Leslie and David's Wanderings: 31 July 2022 Challenging Hike

Monday, August 1, 2022

31 July 2022 Challenging Hike

Since our previous hike went so well, we decided to try something a bit more challenging. Going by what the rangers had told us, we picked a hike by Long Pond. It was in a part of the park not as busy as along the ocean, had an elevation gain and more milage. We picked the Long Pond Loop Trail. We took this trail clockwise to get the climb out of the way first. The first climb was about 750 feet in elevation gain. But what the reviews did not tell us was that it was straight up the side of the mountain. No switchbacks, involved climbing over boulders, lots of tree roots, slabs of granite and was very rugged. It took us almost two hours to get to the top. The temperatures were in the low 80s but when we were in the sun, it was hot and humid. Leslie hadn’t eaten anything for breakfast and got overheated and started to get a little light-headed, so we stopped frequently to give her a chance to cool off, snack on trail mix and drink water. Once at the top, the views out over the ocean to the south were beautiful. Unfortunately, once at the top, we still had another 3.5 miles to go and the trail down the other side was straight down and equally as rugged. The last 2 miles were along the Long Pond shore with nice views of the lake. But by then we were so tired we really did not enjoy them that much. We arrived back at the truck 5.7 miles, 873 feet of elevation gain, 4206 calories burned and 5:45 hours later, exhausted and starving. We climbed in the truck, turned the air conditioner on full blast, and just sat there trying to work up the energy to drive back! The picnic lunch, we had packed for after the hike, became our snack as we drove back to the Wanderer to get back to Etta before she burst her bladder. But we made it and Etta was very glad to see us!