Aconcagua 2009 Expedition

Last weekend, I decided to mix-up my training hikes, and went to Big Basin to try something different than Black Mountain and Mission Peak for a change…

Big Basin Hike - 7/25/2009 (note the wrong-turn detour on the lower right)

I loaded up the car at around 8am, make a couple breakfast burritos, filled all the water bottles and headed out at around 8:30…

The drive to Big Basin took about an hour and 20 minutes, and I arrived at the parking lot at around 9:45…  As I pulled into the parking lot, I had a rush of panic… uh oh… I took the superfeet out of my hiking boots and had them in my La Sportiva Spantik’s for training…  and the original insoles I left in the truck… oh CRAP!!!

I pulled into a parking spot, and peeked into my boots that were sitting on the passenger seat and sure enough…  no insoles.  double CRAP!  I sat in deep thought for a couple minutes:  If I drive home, I’m done for the day; If I hike… what about my feet – Are insoles absolutely necessary?

Well, I decided to give it a shot… I might as well get a couple miles in, so I put liner socks and smartwool mountaineering socks on, slide on the boots which definitely had extra room, and went and paid for parking.

I got back to the car, and loaded up my pack -
    1 puffy jacket in the sleeping bag space�
    2 - 8 lb dumbells
    1 – 3 liter dromedary bag
    3 – 1 liter bottles
    1  – 1/2  liter bottle
    2 – 1 liter camelbaks
    1 – 1 liter bottles (w/ drinking water)
    1 – 1 liter REI thermos
    1 – 2 liter insulated camelbak (for drinking)
    1 – 1/2 liter sports bottle w/ EFS

I set off from the parking lot and within the first mile was mildly concerned… I already had a little tingling in my right foot, and my feet felt weird…  I kept going, figuring I would turn around as soon as it became a problem.

A short detour because the skyline to the sea trail was closed, and I’m heading up the hill on the Sunset trail.  I followed the trail up and over the hill, and then started down the long and gentle decline towards the berry creek falls trail.

I reached the berry creek falls trail, and my feet were feeling surprisingly well, so I took the sharp left turn and went down to check out the falls…

Berry Creek Falls, Big Basin, CA 7/25/2009

The falls were really nice, but with every step down, I wondered how much fun I was going to have going back up…  I stopped for about 3 minutes, had a peach and a couple honey stinger energy chews, adjusted the weight in the pack, and kept going…  down, down, down all the way to the bottom…

I decided I wanted to make a loop, and take the skyline trail back to where the sunset and skyline to the sea trail almost meet, so I headed up the valley, as my feet started to ache…  uphill with no insoles is definitely much worse than downhill.

After a while, I reached the connection with the sunset trail again… and my feet were on FIRE…  my heart rate was moving up with every step, and I was taking frequent stops just to readjust the weight in the pack, which had all settled to the bottom back of the pack.

I made the connection, and up over the hill… I was almost home!  I walked down the hill towards the parking lot, met the dool trail, and wass now in pain but happily ignoring it as I knew I was .3 miles from the headquarters…  I reached the road and walked towards my car… looking forward to getting my boots off, which I now felt a sharp burning in the bottom of my left foot. 

I walked, and walked, and walked, and walked… what the hell!!??  I stopped and looked at the map by one of the day use bathrooms, and realized I had made the wrong turn at the road and had now walked a mile in the opposite direction from my car.  Now my feet really started to hurt.

Slogging my way back, each step on the asphalt hurting more than the one before, I made my way back to the car… what a relief it was once I finally made it back.  I dropped the pack in the trunk, and sat down in the front seat to take off my boots.  I got out of the car after examining the silver dollar sized blister on the bottom of the ball of my left foot, and found it quite difficult to walk… plenty of pain, a little swelling, and some sore muscles that were screaming at me…

I grabbed my wallet and phone out of the pack, and got in the car and headed home… a good 11 mile long hike without insoles had taught me a lesson I won’t soon forget.  I stopped at chipotle on my way back, got a chicken bowl for lunch (at around 4:30 pm), and went home to rest…

All in all, it was a good hike, and I’m sure helped me with my pain threshold.  I have always known that insoles add comfort, and the superfeet really help support your weight, and now I know they are not optional…  I know I could make it a good distance without them, but I’d pay the price later (my feet consequently hurt for several days once I had insoles, and my feet readjusted to having some shape).  I’ve added “insole check” to my regular checks now before I leave for a hike!

Here is my workout data: