This weekend's trip wasn't one of distance or elevation gain, but one of overall conditioning with weight. I loaded my pack heavier than usual and hefted it onto my back for a 5-mile trek through the many trails that dissect Dosewallips State Park. I was joined by my wonderful sister, by good friend Lori, and by two of my awesome grandkids - Buster and Cupcake. At eight years old, Buster has already logged a good number of miles hiking with Nana and has one mountain summit under his belt. This was Cupcake's first real hike, and she kept up like a champ. The weather was beautiful, making the hike even more enjoyable.
The Dosewallips trails loop around, intersect each other, and run all through the park. We walked for a short time along the Dosewallips River, then through some beautiful second growth forest. A portion of the time we were on the old railroad grade, and followed the route of the 'steam donkeys' of days gone by. This area was logged back in the early 1900's and small steam locomotives were used to haul the trees down off the hills, thus the term 'steam donkey'. It is richly steeped in history as portions of the trail were trade passages of the local natives that interconnect and cross the Olympics.
After hiking the trails at the state park, we took a side trip down the road to Rocky Brook Falls. We followed the short trail out to the base of the cascading waterfall. The kids enjoyed playing in the pool and climbing on the big rocks. For me it was the chance to stretch my legs without the weight of my pack.
My body seemed to handle the additional weight well, but then I rather expected it would on this trail due to the negligible elevation gain. I was able to maintain a fair pace with little effort. What surprised me was that the kyphosis in my back didn't affect my ability to carry the extra weight, which was a big plus. Portions of the trail had roots and rocks that had to be navigated, so gave my body a workout with twisting and sideways stepping. My hip flexor ached a bit overnight from the exertion, but worked itself out within a few minutes of waking. Two days later, my left knee is bothering me on deep bends and twists, but it's not overly painful. It may be wise to start wearing knee supports to ward off any permanent damage. My body seems to be bouncing back more quickly from our little adventures, which is encouraging.
Total mileage: 5
Elevation gain: 250' +/-
No comments:
Post a Comment