Epilogue- Superior Hiking Trail August 2011

It seemed so easy to plan. You take 2 weeks off and you walk 201 miles with 20 lbs on your back, with no rest days at all, averaging about 14 miles per day.

Why do my plans lately seem to be so grandiose!

Well it didn't turn out quite that way. I started on time, the weather was fine and kept my pace for the first four days, but come to the end of the fourth day my feet and stamina were at an end.

I suppose that working 6 days a week with constant travel and no real time to physically prepare might have had something to do with it, but I didn't imagine that I just couldn't drop everything and walk 200 miles....

I believe my mid-life crisis might be to imagine that I am still invincible.

To be fair, this is where the combination of my vision and Christine's planning made some of the previous adventures more attainable. I would give visionary suggestions of locations and logistics and Christine would make the mileage more realistic.  Our pace together was much more reasonable than the pace I typically (or anyone) sets alone. I averaged about 2.2 miles per hour even with rest breaks and water stops.

None the less, the time on the trail (except for the last 5 hours of the 4th day) was a great time. If you take the trip just as 4 day hike from the northern terminus of the SHT to Pincushionn B&B it was a success. 60 miles in 4 days in not bad by any ones standards, especially over what I was told later is the roughest part of the SHT.  I can go back and pick up where I left off at anytime and do more sections until I have completed the remaining mileage.

My goal moving forward is to design more attainable hikes. This might mean shorter day mileage to help my feet or more rest days to recover during the hike. Either way I plan to stay out in the woods as much as I can, but try to be more realistic in my goals.... oh ya, I could also get into better shape before I go!

GPS of waypoints at the starting and stopping of each day


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