Hiking in the land of Bison

My legs, thighs and butt are sore. I'm tired. I have blisters on the balls of my feet. Why? Because in the last two days I hiked a total of 19.5 miles. Twelve of those miles were done yesterday.

My crew and I decided we were going to do the Trans Catalina Trail (a 37 mile trail that takes you from one end of the island to the other) in segments.

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The orange line shows you the Trans Catalina Trail. In the last two days I managed to finish from mile 1 to mile 16

On Wednesday I finished the first 5 miles (with an extra 2.5 miles to make a loop) and yesterday the crew and I did the next 10 miles (with an extra 2 miles that took us back to town).

Apart from the fantastic work out I got in I was also able to really enjoy a "real" hike in a beautiful area. My sense of accomplishment (when I finally finished, got to take my hiking boots off and take my hurting feet off the ground) was overwhelming.

It's not like I had never walked 10 miles before. I have. But this time I was doing it for a specific purpose. I did it because I wanted to prove to myself that I could. I did it because I wanted to accomplish something and be proud of myself. I also did it because I knew I wouldn't be alone. And it felt great doing it with a group of young, energetic, fit, people.

And it was fun. And I'll do it again (but first I think I'll let my blisters subside. LOL)

Here are the pics!

The view of the coming hills in the morning island fog

Messing around in an abandoned tent

Can you see the bison in the distance?

Going down the Trans Cat

As we were hiking we kept spotting the Catalina Island Bison and this one was the closest we'd ever been to one!

By the time we were getting to the end of the trail I was pretty tired and maybe a little loopy as evidence of this picture I took.

Yeah, I don't know about this either.

But then I found this awesome quote that made my day:

Mmmm.. I man after my own heart. This is EXACTLY what I feel like when I'm in nature.

Oh Catalina. The land of bison, fox and eagles. We spotted all three and a few other amazing things.

It's times like these where I truly appreciate my decision to finally get off my ass and get active. I won't ever regret it. I will always keep going.

The soreness, the exhaustion, the blisters. They're always worth it.

love
-w0rld