Kings Mountain

After yesterday’s 11 mile hike, not hiking for a couple of weeks prior to that, and not eating all that well lately,  I started today’s hike tired and a bit apprehensive. It was a tough one and turned out to be a bigger bite than I could chew today.  I was with a group of eight other hikers and a hike leader I had never hiked with before (and I won’t again simply because he’s too fast for me). My friend Sherree was part of this group and Sherree was one of the women on yesterday’s hike as well.

Kings Mountain Trail is steep. It has an elevation gain of 2500 feet in 2.5 miles and the uphill climbing starts immediately. I’ve hiked on trails like this before and been able to do them BUT I’ve never tried to hike on one like this at the speed in which this group was traveling. I’m not a super hiker in super great shape but I am a hiker. I am a hiker who enjoys the challenge of pushing myself even when it’s hard. I always try accomplish what I set out to do because, well... I don't quit. However, this pace was not going to work for me. I couldn’t keep up and I knew it before any of them even broke a sweat.

I like to start out slowly on a tough trail and get myself used to it. I can’t just fly out of the stall like a racehorse and expect to last long. (Un)fortunately Sherree is the same and was also struggling with the pace. We told the hike leader to go ahead and take the group up, said we would follow at our own pace, and said we would turn back when we met up with them on their way down. The trail was an out and back, pretty straight forward. We would be fine. In that instant the summit was no longer our goal. Just like that.

After taking a moment to breathe and readjust, we started hiking on our own. I’m not going to lie – it was still a struggle even going at a slower pace. Some days you have it and some days you just don’t. Today definitely was NOT my day to climb that BEAST. It was hot and I was drained. I stopped more than I’ve ever stopped on a hike before and I fought every single step up. Truth be told, I had given up right from the beginning. I panicked because of the speed and decided I couldn't do it... and didn't want to either. As I tried to make my way up that mountain it became just as much of a mind game as it was a physical struggle... if not more so.

In the end, we turned back about one-fourth of a mile before reaching the summit and approximately 500 feet below it. I could see the trail going straight up ahead of me and I simply could not force myself to take another step in that direction. Our group had not met up with us yet but we knew they would soon so we decided to head back down ahead of them. As I was desperately trying to stay upright on my feet I realized just how steep it actually was and gave myself somewhat of a break for struggling so much on the uphill climb. (Going down I landed on my rear-end more than once!) We eventually got below the rocky gravel area and onto the dirt trail which made it a lot easier not to slip. Our group caught up with us and we then followed them down the rest of the way.

I’m proud of what we accomplished today, regardless of not making it to the summit. I enjoyed spending the time with Sherree and of course being outside in the woods. It was beautiful!

Kings Mountain is an obtainable goal, a summit I can and will reach… at my own pace on another day. You can count on that! ;)  Today's hike: 4.58 miles; 2020 feet of elevation gain.

Happy trails!

2019 Hike 28/52

4.58 Miles