Backpacking Again (Part 1)
[This is quite late...this draft has been sitting around for awhile because I'm still recovering from lack of sleep, so I've decided to release this in parts =)]
So I did what I said I wouldn't do -- I went backpacking again. I think as punishment for me going back on my word, I got a similarly horrifying experience. Don't get me wrong, the people were awesome and the accomplishment was amazing, but man, that was a lot of work! Some of you already got a snippet from Nelson, but here's more of the story:
The trip was organized by our fearless leader, David. Props to him for doing an incredible job organizing a three-day trip with 10+ people. The trail was called Skyline to the Sea somewhere around the Santa Cruz Mountains and the reward was ending at Waddell Beach.
Day 1: We needed to drop off a set of cars at the end point so we would be able to drive back when we were all through -- I volunteered to be one of the drivers. The whole ordeal took longer than we thought, so we didn't get started on the trail until after 2, which gave us about 4 hours to hike 11 miles before the sun goes down. Needless to say, we didn't make it, so we speed-hiked
for about an hour in the dark after probably the worst cramp of my life on my right calf (and by this time, those with knee problems were also feeling the pain). We finally made it to the campsite where two more people we waiting for us. We chowed down on some awesome freeze-dried campers meals and set up for a good night's rest.
Unfortunately, I was woken up at around 11:30 PM by Jean who informed me that I was about to be drowned in a puddle of water. I had chosen to sleep with my head on the downward slope so that my legs could be elevated after a strenuous day of hiking -- bad move on a rainy night. The sweatshirt I was using as a pillow was already slightly damp, but I flipped around my sleeping bag and continued sleeping. I got maaaybe another hour of sleep before I woke up again, this time because it started really pouring and the bottom half of my sleeping bag was soaked in water. I whipped out my flashlight and examined the tent -- water was beading through all of the walls and since my corner was the lowest part of the slope, it was accumulating at my feet. Jean woke up again soon after, partly from being wet, partly from my flashlight (amazingly, Kolina was unphased). We basically sat around for next few hours thinking of what to do, the lack of sleep, and how we're going to continue the next day with wet sleeping bags and a wet tent. (This is when I started to text Nelson because the other 2 girls did not bring their cell phones.)
Somewhere between 3 and 4 AM we couldn't take it anymore and decided to call out to the other tents for help. David and Henry heard our cries and shuffled out into the rain to see what our problem was. They didn't have a solution for the bleeding tent, but volunteered their sleeping pads so that Jean and I would at least be elevated above the water (such sweet boys!). We also lined the sides of the wall with trash bags to deter as much water as possible from dripping on us. Kolina's sleeping bag held up much better to the water so she was relatively dry. With that, we tried to sleep for the remainder of the night...on and off for me because it was horribly uncomfortable having the lower half of me baking in dampness.
Little did I know that the first night was actually more pleasant than the second.
To be continued...
So I did what I said I wouldn't do -- I went backpacking again. I think as punishment for me going back on my word, I got a similarly horrifying experience. Don't get me wrong, the people were awesome and the accomplishment was amazing, but man, that was a lot of work! Some of you already got a snippet from Nelson, but here's more of the story:
The trip was organized by our fearless leader, David. Props to him for doing an incredible job organizing a three-day trip with 10+ people. The trail was called Skyline to the Sea somewhere around the Santa Cruz Mountains and the reward was ending at Waddell Beach.
Day 1: We needed to drop off a set of cars at the end point so we would be able to drive back when we were all through -- I volunteered to be one of the drivers. The whole ordeal took longer than we thought, so we didn't get started on the trail until after 2, which gave us about 4 hours to hike 11 miles before the sun goes down. Needless to say, we didn't make it, so we speed-hiked
for about an hour in the dark after probably the worst cramp of my life on my right calf (and by this time, those with knee problems were also feeling the pain). We finally made it to the campsite where two more people we waiting for us. We chowed down on some awesome freeze-dried campers meals and set up for a good night's rest.
Unfortunately, I was woken up at around 11:30 PM by Jean who informed me that I was about to be drowned in a puddle of water. I had chosen to sleep with my head on the downward slope so that my legs could be elevated after a strenuous day of hiking -- bad move on a rainy night. The sweatshirt I was using as a pillow was already slightly damp, but I flipped around my sleeping bag and continued sleeping. I got maaaybe another hour of sleep before I woke up again, this time because it started really pouring and the bottom half of my sleeping bag was soaked in water. I whipped out my flashlight and examined the tent -- water was beading through all of the walls and since my corner was the lowest part of the slope, it was accumulating at my feet. Jean woke up again soon after, partly from being wet, partly from my flashlight (amazingly, Kolina was unphased). We basically sat around for next few hours thinking of what to do, the lack of sleep, and how we're going to continue the next day with wet sleeping bags and a wet tent. (This is when I started to text Nelson because the other 2 girls did not bring their cell phones.)
Somewhere between 3 and 4 AM we couldn't take it anymore and decided to call out to the other tents for help. David and Henry heard our cries and shuffled out into the rain to see what our problem was. They didn't have a solution for the bleeding tent, but volunteered their sleeping pads so that Jean and I would at least be elevated above the water (such sweet boys!). We also lined the sides of the wall with trash bags to deter as much water as possible from dripping on us. Kolina's sleeping bag held up much better to the water so she was relatively dry. With that, we tried to sleep for the remainder of the night...on and off for me because it was horribly uncomfortable having the lower half of me baking in dampness.
Little did I know that the first night was actually more pleasant than the second.
To be continued...
Labels: events
posted by Koko at
7:04 PM
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