Test Run

Andrea and I are considering a thru-hike of the Lone Star Hiking Trail next week. We’re new to hiking, so ninety-six miles is a significant challenge for newbie’s. To test ourselves even more; we only have 3-4 days to cover the distance, it’s one of the hottest months of the year, and the media is reporting a worst than usual mosquito season.

About a year ago Andrea and I purchased bits and pieces of hiking gear from REI outlet online and the local REI garage sales. I’ve had a couple opportunities to use the equipment, but nothing more than two days.

Today we set off to see what kind of pace we could walk with our packs to help gauge our predicted daily mileage. I’d like to wear some kind of hiking pants to combat Mother Nature (fire ants, thorns, stickers, chiggers, ticks, snakes etc) but it is too hot to even consider pants. Today I wore typical running gear with the exception of my Merrell hiking boots. The Merrell’s are comfortable, but I think my running shoes would serve me better for fast-packing.

My Ospry back weighed in at 36-lbs, which included two full Nalenge bottles, tent, footprint, sleeping bag shell, pillow, change of clothes, camp towel, matches, multi-tool, trekking poles, toilet paper, air sleeping pad, foam sleeping pad, and key/credit card/id. We didn’t weigh Andrea’s pack. She had everything I had, but instead of the tent she was hauling the food.

We hiked nearly 7.5 miles at a pace of 17:41 minutes per mile. There are two big differences between hiking the LST and walking along the Kingwood greenbelts. One, I was pushing Preston in the stroller while Alison biked beside us. Naturally they will not be on the trail with us. And second, we walked on concrete.

Speaking of Alison, I was really proud of her. Our route made a loop that passed the house at 4.5 miles. We stopped to put bug spray on the kiddos. Before departing again Alison asked to walk the remaining distance with us. She completed the residual three miles without missing a stride! That girl never ceases to amaze me.

On our test hike we realized we forgot to pack a few things, including; camera, guide book, soap, tooth brush, tooth paste, bug repellant, and water filter.

Other than my feet hurting and a heat index of 108, I feel pretty good. We need one more hike in the 10-mile range to decide if we want to pull the trigger on this adventure. If we choose to thru-hike the LST, then the serious challenge begins as we work on the logistics to get back to our starting point.

Hike:
7.31 miles
2:09:20
17:41 pace

Check out the difference between Andrea's forefoot strike and my OBVIOUS heel strike. Yikes, I didn't know it was that bad!