Jessie Beale
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My very first multiday hike was a disaster...
🕑 Added 2022-07-28 08:53:21 +0000 UTCI've got this super weird relationship with hiking... Like, I fucking hate it. The rolling hills, the knee pain, the blisters, the shitty food, the never-ending kilometers, yet as soon as I finish a hike, I've already planned the next one!
I think it's a mental game for me. I've always been someone who has struggled with self-discipline and will always take the easy road. Honestly, I blame technology. The constant digital distraction leaves us scatterbrained, prone to lapses in memory, anxious, and... lazy!
This laziness started to become a huge issue for me a number of years ago, alongside a serious serving of mental health issues. What's that quote? Into the forest, I go to lose my mind and find my soul. So that's what I did. It started with small day hikes, just a few hours through the fire trails not far from the house I lived in at the time.
Local day hikes then became road trips to the Blue Mountains and I was star-struck by the beauty that these mountains held and instantly they had my heart, that's when I started researching how to complete a multiday hike.
I started researching and buying the necessary gear I needed to be self-sufficient for a night on the trail. A backpack, beacon (rescue device), tent, sleeping bag, sleeping mat, headtorch, water purification, wet weather gear, lip balm, 6 liters of water, and food. All the gear and no idea...
My first overnight hike was a fucking disaster! No one told me I was a dumb ass for thinking it would be a good idea to go hiking in the middle of summer. It was a 3-day hike on a well-known trail in the Blue Mountains called the 6-foot, track. The first day was a breeze and I set up my tent that night with a smile on my face and feeling proud as hell. But nothing could have prepared me for what the second day on the trail had in store.
Day 2. My tent was packed, tummy full and I was back on the trail feeling optimistic. 3 hours later, sun blazing, I found myself standing at the bottom of a dirt road with a sign that read 21km.... uphill. I took a deep breath and started the walk. With each step, the sun became more fierce and I found myself feeling more faint. You guessed it, I got heat stroke. I hadn't even walked a kilometer yet and I was doubled over, hands on my knees, vomiting. By some grace of god, a car drove over the hill (the first car I had seen in 2 days) and offered me a lift up the hill. My pride kicked in and I politely declined but since I must have looked even worse than I felt, no wasn't taken for an answer. So there I was sitting in the back of a tray-back Toyota watching the dust fade along the track that I had just given up on.
I was disappointed that I was unable to complete the hike but it gave me the drive and determination to try again and I did! I've gone on to complete other 5 multiday hikes with plenty more to come.
Pictured is my multiday hike to the top of the highest mountain in Australia, Mount Kosciuszko.
Comments
Jessie
Good on you!! Get the gear and the guts will follow... Just make sure you have a beacon of some kind if your riding solo! Good luck and can't wait to hear about it!
Neil Lawton
I'm sorry that it didn't go as planned for you. I'm trying to organise something similar myself, I have all of the gear now, but just need the guts to do it! Mine will only be one overnight camp, but I'm most nervous about the fact that I'll be on my own for it 😬
