You could say that I have had my “head in the clouds” for some time now. I mean, I’ve been seeking out the opportunity to hike up Clouds Rest, either as a day hike or as a part of a bigger backpacking trip, for several years now. You would have thought that I would have researched it enough to know about the top most section of the climb. I didn’t however. It wasn’t until I pleaded ignorance after theMAN mentioned to the difficulty of “the spine” that I was finally educated when he shared a YouTube video to me and YaYa. It was the night before we were to meet it face to face.
Had I known about this “spine” section of the clouds rest hike in Yosemite, I don’t know if I would have been so eager to do the climb. I would have at least gone into it with a lot more respect for what was ahead of us.
After all, we’ve been trying to make this trek happen for several years and finally decided to make a separate trip to take it on as an out and back hike (instead of the sought after backpacking trip). Even without the heavy weight of a backpacking load, this hike completely and utterly kicked my arse.
Today, on the morning after, my back is aching and my legs feel a heaviness that is hard to describe. I wonder how YaYa’s ankle is doing after, not one, but two good ankle rolls along the way.
Not only did this 14+ mile hike humble me, it also served as an eye opener to the level of fitness that I should, but DON’T, have in order to successfully conquer the planned Spartan Beast that is scheduled a month from now. On our recent drive to Southern California and back, I spotted the race location at the base of the hilliest part of the drive known as the “grapevine.” The hills here are so step, I hate to drive this section. I most certainly won’t enjoy trying to run them.
I have been training and have been getting stronger. But it’s clearly not enough. I’d be kidding myself if I thought I could just ramp up my training and be race-ready in only seven weeks. And although YaYa, at the young age of 20 years old, could totally bang it out, he also feels that he wouldn’t have a “good race” if he were to go for his Beast in October.
You could say that we have now pulled our heads out of the clouds so-to-speak for, as we make our way down from the peak of Clouds Rest, YaYa and I both realize that pushing off the planned race can be to our benefit — IF we continue our efforts.
We must not lose momentum in the training we’ve done so far. We will need to continue to ramp up our training and, like the Clouds Rest hike, become educated in what lies ahead of us. Personally, I need to get those running miles logged, master those burpees, and find places where I can learn to clear walls, swing on rings and ropes and other things. I need to do all this and so much more.
Once we’ve done the work, then we can stand proudly as we take on the “Beast.”
WOW & lovely and awesome job just doing it!!!
Thanks, Linda! Larry (theMAN) got a GoPro just for the spine section. I wish he had captured YaYa and I on the way out to the end of the spine. He got the way back, when I was (believe it or not) less scared. YaYa was AMAZING in how he stayed with me and helped me across the spine section. This section is really long and just seems to go on forever. I kept wanting to stop saying “This is good enough.” It was, however, nice to get to the section where everyone can just hang out and enjoy the view. I will say this, since the top section (spine) was granite and the footing was a lot easier than the loose rocks and steep steps, loose dirt, and sand that comprised the rest of the trek. Also, by the time we hit the top, we’d gone up and down in elevation a few times AND were walking slowly across the somewhat level section so being out of breath wasn’t a problem like it was in gaining elevation (like in the switchback sections). We were definitely tired as we stayed 2 hours from the trail head. I recommend staying in Tuolumne Meadows the night before and after if you decide to do this. Get an early start as once the sun starts beating on you (on top of the increased in elevation) the headache can add to the fatigue. All three of use had throbbing headaches that didn’t let up even when we came down in elevation.