Hiking in Seqouia National Park

This last week I have been on vacation in California hiking in Seqouia National Park with my Dad, Uncle Eric, and cousin Ben. We left at 6:30am Sunday morning and hit the trial by 12:30pm. The plan was a six day hike to Kaweah Gap and back. A round trip of 42 miles. At first 42 miles doesn't seem too bad, but really it is! I weighted my pack before we left and it was 39 lbs. (obviously showing that I am a true amature) while my dad's (a pro) weighted 30 lbs. Nine pounds doesn't seem like a whole lot of difference, but when you're hiking 42 miles on rugged turane it makes a huge difference. That first day was a killer. My legs were so tired I just didn't feel like I could go on. The next day was even worse! My dad asked me last night if this was one of the most difficult physical things I have ever done and it definately was. I'm sitting at home right now writing this with two big blisters on my heals, calfs that are so sore it adds more to the tenderness of my walking, and thinking about looking into hip replacement. On Wednesday morning we slept by Little Five Lakes. Absolutely beautiful, with the Black Rock Pass looming above us, waiting to take one of us as a victim.

It was switchbacks for two hours, two hours of painful climbing up to and elevation of 11,600 ft. While feeling victorious once we reached the top we looked at the other side that we had to go down, and while downhill looked a whole lot more inviting, and knew it was going to be hard. Again, not really too bad, but with almost a 40 lbs pack it's killer. It took 2 hrs. to go down this mountian. This is where I was starting to think about hip replacement. This is also where the blisters started coming into play. But the scenary was amazing.

Thursday was a decently easy day compared to the previous ones. We traveled about 12 miles so that we would be in good position to only have to go about 8 miles on friday so we could be back to the car around 12pm and head home. Which everything worked out that way. We were moving about 2 miles an hour, which is suppose to be pretty decent. At this point in the trip all I am thinking about is what I want to do first once I reach civilization. One thing I was having visions of was a power sized Jamba Juice, which I ended up getting around 2:30 friday. Other top choices was a shower, which I hadn't had all week, a clean bathroom (specifically a toilet), and a nice clean, soft bed to sleep on.
Overall, looking back (even though it's 24 hrs. later) it was a great time. While I was hiking I was thinking, "This is how I chose to spend my vacation?", but I'm glad I went. I had a great time with the Foreman men and I got to see some of God's amazing creation. But I'm excited to be heading back home tomorrow (it's still kind of wierd to call Missouri home).