Hiking

Yesterday Nic and I redid the 'Lost' hike. We made sure we had the directions and map this time. We headed off on the right track and within a couple of minutes my calves were very sore. I think wearing high heels (I think they are about 10cm)the two days prior was not the wisest move. The shoes look good and are extremely comfortable to wear but until I went hiking yesterday I didn't realise how much they give the calves a work out.

I did wonder if I was going to be able to do the full hike due to my legs hurting but I also knew if I kept going I would eventually push through the pain and all would be fine. We were walking for an hour before we consulted the map and it was then that we realised that we had walked up the wrong path. We were wear we were supposed to be, but didn't go the right way to get there. The written directions are not the best (the people organising this 50km hike really need to do a better job) so it isn't always easy to work out where to go.

We kept walking and came to an intersection and and from looking at the hills and knowing where we were going and the directions I chose one direction. Nic chose the other as his map showed us going off track. We went Nic's way, which ended up being wrong so we had to double back again. Thankfully we didn't go to far. Once we were on the right track we made it to the top of the hill and stopped for lunch.

After lunch we walked to where there will be a hydration point on the day of the actual hike. This is where we had Robyn pick us up from last time. I managed to walk down hill a lot quicker this time but I still can't run down, just too worried that I will end up rolling down the hill. I don't imagine that would be fun.

After the hydration point we kept going. The path at this point goes along a road. I did not feel entirely comfortable about this as the road has some blind corners and I don't particularly want to get hit by a car. I do wonder how they will work this when the actual hike is on. The directions told us it would be a steep incline and it wasn't wrong. My legs were still a little sore (I have realised when walking up hill I walk on my toes, a lot) but I slowly plodded up the hill taking minimal stops and managed to get up the step hill without too much problem.

We eventually came to a crossroad where we had a discussion over which way to go me going by the written directions and Nic going by the map. I am glad that on the actual day of the hike there will be people to follow as Nic doesn't seem to have the best sense of direction. I think I ended up making Nic go my way but he wasn't convinced it was right. Later on I then made us walk on a narrow track that went around the hill. According to the written directions this was right but again according to the map on Nic's phone we were off track again. I stand by the fact I knew where I was going and that the map on Nic's phone is wrong. The fact that we ended up where we were supposed to says this as well. :-)

The hike ended up taking us 6 hrs (that includes our lunch break), 14.47km and up an elevation of 408m. I was completely knackered at the end of the walk and fell asleep almost as soon as I sat down to eat dinner.

It was a great hike and I look forward to doing the next leg (will remind myself not to wear high heels in the lead up to the hike though).

The view at lunch

Distance travelled today: 14.47km
Distance travelled so far: 496.79km
Distance left to travel: 25,260.96km