I decided to head down to the high peaks to "test drive" my slowly recovering ankle and see how it coped with the mountain trails. Hurricane Mountian seemed like a good choice - the trail isn't too long (2.5 miles) and not too tough (although it does climb 2000ft). Add to that a nice open summit and it was a done deal. I drove down after lunch with a plan to summit in the early evening. For the most part things went well. I had to pay special attention to my footing at all times as the ankle still feels a little soft. There was a nasty stretch of trail that was loose and gravelly (tricky footing) but for the most part it was a great trail. I only tweaked my ankle twice and neither time was too serious. That said, having been off the mountain trails for 6 weeks meant that it was a pretty tiring hike. Legs and lungs were put under duress... but that's all part of it and the first step back to trail fitness is now taken.
After the hike, as I headed to Lake Placid I was flagged down by a group near their car. It was a group of students (pdf's) from Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal whose battery had died while they enjoyed a hike. We tried to boost them with their wimpy light duty jumper cables but it was a no go (I don't usually put my good cables in the car till the snow flies). In the end I ferried 2 of them into town where we got a mechanic to call a tow truck to help them out. I like to think I topped up my good karma quotient with that save and - while I waited at the garage to make sure they would actually get a tow truck - one of the girls ran next door to the depaneur to buy me a box of cookies for my efforts... so there's that even if the karma thing doesn't pan out!
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1 comment:
Hurricane is quite steep in places so if you survived that you are ready for the santanonis next sunday! Great to have you back in the woods!
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