40 + miles off the drive...
I'll have you know that as I was driving past one of my local regional parks today I was evaluating the trails and thinking to myself "I could use that one to train for next time" and have started trying to figure out where I can get cross country here in San Diego.....
Thanks for a great weekend Gary (and John and Harlan and Laura and TomCat and... and ... and....) It was totally worth the 7 hours drive time...
