| While this is not formally training, it was a sufficiently arduous and interesting workout to merit logging. One of my coworkers is a very experienced hiker - he's climbed all peaks in New Hampshire over 4000 feet tall and hiked the full length of the Appalachian trail, e.g. He, two others, and I all decided to go climb Sandwich Mountain in New Hampshire. I alone brought snowshoes; everyone else just had hiking boots. We estimate the average depth of the snow along our hike was 5 feet, judging from cross sections we observed, the height of the trail blazes, and the depths to which we sunk when the snow gave out beneath us.
The climb was arduous, but beautiful. Starting at an elevation of about 1300 feet, we first summited Noon Peak, at 2575 feet. After a lunch break, we tackled Jennings Peak, at about 3450 feet. The climb was much slower with snow that it would have been otherwise; I estimate that about once or twice every 100 steps, a foot would sink through the snow. In any case, while we planned to hit the summit of Sandwich Mountain, we reached the time at which we had decided to return just after we hit Jennings Peak.
At the end of the day, my body ached in various places, as a combination of stresses from the snow shoeing and the run the previous day. My legs in particular are knotted and strained, but I am not incapacitated from pain. Snow shoeing was a novel experience, and generally fun. Poles are very helpful. |
