The First Through Hike

Today is the day! I thought as I packed the ice pack into my backpack. The blue ice block will keep the sandwiches and cheese cold until lunch time, and I made sure to bring plenty of snacks! I continued in my thought process.

Okay, let’s back up about 5 minutes. We overslept and woke up 10 minutes before our (my hubby and I) planned leaving time of 5:50am. So I rushed into my clothes and shoes, brushed my teeth and grabbed a comb and face wipe to use in the car….luckily, I had pre-packed our backpacks the night before, so all I really had to do was grab the cold stuff and go. We made it out of the driveway at our planned time and headed to fuel up on gas and coffee 😊.

Today is the day we do our first 14 mile through hike! I’ve done lots of hiking in the past, but only short trips down random trails we Google 30 minutes before we go. We met with our friends at the trail head at 8am. And we were in for a surprise!

The name of the trail is The Elk River Hiking Trail. According to AllTrails (a really cool app), the trail is 14.1 miles long one-way and is estimated to take 6 hours. There is an awesome billboard style sign at the beginning of the trail that informs us otherwise.

Okay, the extra mile, not really that big of an issue…the extra hours, though…not for the faint of heart. What were we to do? We had traveled 2 hours by car to get to the trailhead and had already left a vehicle at the endpoint. There was nothing to do except strap on our backpacks and start walking.

The trail was AMAZING! It was a perfect day, not too hot or cold and just the right amount of sunshine. We walked through cliffs 30 feet high on either side, and on top of cliffs 30 feet high above the river. We climbed over rocks and fallen trees. We slipped through dried up creek beds that now served as graveyards for the driftwood pushed in by rising waters and left there as the water receded. The terrain was rugged, as the sign implied, rising, and falling in elevation reminding me of trails I had been on in Colorado…. I had to keep reminding myself I was in Kansas.

We made it to the 7-mile marker and stopped for lunch. While we ate our sandwiches, cheese, and chips and drank our water… we saw the spiders! What looked like granddaddy long-legs holding their tiny black and orange bodies 3 inches off the ground. They were all over the rocks we had chosen to sit on for lunch. Gave me the creeps! I had to keep checking behind me to make sure there were none trying to sneak up on me!

After lunch, we began hiking again. I loved listening to the sounds of the birds calling warnings through the trees, after all…. It is their home we are hiking through. At times I would hear a rustle in the underbrush beside the trail and I just knew there was a lizard, or a small bird, or a chipmunk that had scurried away at the sounds of our feet on the trail. We had set a steady pace, so I did not stop and hold still long enough to see. I did see the armadillo that scurried off the side of the trail so fast he startled my friend into a high-pitched scream and me into a jump backwards. We frightened each other!

As the day wore on and miles melted behind us, my hubby saw two dog size (coyote?) creatures run across the path in front of us. We saw many animals but the ones that I was the most scared of were those spiders! I just can’t! 😉

By the time we reached the 10-mile marker, we were all struggling. The bottom of my feet hurt, and my backpack was starting to rub a blister on the front of both shoulders. I chose to wear my barefoot Merrill hiking shoes…. very soft, thin sole with excellent grip but that I could feel every rock in all their sharp edges on the bottom of my feet. This is a “rugged” trail, which meant there were jagged rocks jutting out from the trail at odd angles and positions. I learned I need a good firm outer sole with a nice cushy insole for hiking, among other things. For example, why did I put a CAN of tuna in my backpack? I bet that can weighed 10 pounds in there at the end of the hike, lol!

We all made it to the end with blisters on our feet and aches in our legs. I loved the hike, including pushing myself to the end! I learned a lot on this first through hike. Most of all I learned, you must get out there and do it! The more I hike, the more I learn about what I do and don’t need on a hike.