Last week, I told you about our first real training hike at Little Baldy in the Wichita Mountains.
This week, we decided to make things a little more interesting.
We hiked the Lighthouse Trail at Roman Nose State Park, almost five miles.
That might not sound enormous to experienced hikers, but for us, it was a big jump.
Our previous hikes had been around two and a half miles. So this wasn’t adding another easy mile to what we’d already done.
We were nearly doubling our distance.
And I was excited to find out whether we could do it.
This Was the Next Test
I’ve talked before about my long-term goal of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
That’s still years away.
Right now, we’re nowhere near training for Kilimanjaro itself. We’re building the foundation that will eventually allow us to train for something that big.
And that means gradually asking our bodies to do a little more.
Little Baldy gave us some rocky terrain and elevation.
Roman Nose gave us something different.
More time on our feet. More distance.
That’s exactly what I wanted from this hike.
Almost Five Miles Was a Big Jump
Going from roughly two and a half miles to almost five is significant when you’re still building hiking fitness.
We knew that going in.
So there was no race.
No concern about how fast somebody else might hike the trail.
No reason to prove anything.
The goal was simple:
Finish the hike and see how we felt.
That’s one thing I’m already learning about this whole process. Mileage looks very neat on paper.
Your legs have their own opinions.
Terrain matters. Heat matters. Elevation matters. How much you’re carrying matters. Even how you feel when you wake up that morning matters.
Five miles on one trail isn’t necessarily the same experience as five miles somewhere else.
We’re Learning How to Hike Together
This part of the journey is about more than building stronger legs.
We’re learning how we hike.
When do we need to stop?
How much water are we actually drinking?
What gear works?
What becomes annoying after a couple of hours?
How does our pace change when we’re tired?
What do we need to change before the next hike?
Those little lessons matter because eventually the hikes get longer and the terrain gets harder.
I’d much rather discover what doesn’t work on a trail close to home than discover it halfway down the Grand Canyon.
The Gear Is Becoming Real Gear Now
There’s a funny stage when you start preparing for something like this where everything is just equipment.
Backpacks.
Water reservoirs.
Shoes.
Clothing.
First-aid supplies.
Things you’ve researched and bought because you’re pretty sure you’re going to need them.
Then you start using them.
Now the questions change.
Is this comfortable after several miles?
Can I reach what I need?
Did I bring something I never touched?
Is there something I wish I’d had?
That’s when gear stops being stuff you bought and starts becoming your system.
And we’re still building ours.
The Grand Canyon Is Starting to Feel More Real
Kilimanjaro is the enormous goal in the distance.
But there are other adventures between here and Africa.
One of the big ones we’re working toward is backpacking into the Grand Canyon.
That requires a very different level of fitness than we’re at today.
We’ll eventually need to handle more distance, elevation, packs, and long stretches on our feet.
So when I finish a hike like Roman Nose, I’m not thinking, Great, now we’re ready for the Grand Canyon.
We’re not.
I’m thinking:
That’s another piece of the foundation.
And that feels good.
I Don’t Want to Rush This
I’m excited about where we’re headed, which makes it very tempting to keep adding more.
More miles.
More weight.
Harder trails.
Bigger elevation.
But the goal isn’t to get fit for one hike as quickly as possible.
I want hiking to become part of our lives.
That means giving our bodies time to adapt.
We’ll increase distance.
We’ll gradually start carrying more weight.
We’ll add elevation.
We’ll keep learning.
And sometimes we’ll deliberately choose an easier hike because recovery is part of training too.
There’s plenty of time.
Oklahoma Is Becoming Part of the Adventure
When I first started thinking seriously about Kilimanjaro, my mind immediately jumped to the big destinations.
The Grand Canyon.
Yosemite.
Mount Rainier.
Africa.
The places that look like adventures before you ever arrive.
What I didn’t expect was how much I’d enjoy the process of finding places to hike closer to home.
The Wichita Mountains gave us Little Baldy.
Now Roman Nose has given us another challenge.
And there are more Oklahoma trails waiting for us.
These aren’t simply practice hikes I’m trying to get through so I can reach the “real” adventures.
They are part of the adventure.
That’s becoming one of my favorite discoveries about this whole crazy goal.
Five Miles Today, Something Bigger Tomorrow
Eventually, almost five miles won’t feel like a huge accomplishment.
At least, that’s the plan.
There will be longer hikes.
Heavier packs.
Bigger elevation changes.
There will probably be days when I wonder why I ever thought climbing a mountain sounded fun.
But right now?
Almost five miles matters.
Because we’re starting where we actually are instead of where we wish we were.
Last week it was Little Baldy.
This week it was Roman Nose.
One day it’ll be the Grand Canyon.
And, if everything goes according to this wonderfully ridiculous plan, eventually I’ll be standing at the top of Kilimanjaro.
Final Thoughts
Big travel dreams can feel impossibly far away when you first say them out loud.
Climb Kilimanjaro.
Backpack the Grand Canyon.
Hike in Yosemite.
Those are big things.
But you don’t start with the mountain.
You start with the next trail.
For us, this week that trail was almost five miles long.
And we finished it.
On to the next one.
Diana
Ocean Breeze Adventures