KenG
New member
Hi Y’all,
This could be a long story so now’s your chance to bail!
At any rate, it all started about five years ago on the first weekend in May. I went to a friend’s White Water Derby party and met a mutual friend & we decided to hike Mount Adams on the Monday. When we reached the summit, I pulled a couple of beers from my pack & offered him one. He declined saying, “No thanks, that’ll make me cramp up.” To which I replied, “You’re joking, I’ve never had a problem with the cramps” as I drank both of the beers. Famous last words! On the way out, I had a major cramp in the back of my thigh! Luckily it happened @ the “hotel” so it was only about a mile of flat walking, but my buddy was irked!
Since that time the cramps have (on occasion) gotten worse. One day I’d hike an 18m, ~3500ft bushwhack, consuming 2l of water & nary a cramp. Then, I’m alone, on my return from Couch, and I come to the wall & immediately cramp up while ascending it. I thought I’d be spending the night @ Times Square! Shortly afterward, I did the Dix Range (CCW) in 10 hours, drank 4l of water, and never experienced a cramp. I could go on & on with stories of cramps, no cramps. It’s kinda like Casper the friendly firetower on Mount Adams, a now you see it now you don’t situation.
It had me worried! I was actually afraid to hike with others, for the fear of having to turn around and head back & ruin the hike. Though I must say, I’m a pig headed Scot, so that hadn’t happened yet, until now.
On May 3, 07, I had been working horrendous hours @ work, but my truck was packed and I was headed to Marcy to do a night ascent under an almost full moon, and then ski down in the morning. I got to Lake Placid @ 22:00h and I was exhausted! I had lost the wind in my sails! So, I decided to get a room & head out early the next day. As I’m walking into the hotel, I happen to pass the swimming pool & hot tub and thought, ooooh wouldn’t that be nice! But, I get to the room, crack a bottle of Washington Hills Shiraz, 2004, turn on the TV and low & behold, Jeremiah Johnson is on! I didn’t even touch the channel; I started laying out my pack for the next day & watching one of the best movies ever made! Unfortunately, it’s a long one! And, it was followed by Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, so needless to say I fell asleep @ about 2:00h to the tune of Raindrop’s Keep Falling on My Head!
In the morning, (thank God for wakeup calls), I had a great breakfast and headed to the Lodge, psyched to do Marcy & hoping to meet up with someone to hike with. Didn’t happen! I got to Marcy Dam and stopped to get something from my pack & realized that I’d left my pump in my truck! Eeeeek! I started with 2l of Gatorade, I’d consumed a half a liter, so I decide to conserve & continue. Big mistake! I also met up with the Colden Ranger, I believe his name is Matt, he’s Steve’s replacement, I think. He and his friend were going up over Marcy and down to Colden, so we hiked together for a ways. It was a beautiful sunny day, but very windy. Hmmmmm, good combo for dehydration & dehydrate I did! When I got to Indian Falls, my body turned into a pretzel! Damn, my legs felt so strong on the way up and then someone flicks a switch & voila, instant cramps! And I’m not talking just a Charlie horse either, it was just about every muscle in my body! On top of that, I’m digging into my pack to get more layers on due to the wind, and my hands feel funny. I pull my gloves off and all of my fingers are white, Renaud’s Syndrome! It’s like the third time I’ve had it, but never this bad. Damn, this day is turning to crap in a hurry! I tell Matt what’s going on & that it’s now my intent to head back, after I have a nap! So, I drank all but a half a liter & passed out for a couple of hours. When I awoke, the cramps were gone, the fingers were back to normal, I had no problem on the way out. Well, almost, but that’s hardly worth mentioning. I did however have to wear my glacier glasses with the side shields, to keep my contacts from welding themselves to my iris. It took me about a half an hour to get them out!
Now, it’s the 25th of May, and I head to camp with the intent of climbing MacNaughton. Again, tired from the workweek, I get a late start and leave the UW’s @ 8:30h. On the way there, I’m thinking, with my previous experiences with the cramps, maybe it wouldn’t be a good time to do Big Mac alone. Plus, it would be my third attempt and the first two were called on account of time, route (cliffs) & snow. So, I decide to do a test run up the beautiful Calamity Brook - OP Flume route. I’ve got 2l of Gatorade in my hydration pack & for some reason the hose was short so I looked like a left handed bagpiper heading up the trail to Flowed Lands. When I got there I replenished my supply with 3l of water from the spring hole, fixed the hose, and continued on at a good clip, feeling great! Well, I took my time, talking to people, taking pics of the Flume, pumping water, but moving fast in between stops. And then on the Feldspar Brook trail I ran into the snow pack which slowed me considerably. But, it was a beautiful day and I was comfortable hiking in shorts & a sleeveless techwick tee shirt, so I didn’t care how long it took.
I’m here to tell ya, I made it without a cramp! Fourteen hours, (3) Cliff bars, (1) Cliff Builder’s bar, (1) Toblerone chocolate bar, (2) liters of Gatorade, and (8) liters of water! I hiked out the last four miles in the dark, with a smile on my face, singing at the top of my lungs, having a ball! I could have done Marcy as well, but decided to make it more of a unique hike for my 46th peak. Plus, it was too crowded!
The bottom line is this, Hydrate or Die!! And always bring water purification! Do you know it took me a week & a half to start feeling normal again! Wow!
So, if anyone's interested after my "how not to hike" soliloquy, I'll be doing Marcy soon. It'll be a night flight from Adk. Lodge, on the next full moon if the weather’s co-operable. That would mean June 30, perfect, a Saturday! Hope the weather’s nice! I haven’t decided where to end my trip yet, all I know is it won’t be Adk. Lodge, but I’ll let you know!
Later,
Ken
PS One last thing. Iko, how did you like that spring water? Damn good, isn’t it?
This could be a long story so now’s your chance to bail!
At any rate, it all started about five years ago on the first weekend in May. I went to a friend’s White Water Derby party and met a mutual friend & we decided to hike Mount Adams on the Monday. When we reached the summit, I pulled a couple of beers from my pack & offered him one. He declined saying, “No thanks, that’ll make me cramp up.” To which I replied, “You’re joking, I’ve never had a problem with the cramps” as I drank both of the beers. Famous last words! On the way out, I had a major cramp in the back of my thigh! Luckily it happened @ the “hotel” so it was only about a mile of flat walking, but my buddy was irked!
Since that time the cramps have (on occasion) gotten worse. One day I’d hike an 18m, ~3500ft bushwhack, consuming 2l of water & nary a cramp. Then, I’m alone, on my return from Couch, and I come to the wall & immediately cramp up while ascending it. I thought I’d be spending the night @ Times Square! Shortly afterward, I did the Dix Range (CCW) in 10 hours, drank 4l of water, and never experienced a cramp. I could go on & on with stories of cramps, no cramps. It’s kinda like Casper the friendly firetower on Mount Adams, a now you see it now you don’t situation.
It had me worried! I was actually afraid to hike with others, for the fear of having to turn around and head back & ruin the hike. Though I must say, I’m a pig headed Scot, so that hadn’t happened yet, until now.
On May 3, 07, I had been working horrendous hours @ work, but my truck was packed and I was headed to Marcy to do a night ascent under an almost full moon, and then ski down in the morning. I got to Lake Placid @ 22:00h and I was exhausted! I had lost the wind in my sails! So, I decided to get a room & head out early the next day. As I’m walking into the hotel, I happen to pass the swimming pool & hot tub and thought, ooooh wouldn’t that be nice! But, I get to the room, crack a bottle of Washington Hills Shiraz, 2004, turn on the TV and low & behold, Jeremiah Johnson is on! I didn’t even touch the channel; I started laying out my pack for the next day & watching one of the best movies ever made! Unfortunately, it’s a long one! And, it was followed by Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, so needless to say I fell asleep @ about 2:00h to the tune of Raindrop’s Keep Falling on My Head!
In the morning, (thank God for wakeup calls), I had a great breakfast and headed to the Lodge, psyched to do Marcy & hoping to meet up with someone to hike with. Didn’t happen! I got to Marcy Dam and stopped to get something from my pack & realized that I’d left my pump in my truck! Eeeeek! I started with 2l of Gatorade, I’d consumed a half a liter, so I decide to conserve & continue. Big mistake! I also met up with the Colden Ranger, I believe his name is Matt, he’s Steve’s replacement, I think. He and his friend were going up over Marcy and down to Colden, so we hiked together for a ways. It was a beautiful sunny day, but very windy. Hmmmmm, good combo for dehydration & dehydrate I did! When I got to Indian Falls, my body turned into a pretzel! Damn, my legs felt so strong on the way up and then someone flicks a switch & voila, instant cramps! And I’m not talking just a Charlie horse either, it was just about every muscle in my body! On top of that, I’m digging into my pack to get more layers on due to the wind, and my hands feel funny. I pull my gloves off and all of my fingers are white, Renaud’s Syndrome! It’s like the third time I’ve had it, but never this bad. Damn, this day is turning to crap in a hurry! I tell Matt what’s going on & that it’s now my intent to head back, after I have a nap! So, I drank all but a half a liter & passed out for a couple of hours. When I awoke, the cramps were gone, the fingers were back to normal, I had no problem on the way out. Well, almost, but that’s hardly worth mentioning. I did however have to wear my glacier glasses with the side shields, to keep my contacts from welding themselves to my iris. It took me about a half an hour to get them out!
Now, it’s the 25th of May, and I head to camp with the intent of climbing MacNaughton. Again, tired from the workweek, I get a late start and leave the UW’s @ 8:30h. On the way there, I’m thinking, with my previous experiences with the cramps, maybe it wouldn’t be a good time to do Big Mac alone. Plus, it would be my third attempt and the first two were called on account of time, route (cliffs) & snow. So, I decide to do a test run up the beautiful Calamity Brook - OP Flume route. I’ve got 2l of Gatorade in my hydration pack & for some reason the hose was short so I looked like a left handed bagpiper heading up the trail to Flowed Lands. When I got there I replenished my supply with 3l of water from the spring hole, fixed the hose, and continued on at a good clip, feeling great! Well, I took my time, talking to people, taking pics of the Flume, pumping water, but moving fast in between stops. And then on the Feldspar Brook trail I ran into the snow pack which slowed me considerably. But, it was a beautiful day and I was comfortable hiking in shorts & a sleeveless techwick tee shirt, so I didn’t care how long it took.
I’m here to tell ya, I made it without a cramp! Fourteen hours, (3) Cliff bars, (1) Cliff Builder’s bar, (1) Toblerone chocolate bar, (2) liters of Gatorade, and (8) liters of water! I hiked out the last four miles in the dark, with a smile on my face, singing at the top of my lungs, having a ball! I could have done Marcy as well, but decided to make it more of a unique hike for my 46th peak. Plus, it was too crowded!
The bottom line is this, Hydrate or Die!! And always bring water purification! Do you know it took me a week & a half to start feeling normal again! Wow!
So, if anyone's interested after my "how not to hike" soliloquy, I'll be doing Marcy soon. It'll be a night flight from Adk. Lodge, on the next full moon if the weather’s co-operable. That would mean June 30, perfect, a Saturday! Hope the weather’s nice! I haven’t decided where to end my trip yet, all I know is it won’t be Adk. Lodge, but I’ll let you know!
Later,
Ken
PS One last thing. Iko, how did you like that spring water? Damn good, isn’t it?
