It’s Difficult That’s All You Need to Know – Shepherd Mountain
This is going to be a short trail review over Shepherd’s Mountain Trail that Katie and I did on Thursday evening. I’m going to go ahead and do this now because we both said we didn’t think we would do it again anytime soon. LOL
Because of the fall hiking challenge that we are hosting, we thought we needed to hike in the middle of the week. A week that the high temperatures are like 95° in September. We debated on which trail to do and we wanted to try something different. (I will own up to this being my idea.) This is the weekend of the Battle of Pilot Knob Reenactment and there is actually a hiking trail challenge – Cannonball Haul -on Shepherd Mountain. Which we had considered entering but couldn’t because of baseball games. After actually doing the trail, I’m glad we didn’t sign up.
The trail is listed as 3.5 miles and difficult. We haven’t done many if any difficult trails but 3 miles has become easy for us, so we didn’t really think twice about it. However we were thinking twice about it after .2 miles in. I know this because I actually checked the GPS.
Most hikes have a bit of a “warm up” before getting into the harder stuff. Nope not this one. Pretty much straight up rocky hill from the start. A little after the .2 mile distance check, I started feeling the burn. The burn in my calves. On several occasions, I actually bent over and grabbed them and gave them a rub. I started upping the water intake because I didn’t want the cramping to begin. I just knew “Safety Pear” aka Aaron would be lecturing me about not properly stretching in the beginning. But it was too late to worry about that.
Katie had brought her hiking poles and stopped to get them out and use them. I continued to double over and lean on my knees wishing I had found mine, I finally gave in and found a stick to use. I was willing to take any help I could get.
The uphill rocky climb continued and continued. Every so often I would look up and see Katie about 10 yards in front of me bent over resting her weight on her poles waiting on me to catch up. We don’t always stop and use the resting stops along the trail, but this time we were. We stopped and took in the views and sat down to catch our breaths.
There are some absolutely amazing views from atop that mountain. Even more meaningful because of the reenactment just a few days away. I can only imagine how different and breathtaking those views will be when the leaves change and in the winter when they are bare. Maybe I will have forgotten the hurt – yes actual hurt- and want to give the mountain another go. I am definitely going to need some time to forget. I know Katie will agree.
Once we reached the highest point, we were only about a 1/3 of the way through the trail. Katie just knew we were going to go down and back up but we didn’t. Thank goodness. You would think the best view would be at the summit, but it’s not. You can’t really see anything from there, but the best is just a little ways further on down the path. We stopped and took it in.
One would think that the going downhill would have been easier, but not necessarily. Going downhill with the rocks is not easy. I slipped, broke my stick, cursed, and finally accepted one of Katie’s poles. This trail has a “two slip” rating for me with one taking me all the way down to one knee. It also has a moderate spider web rating from me because we encountered quite a few.
I also was quick to save Katie on one wild animal encounter. I could hear the rustling of leaves, so I instinctively did the one-arm-out-protect-your-child-from-danger move. We came to abrupt stop until I could identify the danger. Which turned out to be a turtle – no kidding a turtle, I didn’t realize a turtle could make so much noise and sound so massive.
I also didn’t realize we would have our butts kicked by a 3 mile hike. Butts kicked but we were not defeated. We finished and were almost smiling at the end. Almost.
I would suggest doing this trail at least once, so you can say that you did it and take in the views. But let me warn you that it isn’t easy so know what you are getting yourself in to. This might also be a good opportunity for a “silent hike.” I say this because Katie and I normally have a good venting session while hiking, but on this particular hike we didn’t speak much at all other than complaining.
The next Cannonball Haul won’t take place for another three years to coincide with the Reenactment. Maybe by then Katie and I will have forgotten this recent hike and will be willing to give the race a try.
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