Last week, my mom asked me if I wanted to walk the Dungeness Spit with her, the longest natural sandbar in the United States. It's just north of Sequim, WA, and I've been there twice before, but never managed to walk even halfway. However, this was a long time ago, and she promised me that it was only five miles. Five miles, I can do that even on a bad day, I thought, so I agreed.
Turns out it was five miles there and back - JUST on the spit, not including the mile walk to get to and from the spit from the parking lot. Getting to the lighthouse at the end wasn't all that bad, in fact, it was pretty nice. Very overcast, rather blustery, even rained a bit on the way out. I enjoyed it immensely. However, after puttering around the Lighthouse, taking some pictures, and getting cold, I realized my hips hurt. I thought - hmm, that's stupid. I walk 5.5mi, and it's my hips that are hurting? I figured it would go away, but it didn't. So by the time I finished walking the 5.5mi back to the car (which took about 3 hours), I was barely coherent from the pain. So that part wasn't fun. I'm assuming it was just the walking on the sand part, legs don't like sinking into the sand step after step. Next time I decide 11mi sounds totally do-able, I'll smack myself. Of course, I've never had that problem before, so I guess it would be difficult to predict that sort of reaction.
Anyway, for my hiking class, we won't be going on any sand. Just hiking in the Olympics and Cascades. :) I'm quite pleased I had the idea to take this course, it's going to be a lot of fun. The instructor is really into ultra-lightweight packs, so I won't have to do any of that 40lb pack/massive hiking boots garbage that M. had to go through when she took the class in 2001. I think the overnight trip will be most interesting. Last time I went camping, I had no problem sleeping on the ground, but it was a thick sleeping bag in a nice tent. I have a feeling I will forgo fluffy sleeping bags and big tents for more practical sleep needs, since I'll have to carry it all in with me. Should be fun! But no more of this walking miles on sand and rocks stuff. No thanks.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
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2 comments:
Hey, safety tip. :)
When you have pain walking on sand near water like that, try walking on the wet sand instead of the dry stuff. its like walking on a rubber road. nyways, u prolly already knew it but i figured id remind you. :)
tide came in. On the way TO the lighthouse, I walked in the wet sand. On the way back, my shoes got soaked (and my socks, of course) when the water when up OVER the spit and down the other side. yuck... Walking on the driftwood helped a bit, but then, that only goes as far as one log. :)
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