NY hike

[canyonwren]

Making an utter liar of myself --just two days ago, I said I wasn't going to hike Mailbox again anytime soon-- I got up this morning in the mood for a punishing hike.

It was brutal. Holy crap. I'll post an actual trip report later, but got up to Mailbox today through steep, sheer snow-covered mountainsides and scree cliffs. I used microspikes for half the hike, then switched to snowshoes for the scree fields. They're so steep when snow-covered that I had passed by nervousness into actual fear while descending. I also didn't make it back before sunset, so spent the last half-hour navigating the hard-to-see trail via headlamp. I didn't think this would be a problem in advance, but the reflective diamonds are missing on the lower portion of the hike. I had to backtrack once when I lost the trail.

This was SO not easy. I'm going to be sore for a couple of days.

Comments

[wandereringray.livejournal.com]

It's a wicked photo though!

:D I occasionally love having those moments in life when I think "well shit, I probably shouldn't have done this..." at least I love them when they turn out okay.

[canyonwren.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean! I was just in the mood to push myself to my limits and this certainly did the trick. I think I'm going to pencil in a few different killer hikes this year designed to do just that.

This hike and the Enchantment dayhike are the two main "return to the car with legs trembling and in an altered state" hikes I semi-routinely do. This one for the insane elevation gain and Enchantment for elevation + length of hike.

I am sore today, indeed. Still thinking of going to the gym though.

[canyoncat.livejournal.com]

Yay for hiking on New Years Day though I am sure mine was much easier than yours.

[canyonwren.livejournal.com]

I saw that you got out as well! It's the perfect way to start off the new year. :)