Cold Up Hill Challenge

[Norb5150]

Myself and my hiking crew decided to hike Raccoon Creek Park trails yesterday. We got a late start so we only were able to do the front half of the figure 8 trails which included the forest trail section 3.5 miles minor to moderate difficulty. The Appaloosa section pretty difficult both because of the weather and its a continuous up hill climb for 2.5 miles. We weren't able to go onto the Heritage portion of the trail to complete the 19 mile loop mainly due to day light. We did not want to nor plan to do an over night for several reasons. We did not get on trail until noon so we were limited with time. We didnt have much time for pictures of the scenery. We stopped for a quick meal at the camp sight that is at the top of the Appaloosa trail. We then hiked out the road which was difficult in itself due to the rail road ballast roadway and another very long uphill walk. Total distance was 10.5 miles. In all it was a good time and when time allows I would like to go back to do the whole 19 mile loop. I carried my Kelty Redcloud 90 packed at 30lbs with water both for the challenge and to test uphill climbs with 30lbs of gear food and water. I would say in the winter conditions 30lbs is my limit for a 10 mile hike.

 

[Aaron Zagrodnick]

Thanks for the report! Sounds like a nice hike. Daylight can be an issue this time of year but at least it's getting better by the day at this stage of the game.