colvin & blake.

i am not in the habit of skirting the truth or fibbing to you here on this blog. it is because of that fact i will honestly tell you that i am more sore right now than i have been post-hike in quite some time. to put it bluntly, mt colvin and blake peak kicked my ass.
i am sure there are high peak warriors that will snuff at this and the fact that it took us 10 hours to cover the 14-point-something miles round trip. adam and i are in pretty decent shape. we go to the gym (fairly) regular. although it is entirely true that gym-shape does not equal trail-shape, we were not unprepared for this trek.
it was a beautiful day, clear and sunny. there was only one couple we passed on the same route as us which is highly unusual in the high peaks. we saw multiple deer and they were not afraid of us.
great range and lower ausable lake from mt colvin
(view of lower ausable lake from the summit of mt colvin. note the black fly top center)

we also hiked two mountains. we hiked mt colvin twice actually because you have to backtrack the way you came to get back to the trailhead.
i think it was the col between mt colvin and blake peak that wiped me out. the colvin side was pretty steep with two ladders positioned along the way. i fell/slid at one point, scraping up the side of my right arm. slick mud and steep descents don't mix, especially on tired jello legs with black flies dive bombing your eyes and ears.
(me descending into the col between colvin and blake. *photo by adam)

the summit of mt colvin was gorgeous with amazing views of the entire great range and giant mountain. the summit of blake peak was...well...unremarkable. it is entirely shrouded in scrub trees. there isn't even much of a marker to give you the comfort that you FINALLY made it. granted, i was so wiped out when we summited blake that i couldn't care less about views. i wanted to sit, get out of the beating sun, not hear incessant fly buzzing and gather the mental and physical energy to hike the 7+ miles back out.
on the summit of blake peak...completely exhausted
(me entirely exhausted on the summit of blake peak. *photo by adam)

high peaks completed as of june 15th, 2012 = 41

5 comments:

  1. nothing easy about getting that patch...I know that isnt what it is about for you but the difficulty you speak of is exactly why less than 7,000 people have done it in 75 years!! Great job!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks for the encouragement, corin! i heard that you have your own trip planned soon. i can't wait to hear/read about it!

      Delete
    2. yes, may be biting off more than we can chew with the four tough ones we plan on hiking but the plan can always be altered depending on weather or the possible exhaustion i am betting on!! i cant wait to get out there though. your plan for the next two sounded cool. i loved skylight.

      Delete
    3. i like that we'll both be kicking around in the same area on the same days. while you might not see me, i'll wave at you from the top of allen mtn on thursday and skylight on friday :)

      Delete
  2. I did Colvin & Blake yesterday (16&17/46). I feel the same way - I haven't been this sore after a hike in a long time.

    ReplyDelete