Yes! Maybe I CAN do this?

If you read the first post for this trip, then you know how deeply I doubt my ability to do this (hike Kilimanjaro). But I came to New Mexico and Colorado to acclimate to high altitude and do some training hikes…hoping that maybe it would give me a better shot.

On my last full day in Albuquerque, I decided to test myself with a big hike. The La Luz trail to Sandia Peak is 8 miles and 3,500 feet in elevation gain ending at 10,500 ft. It is a BEAST of a hike. I felt really intimidated by it and almost lost my nerve but I thought, “how can I dream to hike Kili on summit night when it’s 4,000 ft. in elevation gain at 19,300 feet, if I can’t do this?”

That morning, as I cleaned the stove in the van, I realized I was procrastinating. I found a few more, “I should take care of this right now” tasks, trying to put off this thing I needed to do and wanted to do, but dreaded to do. Hike this stupid mountain.

The first 5 miles weren’t too bad. It was constant UP but it wasn’t incredibly steep, just steady climbing. I tried out a new strategy and took short rests every mile and sat, drank 8oz of water, and had a micro-snack (half a RX bar). I didn’t eat any breakfast except my usual, which is to put protein powder in my coffee. So, a snack at mile one made sense to me. By mile 5, I was feeling run down, so I rested longer and ate more (trail mix and dried apricots). I was feeling good at this point, feeling self assured and confident.

But the next 2 miles were pretty rough. ROUGH. It was switch-backing across a rock slide and it got steeper on top of being at 9,000 feet in elevation. I was puffing, my heart rate soared well into the high 150’s, and I needed to take frequent standing stops just to let my heart rate dip back down. My legs wobbled and I was getting clumsy with fatigue. I wondered if I was going to make it and worried about falling on the rocks with no one to go get help if I broke bones. Those 2 miles tested my resolve and shook my confidence, but I kept going.

When I reached the crest, I knew I would make it. The last mile or so wanders along the crest with little elevation gain, making its way over to the tram station. The really nice part at the end is that I didn’t have to hike back down. I took the Tramway down and got a Lyft back to the trailhead. Ok, so I kind of wimped out at the end but I still did a hard thing.

The next morning, I wasn’t even sore! My Achilles wasn’t angry anymore either (thanks to the wonders of medicine – diclofenac sodium cream is awesome!).

So, maybe?

Maybe I can hike Kili?

I also know that summit night on Kili will be 4,000 feet up, and then 10,000 feet down, which is significantly harder. I will have to accept that it will be what it is when it happens.

I will summit, or I won’t. But no one can say I didn’t try!

I spent the next day driving to Fairplay, Colorado (the town that inspired South Park) which is 6 hours from Albuquerque. It’s a long drive but I stopped at the Ojo Caliente Hot Springs on the way and spent a couple of hours relaxing the tension away.

The weather was crappy today with rain, icy wind, and thunderstorms. Big hiking is out of the question when thunderstorms are brewing. So I walked around Fairplay in the morning and then spent most of the day with Rosie the Wondervan and my laptop. Tomorrow, my husband will fly into Denver and meet me in Breckenridge, where I hope to “bag” my first “14er”. Which is a silly way to say I hope to hike my first 14,000 ft. peak in Colorado…if I can find one that isn’t buried in snow.