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Yep, I'm a complete and total idiot. I did something today that very well could have ended worse than it actually did. I guess I feel the need to torture myself more by posting about it. [img]smile.gif[/img]
I drove up north this morning to hike a trail in the Adirondack State Park, which for those of you who believe that the entire state of New York is New York City, is one of the largest and most beautiful forest preserves in our country. In any case.
I selected a short, easy trail, a 3 mile trail from the side of the main route through the park (north south road) that heads east a bit and then turns north to parallel the road. I hadn't been on this trail before, but I researched it before I left, so I knew where it came out and what to expect.
My plan was to hit the trail, hike it down to the river, chill there for a bit, then hike back down the road to my car, which at that point would be about 1 mile south of where I came out (the trail is really windy).
So I get to the trail head, put on my boots, strap on my knife (ya never know), and stick a bottle (1 Liter) of water and a peanut butter granola bar in my pack.
That was my first mistake. I didn't take enough water. The first rule of hiking is to always bring more water than you think you'll need, and I basically threw it out the window out of laziness. My thought was, a 3 mile trail -- piece of cake. And it would have been, but things didn't go quite to plan.
I got about 1.5 miles into the trail, and I was starting to get eaten alive by mosquitoes, I mean worse than I've ever seen (I was covered in DEET too). The trail was destroyed, it appears that they converted it to a snowmobile trail and never bothered to tell anyone? So, what that means is, they level out parts of the trail that have large rocks or downed trees and in the process create dips in the trail that fill with stagnant water and become mosquito breeding factories.
So I'm literally getting eaten alive, but I decide to move on because in either direction at that point I would have hit the road at the same distance.
Unfortunately, about 1/4 mile further in, to my dismay, the trail was completely blocked by downed trees and overgrowth -- totally impassible.
My only choice was to turn back, and honestly with the bug situation and the horrendous condition of the trail I decided it would be for the best anyway. I consumed 90% of my water on the hike back.
Here is my second mistake. I let my mind wander off, completely oblivious to my surroundings, and I ended up passing the trail exit (which isnt marked and is hard to see) to the road. I realized this when I saw before me a 45 degree incline in the trail that seemed to go on FOREVER.
I didn't turn around and go back. I reasoned that the trail would cut out to the road 1/2 mile down, because I had passed that trailhead on the way to the trailhead I entered at. (At this point I'm on a completely different trail BTW, this one is 18 miles long, instead of 3, as I discovered a little while ago).
So, I made the decision to just hike the incline, because I didn't want to go back through a mid pit that had trashed me earlier. Third mistake.
By the time I was halfway up the incline, which was drastically longer than it had appeared from the bottom, I was screwed. I was out of energy, sweating like a bastard, covered in blood from swatting the mosquito hoard that had surrounded me, and now dehydrated, dizzy, and with a horrible headache starting due to the dehydration. I sat down on the trail and proceeded to vomit out the contents of my stomach.
I'll skip to the end, because I know it's getting long. I did finish hiking up the incline, made it out to the road, and then backtracked to my car (another huge hill) walking the road. By the time I got to the car, I was covered in stagnant mud, eaten alive, covered in blood and dead bugs, had a severe splitting headache, was dry heaving every 5 minutes or so, and generally felt not so good.
I drove to the nearest store and purchased a half gallon of iced tea, half of which came back up in the parking lot of the store. I must have been a ****ing sight.
Anyway, the moral of the story is, if you're an out of shape programmer and you spend your days sitting on your *** in front of a computer, even if you hike often, just give up. If anything goes wrong, you're screwed. [img]smile.gif[/img]
I had planned to be home by 2:30 PM, and I didn't walk in the door until 6. I missed a party that I promised someone I'd go to. Bleh.
I drove up north this morning to hike a trail in the Adirondack State Park, which for those of you who believe that the entire state of New York is New York City, is one of the largest and most beautiful forest preserves in our country. In any case.
I selected a short, easy trail, a 3 mile trail from the side of the main route through the park (north south road) that heads east a bit and then turns north to parallel the road. I hadn't been on this trail before, but I researched it before I left, so I knew where it came out and what to expect.
My plan was to hit the trail, hike it down to the river, chill there for a bit, then hike back down the road to my car, which at that point would be about 1 mile south of where I came out (the trail is really windy).
So I get to the trail head, put on my boots, strap on my knife (ya never know), and stick a bottle (1 Liter) of water and a peanut butter granola bar in my pack.
That was my first mistake. I didn't take enough water. The first rule of hiking is to always bring more water than you think you'll need, and I basically threw it out the window out of laziness. My thought was, a 3 mile trail -- piece of cake. And it would have been, but things didn't go quite to plan.
I got about 1.5 miles into the trail, and I was starting to get eaten alive by mosquitoes, I mean worse than I've ever seen (I was covered in DEET too). The trail was destroyed, it appears that they converted it to a snowmobile trail and never bothered to tell anyone? So, what that means is, they level out parts of the trail that have large rocks or downed trees and in the process create dips in the trail that fill with stagnant water and become mosquito breeding factories.
So I'm literally getting eaten alive, but I decide to move on because in either direction at that point I would have hit the road at the same distance.
Unfortunately, about 1/4 mile further in, to my dismay, the trail was completely blocked by downed trees and overgrowth -- totally impassible.
My only choice was to turn back, and honestly with the bug situation and the horrendous condition of the trail I decided it would be for the best anyway. I consumed 90% of my water on the hike back.
Here is my second mistake. I let my mind wander off, completely oblivious to my surroundings, and I ended up passing the trail exit (which isnt marked and is hard to see) to the road. I realized this when I saw before me a 45 degree incline in the trail that seemed to go on FOREVER.
I didn't turn around and go back. I reasoned that the trail would cut out to the road 1/2 mile down, because I had passed that trailhead on the way to the trailhead I entered at. (At this point I'm on a completely different trail BTW, this one is 18 miles long, instead of 3, as I discovered a little while ago).
So, I made the decision to just hike the incline, because I didn't want to go back through a mid pit that had trashed me earlier. Third mistake.
By the time I was halfway up the incline, which was drastically longer than it had appeared from the bottom, I was screwed. I was out of energy, sweating like a bastard, covered in blood from swatting the mosquito hoard that had surrounded me, and now dehydrated, dizzy, and with a horrible headache starting due to the dehydration. I sat down on the trail and proceeded to vomit out the contents of my stomach.
I'll skip to the end, because I know it's getting long. I did finish hiking up the incline, made it out to the road, and then backtracked to my car (another huge hill) walking the road. By the time I got to the car, I was covered in stagnant mud, eaten alive, covered in blood and dead bugs, had a severe splitting headache, was dry heaving every 5 minutes or so, and generally felt not so good.
I drove to the nearest store and purchased a half gallon of iced tea, half of which came back up in the parking lot of the store. I must have been a ****ing sight.
Anyway, the moral of the story is, if you're an out of shape programmer and you spend your days sitting on your *** in front of a computer, even if you hike often, just give up. If anything goes wrong, you're screwed. [img]smile.gif[/img]
I had planned to be home by 2:30 PM, and I didn't walk in the door until 6. I missed a party that I promised someone I'd go to. Bleh.
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