It's a brand-new year! Welcome 2022, Year of the Tiger, and I am ready to roar! Last year, I documented my journey, attempting to try 52 New Things. It was an epic year of adventure, filled with so many lessons, inspiring moments, experiencing new outlooks, meeting new people, learning more about myself, and consistently Blogging.
This year, I want to document and challenge myself again, but instead of something "new" each week, I plan to attempt a monthly physical challenge---a Dirty Dozen Challenge. Last year's challenge was mental, emotional, social, and physical. This year I am narrowing the focus---a physical monthly challenge.
This year I turn forty-six and I am beginning to notice the pleasures of growing older---insomnia, rogue gray hairs, declining vision, declining hearing, senior moments (like forgetting why I entered a room) ...fun stuff, the stuff of mid-life memes.
Since I am acutely aware of these physical changes, I thought, what better time to tackle a physical challenge. So here we are. I'm Blogging about my personal physical goals for 2022 and hoping you will read along, laugh a bit, relate, and maybe challenge yourself too.
My first of twelve physical challenges I hope to accomplish this year was a long hike. I was thinking that I would tackle one big hike a month, Blog it, and be done. But I just now thought, limiting this challenge to hikes is silly. If, at the end of the year, each month's physical challenge happens to be a hike, great. But if, at the end of the year, I challenge myself with new workouts, learning to surf, running (walking) a marathon, mountain biking, trying new styles of Yoga, rappelling, or paddling in a kayak, I will be satisfied with both continuing what I learned from last year---trying new things---and giving my body a physical challenge.
Living on O'ahu makes outdoor living and playing especially easy and enjoyable. There are always (mostly free) outdoor experiences waiting for the most adventurous (and semi-adventurous) to explore. For the past four to five years, I have been taking full advantage of the many fabulous hiking trails that O'ahu has to offer. Hiking O'ahu is rewarding, and I never grow tired of exploring the ridges, beaches, mountains, and forests here. I am interested in experiencing a new level of hiking for myself and hope that this year's monthly physical challenge will help maintain my curiosity, as well as deepen my enthusiasm for hiking in paradise.
For the first of my Dirty Dozen physical adventure challenge, I decided to try a long hike. Typically, I hike a couple of days a week. I generally prefer a quick, non-steep hike with views. A good day of hiking for me generally consists of an hour or so on the trail and the trail being no more than two miles. I, of course, have hiked longer than that and have hiked steep trails, they just aren't a part of my preferred weekly rotation of trails.
So, when I decided to do a long hike, I had in mind that a trail over five miles would be pretty long and challenging for me. I decided to tackle Ka'ena Point. I decided that the challenging part would be to hike this trail from North to West and from West to North all in one shot, basically two hikes in one. While there is nothing technical, difficult, or steep about this hike, it does come with a few challenges. The first challenge is the sun. This trail has no shade. The trail is exposed and is the reason I have become sunburned on more than one previous occasion.
Because of the intense sun exposure, water can also be a challenge. I wanted to be sure I had enough to sustain the length of the hike from North to West and back again. Thankfully I ended up bringing enough water (three bottles banging around in my backpack), and even had extra left over at the end.
Another challenge that I only realized halfway through the hike---friction and rubbing. My hiking pack rubbed a portion of my shoulders raw. The combination of tank top and backpack over the course of twelve plus miles (around five hours on the trail) was not comfortable (note to self for future long hiking endeavors, this was a rookie mistake.)
Another challenge I encountered was food. I don't like to hike on a full stomach but realized a snack for this length of hike could have kept me from feeling quite so exhausted towards the end of the journey. I didn't want to pack too many things in my backpack as I wanted to be sure I had room for enough water, and I didn't want to weigh my pack down too much. On the bright side, not eating breakfast and not having snacks on hand made for enjoying lunch afterwards all the better.
Challenges aside, I found this trail to be enjoyable. The scenery along this mostly beach trail is wonderful. Blue skies, blue seas, green mountains, white sand. My eyes were always engaged. I chose my hiking partner for the day wisely as well. Fall was full of fun stories to keep me entertained along the way and we were compatible with our hiking speed and pace. We found all of the same sights and sounds interesting and had equal enthusiasm and excitement when we saw wildlife and rainbows.
Physical Challenge: Hiking for twelve miles in the exposed sun for five hours.
Trail: Ka'ena Point (Waialua to Wai'anae, Wai'anae to Waialua)
Mileage: 12.6 miles
Steps: 26,618
Blisters: 1
Adventure Buddy: @fallyloveweiss
Wildlife: Mongoose, Monk Seal, Whales, Albatross, Butterflies
Parking: Free dirt lot at the Northshore side
Cost: Free
Suggested Supplies: Water, sunglasses, hat, snacks, binoculars, sunscreen, camera
Lessons Learned: There's no such thing as too much water. Backpacks are irritating. Whales are elusive and exciting. Rainbows are magical. Carbs are delicious. I have more endurance than I thought.
Tiger Traits (that helped in this challenge): Determination and being active.
Theme Song: Eye of The Tiger, by Survivor
Post Adventure Eats: Mana+Pua in Hale'iwa, Northshore O'ahu.
Order: water, hibiscus iced tea, and the Ka'ena Point Sandwich...because of course they have a sandwich named after the long hike I had just done.
"Went the distance, now I'm not going to stop
Just a (wo)man and (her) will to survive
It's the eye of the tiger..."
-Eye of the Tiger, Survivor
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