I am in the process of working harder every day with heavier pack weights in my hiking. I have a goal to get my hiking legs back and in shape. I don’t know if you have ever seen a picture of a hardcore long distance hiker but their legs look ungainly and huge especially the calf and thigh muscles. This is how I need to be to hike the ungodly elevations on the Appalachian Trail. For some reason the trail planners didn’t understand the concept of switchbacks. It is all up and downs.
I just went for a long hike out spring road and am now soaking wet. A good thunderstorm caught me by surprise. I could hear the thunder off in the distance for a good while. I started to walk faster and faster and was dripping wet from the sweat and the humidity. Soon I felt the first cold winds from the storm front and knew I was screwed. What started as a slight downpour soon turned into a deluge. The lightening popped around me and made me cringe.
I quickly took my pack off and put on the rain cover and my poncho. I took off my tennis shoes, socks and pulled out a pair of teva sandals I had in my pack. They were the only pair of tennis shoes I had and I did not want them soaking wet. It is much easier to dry out a pair of tevas.
An hour before, I was so hot and soaking from the humidity and my exertions and now I was freezing cold from being wet and the temperature had dropped at least 20 degrees. It had dropped from the nineties to the seventies in a matter of minutes.
Well, I finally made it home and am wet and smell like sweat and rain. I am soon going to head to the bathroom and take a nice, long, hot shower. Lather up the hair with shampoo and scrub all those other parts.
I love this kind of stuff. Am I odd? Most people would hate being caught in a rainstorm like that but for me it is food for the soul. I feel so real and accomplished. I feel as if I just weathered a tough moment and made it through unscarred. I love that feeling of adrenaline. Maybe I am just an extreme sports junkie.
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