28 July, Flume-Liberty Trails Loop

[BFGD]

Had a sweet barefoot hike through the Flume-Liberty Loop yesterday. Just over 10 miles total. Quads are sore from descent. Feet are a bit stiff. Got quite a few comments and questions about bare feet and I made sure to leave plenty of footprints in the mud for people who followed to ponder.

Best comment was from a gentleman going up Liberty as we were descending; I don’t think he even looked me in the eyes. He pointed to my feet as we passed and asked “Is that even possible?!?!” I assured him that it was happening “right here, right now, right before your very eyes”....he high-fived me and proceeded, proclaiming loudly “I’m a believer! I’m a believer!”

 

[Tristan]

Nice! I did Flume & Liberty back in the early 90's, would love to go back someday, the Whites are really beautiful!

 

[BFGD]

Thanks for the reply Tristan! We had planned for a different climb but the weather sent us to Flume-Liberty. Not being much of a hiker, I expected something more like 5-6 miles (which I've only done once before on Mt. Avalon) but some friends of ours were "peak-bagging", which is a term I learned AFTER the hike. Honestly, I did experience about 3 hours of thinking "I might never walk again" due to soreness in feet and quads. The descent from Liberty basically amounts to miles of going down stairs and my quads are still a little sore 4 days later (although I did run 5K yesterday).

As I have learned from experience, not only could I walk the next day, my feet were singing and vibrating with with every memory of the hike, and just felt a little sore, like they had a good workout. My quads on the other hand were WRECKED!!!!

 

[Tristan]

Oh I understand exactly BFGD! I remember the 'stairs'. Going down always wrecked my quads, when I was younger this always was so perplexing that I got even more sore going down when I expected it to be easier. Going up might be harder work... you'll sweat and your heart will pound. But going down seems more straining on those muscles you don't use as much, stopping yourself from falling and going out of control each step of the way. Going up is like cardio workout, going down is straining & fatiguing on the legs.

I'm not sure how much it helps, but besides running & cycling I do stairs often... I work in a high rise and always take the stairs. Half the time I am on nightshifts and try to hit the stairs 5-6 times a night, usually 17 floors each. And I usually run down the stairs, trying to make the down part a bit more challenging.

I'll have a big hike report coming up soon, maybe this weekend if I can get my pics processed. Did a 4 night 5-day hike in the Adirondacks next door. As much as I love the Whites I've mainly stuck to Adirondacks in recent years since they are close by while visiting my family.

 

[BFGD]

Tristan,

I appreciate your commiseration! I know....I should mix-up my workouts a bit more....I take the stairs whenever possible but the most flights I get is one. Having 17 flights available must be great!

Looking forward to your next hike-report.