I was priviledged this past weekend to go hiking for the first time with a group of Rangers from Montgomery. We left on Thursday evening for Dahlonega, GA, where we spent the night in the five star Days Inn. I borrowed some of my gear, like the back pack from Jason O. and a water filter from Jamison. We set out Friday morning to hike up Blood Mountain, the highest point on the trail in Georgia.
At the beginning, it wasn't too bad. Flat ground for the most part. I felt good, and thought, this is pretty easy. Then came the first elevation. Wow! I wasn't ready for that! I thought 2 things going up the first time:
#1. Can I really do this? We haven't even hiked a mile and I already feel like I am going to die.
#2. This will probably be my last hike.
Well, I made it to the top of the first elevation and dropped my pack. That is where the picture above was taken. That's why I am the only one without a pack. I think my body and mind were in such shock, I couldn't fathom doing any more. As we continued on, (if there is one thing that I am not, it is a quitter. I was not going to quit no matter how tough it may have been.) the trail got a bit easier. Mostly we went down or straight ahead, with a few smaller hills. Before I knew it, we had hiked 3, then 6 miles. 2 more miles to the top of Blood Mountian.
The next 2 miles were pretty brutal. I started out in the back, but eventually passed two of my hombres. I made it to the top of Blood Mountain. Pretty proud moment. Going down was about 2&1/2 miles that we wanted to finish before dark. I hung with Justin going down and we made it behind Dirt & Chuck. We got to a little store right as they were closing, and the guy let us come in & buy some things. I got a hot dog, coke, and a gatorade.
I took 2 Tylenol PM's before bed (which didn't do a thing for me) and settled in between Chuck and Gillis. That was a pretty sleepless night, and I woke up almost on top of Gillis as our tent was leaning downhill. Thanks to Chuck for being our anchor, or we would have ended up down the hill next to some old tire.
With Gillis out with a hurt knee, I shamefully didn't hike day 2 with a pack. It wasn't too bad the second day, except for the last mile. Mostly uphill, I had to dig down deep to make it. At the end, it was all totally worth it. I loved it and definately will do it again.
5 comments:
Way to go Ryan. I expect you to make it on all the hikes now! For real, I hope you can be a regular on these excursions. Later!
Well I was rather worried that you would really struggle on this hike. But you seemed to handle it fine so next time you need to let me tag along! I love you!
Thanks, wife.
you can leave baby will with grandpa
Austin & I did Blood mountain with Trp 76 back a few years. I had to take the young ones by car to the bottom of mtn. 2 1/2 miles with two gallons of water in my backpack. There were about 28 total and we stayed the night in the shelter on top. Dropped to below 25 but the moon was full and I know you saw a beautiful place. Way to go.
Post a Comment