Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Thursday, August 16, 2007 - Day 43

Greetings from the trail,

Today I traveled about 22km to the Arlington Lakes Rec Site. It felt good to be back on the trail, but I could already tell that some of my conditioning had gone down the tube in the 12 days back home. I'll have to be diligent when I get to Vancouver to make sure I don't become complacent in my health habits.

The day started with a short, but interesting stretch along a gravel road before rejoining the trail grade. The trail continued on for the rest of the day with reasonably thick tree cover. There was only one detour from the predictability of the rail grade.

Near the tiny village of Carmi, the trail swings west then east for a nearly 12km - long switchback. By cutting back to the highway it was possible to cover the distance in less than 3 kms. This of course meant I was in for some steeper climbs. I was surprised just how steep, however. To get back to the trail I followed a rough service road steeply up the side of the mountain. It was steep enough to make me stop and catch my breath several times. It felt good getting to the top. It was good both to know I was done, and to know I was still up for the challenges of the trail.

By the end of the day I was getting quite tired. The sight of my destination was very welcome. I quickly changed my boots for sandals and laid down to rest. Hopefully my sore legs will recover over night and be good to go tomorrow.

See you on the trail,
Joshua Ganes

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