When I was young in the mountains, nothing seemed to bother me. I had boundless energy, and I dont ever remember feeling sick. When I was young in the mountains, I used to love to listen to the trail, with its roaring trees, falling leaves, the the gravel that crunched beneath my feet. I loved every thing about it, when I was young in the mountains.
Now I am older, in the mountains, and you would think that I was still young. I was a bit foolish, over-zealous, and let my excitement get away from me. I had such an awesome firts hike, and you all shired in my adventurous spirit, as I climbed to the top of the mountain. It wasnt until I was trying to finish my garlic alfredo camp noodles that evening that I realized something had gone wrong.
I felt nauseous. My head began to pound, and I suddenly felt really, really, tired. Oh man! Altitude sickness. And then I just felt dumb. Last year, I went to Ecuador, and within 3 days was at 12,000 feet, with no symptoms at all. What the heck? I always pride myself on being a great navigator, holding the second rule of (Brittany's) camping to be: Know your trail map!! And I did, I knew exactly how long the trail was, where I was going, had my knife and my bear spray - even sang "Senior Don Gato" at the top of my lungs as I rounded corners of the trail to ward off any bears... But I didn't check the elevation. Actually, I had no idea what level I was at... and thus, pushed it more than I should have.
I felt awful, and so I went to bed early, about 9:45pm. It was getting cold anyway. By 11pm, I was freezing!! My head was about to explode, and I had already put on a third layer of shirts. I headed to the truck. The wind whipped through my thin thermal sleep pants, as I fought with the (*&$%&!!) tonaeu cover of the truck in the dark to get it open enough to reach my alternate pack of clothes. Damn thing would NOT unsnap in the cold. I actually broke one snap right off the frame before I was able to get an arm inside, feeling around and opening the suitcase with 2 fingers, and then blindly pulling a pair of blue jeans out through the 6 inch hole. By this time, I couldnt feel either of my hands or feet, and I was shivering so bad, all I wanted to do was get back in my sleeping bag. However, before I left the truck, I saw something that made me shake my head - at myself. After returning to the truck from my hike that afternoon, I had pulled out a school book, planning to study, and set it on the hood of the truck. I remember feeling a bit dizzy, and then digging around for some dinner to take to the campsite too. And I totally forgot the book - til 11pm. There it sat on the hood of the truck, and I kicked myself once again - I must have really been deoxygenated. Geez, Brittany.
By 2 am, I had on a wool cap, 4 shirts, 2 pants and 2 pairs of socks, inside my sleeping bag, and I was still freezing. I had the mummy portion of my bag cranked down over my head, but nothing seemed to help. However, I felt so awful and so tired to go back out in the wind to fight with the toneau cover again, to pull out the comforter I had brought as blanket-back-up. (Yes, I should have...) So I stuck it out. My phone weather app said it was 48 degrees, but I could have sworn it was 20...
I woke up with the sun at 6am. Still freezing. My phone had been set to wake me at 8am (mountain time, yall. ) but was about to run out of battery, so I pulled myself from my green walmart cacoon, and headed to the truck. I plugged in my phone, and then wrestled for about 20 minutes with the firewood in the back of my truck (mind you, this is lying on my stomach, UNDER the tonneau cover) to free my comforter. I grabbed to packs of "HotHands" out of the extra supply bin and burried myself back in the tent. And finally, fell asleep.
This morning, after making the appropriate phone calls to let everyone back home know that I hadnt been eaten by a bear, I dug out the park map, thinking that if I was going hiking, I probably needed to do so somewhere DOWN the mountain. THIS was when I finally noticed the topagraphy (correct term??) drawn in everywhere along the trails. Mom had said that my online hiking tracker logged my hike to the mountain yesterday at 9,800 feet. Yep. Said so on the map! Wow, no WONDER I felt awful! all this time, I had been at no more than 6,000 feet, and then in a matter of 2 or 3 hours, quickly drove to 9,600 and hiked to 9,800. (Insert dumbass here.)
Now, I scoured the map, which I quickly realized would have been a LOT more helpful if it were in color, (and vowed to purchase colored topography maps from this point out) and decided that the lowest hike in the park descended to 9,300 feet. I looked it up on the park website (I LOVE my iPhone, and ORanger! app!), and saw that it included some old homestead site at the bottom of the valley. Done.
I took that hike today, and felt much better afterwards. I took my time, I stopped and rested several times, and I let several groups of hikers pass me by. The worse thing that could happen to me would be to get sick. Gotta take it slow.
And you know what?! I got to see a deer! Because I was moving so slow! Tons of butterflies, a pile of bear scat (scary!) and got some more really cool photos. Even stopped to pick out a fire-poker and marshmallow sticks! Muuuch better!
This afternoon, I think I might descend a bit more and go into town to a fossil park nearby.
This trip is truly an adventure, and I am getting so many long-lost girl scout badges along the way. Here are some lessons or tips I'd like to leave, even if they are just for my future self, from what I have leaarned, when I was young in the mountains:
- Spend the money on the tent. I had the best tent in the campground, and it survived (mostly) 40 mph winds. My neighbor's tent didnt. They had to buy a new one, they said.
- Spend the money on the bag - I didn't, and I sure wish I had last night!! What I wouldn't give to have one of those feather-down mummy sleeping bags tonight! Its supposed to be in the 40s again.
- Read your map!! And know your elevations! This helps you to plan your activity level to keep yourself safe!
- Invest in the color, durable maps from the stores. They will serve you better than the ones at the ranger stations, and if you have an enjoyable trip because of it, you will mostly likely use the map again!
- Make sure your layers are easily donned and doffed. It was such a pain on the trail having to take a bunch of gear off, just to remove a jacket, and then put all the gear back on and readjust the straps, because I wasnt as "fluffy" anymore.
- Pack for every type of weather, and make sure it is all accessible for when you need it. If you bring more than you need, you will never find yourself without enough.
- If communication back home is important to you, go ahead and spend the extra 2 or 3 bucks and get the campsite with electricity... then you wont have to sit in the laundry room like I am right now, typing your blog. :)
Other Thoughts:
- I am currently unsure whether I feel a difference between the Appalachians or the Rockies. There ARE differences, but I havent decided which I like better.
- My favorite sound is STILL gravel under my feet as I walk down a mountain trail.
- You can tell how well the trails and the park will be labeled and maintained by how much effort the state puts into their state park websites. Kudos, Colorado!
- I thought I would smell pine up here, but so far, all I have gotten wiffs of is skunk... The air literally has no odor!
- At the homestead, I could really identify with the people that had lived there. I had brief visions, and thought that I could enjoy a life like that. I also thought it was heart warming to know that the only reason they left the site was so that the children could attend school more regularly in town. Education has always been something parents wanted for their children.
- I also had a brief vision of a native american. I saw the fur-lined moccasins he wore, and heard the clink of his native jewelry, made of wood and bone. He was very comfortable in his life, and was grateful for the earth and all it gave him. Me too.
