Well it has taken a long time for me to write about this trip because it is hard for me to put into words what happened. For me it was a wake up call in many ways. Through it all I found a good hiking partner who guided me during our hike in July. We had 9 peaks scheduled but I only ended up doing two Mt. Marshall and Mt Colden. We got in late and planned to hike into Flowed Lands in the dark. This proved to be more challenging then expected. Hiking by headlamp is sometimes a difficult task. You are not always sure about your footing and it just feels a lot different then hiking in daytime. Regardless of this we were able to get to our lean-to at Flowed Lands without a lot of problems. The very next morning we got up to find the good part our breakfast the eggs was eaten by a bear. We did not have enough room in our bear canister so I had the eggs in a small Nalgene bottle. I figured this would hold up but there were claw marks in the side and top was ripped off. So we had sausage for breakfast which proved not to be a good for a hike.We started from Flowed Lands and headed towards Colden Dam in search for the Mt. Marshall herd path. We were able to find it easily and we then started our ascent. Rich got way ahead of me, so I let him go and hiked at my own pace. I have never been a slow hiker so I was amazed that he got so far ahead of me. Near the top I branched off on another herd path that was descending. I knew it had to be wrong so I back tracked and started yelling for Rich. About 10 to 15 minutes later we found each other. We had both been yelling each others names during that time and both of us could not hear each other. So we then got to the top of Marshall and had lunch. Our descent was quick and we made it back to Colden Dam.
From this point we decided to split up. Rich would climb Iroquois and I would climb Colden. As I started to ascend I knew I was running out a steam fast. I decided to press on and get to the top. It was a hot day and I was sweating a lot. I had some to eat at the top of Colden but I proved not to be enough. On the way down I started to lose my mind a little. Eventually I got to Colden Lake and still had a bit to go. I was fading fast and knew this could be the end of my hike. I struggled to get to Colden Dam. Rich had been waiting for me and he saw that I was not right. A group offered me some soup and I ate it only for it to come up again several minutes later. I sat on the Dam not wanting to go anywhere for a good hour. We still had about a mile to go to our lean-to. Rich had to make a decision because at that point I could not think for myself. We decided to try to get back to out lean-to. It took us twice as long to make it back and I fell several times because of exhaustion. He was able to keep me going and we made it back.
When we got back I ate a little and went to bed, I woke up twice during the night and threw up. The next morning we hiked out 4 miles to the car. We had a good lunch/dinner at Ausable Inn and I still was not feeling right, the owner took good care of me. They gave me orange juice mixed with cranberry juice and I came back to within minutes. We decided to stay there for the night and re-charge. Rich went on to do two more peaks (Cascade and Porter) and after that we made the 8 hour trip back to Harrisburg PA.
All in all I learned a lot about my body. What I can do and can’t do. Also I learned that eating the right foods on the trail can make or break a trip. I plan to make a lot of changes for my next hike in April.
