It’s me again! There’s been so much going on I haven’t had time to update you on my adventures up in this neck of the woods.
Back on June 20 we held the first annual epic Summit Run-It – a 12km run in the Northern Rockies. We had 30 runners show up and 10 dogs. Not bad for no advertising and it was held the day before the solstice which up here means nearly 22 hours of daylight. I also ended up making race medals with a caribou stamped on them. I can be crafty.

Okay, onto other epic-ness. I did my first backcountry hike a week ago. It was 3.50 days and 3 nights. I was with four others who knew what they were doing which was good because I didn’t. I also brought Kobi. We hiked an area called the Wokkpash. Google it if you’re interested, it’s kind of cool.

My pack weighed a mere 55lbs. That’s 40% of my body weight. I was pretty certain my hip flexors were going to snap under the strain during the 2 hours of the 5 or 6 km we covered the first night.

The next day Kobi had her first near miss with a porcupine. She was on a leash after that as the e-collar didn’t slow her down fast enough. By now my hip flexors were a little more understanding, not so much my hip bones. The hip belt on my pack was digging in pretty deep by now. I named my pack Cruella that day.

Day 3 was more hip pain, back spasms, an insane climb up a mountain as well as more porcupines. Kobi’s feet were showing some wear so I tried putting her boots on her feet, but they just immobilized her, that wasn’t very helpful. Kobi was also unimpressed that I did not bring her princess bed along. I was also wishing for a princess bed.

Day 4 was only about 23km worth of valleys and small mountains as well as four river crossings. My hip bones were causing so much pain after the first 2 hours I could only use my shoulder straps on Cruella. Thankfully I had eaten 8lbs of my 8.5lbs of food by this time so my pack was maybe closer to 48lbs. Easy peasy.

With only 2 km left, my right Achilles decided to betray me and I caused a bit of a teary, pathetic scene. Thankfully one of the trekkers in our group is ridiculously strong and carried my pack as well as his pack the rest of the way while I hobbled along feeling sorry for myself. I did give him the rest of my peanut M&M’s for his help and reduced Cruella’s weight by another 300g. Not that anyone noticed by this time.

I will admit I had a few “dark” moments with myself on this trip, but that happens when you’re hungry, sleep deprived, experiencing significant pain, and haven’t showered in 3 days. Reflecting back on this trip now that I’m all clean and not so hungry, it was pretty cool (except for the hip bruises which are still very painful). I haven’t given up on backpacking and will do a trek somewhere else again, just not next week, more like next summer.

Ever backpacked in the back-country? What are your thoughts on porcupines – cute Ewok type creatures, or mother-natures nasty surprise (for dogs)?