Destroying my knees at Point Reyes

Earlier this year I went on my first camping trip since 2013. This was my 3rd time camping, but my first time going to a hike-in campsite. My friend had booked a campsite at Glen Camp in Point Reyes. The easiest way to reach the campsite would be to go through Bear Valley Trail...

An excerpt from my journal:

"We hiked 4.5 miles into our campsite with all of our camping gear and food/water. Then walked another 5 miles that same day after setting up. No music, no grill. Just beautiful nature and a portable stove for hot water."

I've always liked the outdoors but my family was never into it, so I hardly got the chance to actually explore the outdoors throughout my life. I didn't have a backpacking pack, hiking shoes, or even hiking gear. I am definitely not a hiker... I hardly do cardio. Aside from rock climbing and doing the approach to outdoor climbs, I don't exercise all that often. So it goes without saying, the initial 4.5 miles to the camp site already exhausted me. I was hoping it would be an all flat walk, but nope. The trails took us up all the hills.

My friend and I kept repeating, "ABS, ASS, ARMS!" as we trekked continuously uphill throughout the weekend, hoping to keep us motivated. It helped, but not for long.

We feasted on cheese, bread, salami, and boxed wine (yes, we hiked in with it hahaah) when we made it to camp. We set up our tents and chilled for a bit before heading off on another 2.5 miles hike to the beach -- another hike with more hills, sans gear.

The view was incredibly rewarding though.

It was chilly at the beach, but we decided to keep walking along it until the sun set and the fog rolled in. We didn't turn back until we ran out of beach to walk on and by then, visibility was so low I could barely see 5 feet in front of me. I had left my shoes and socks near some rocks when we first arrived so it was the worst experience not knowing what kind of sand I was walking on. It would be soft... soft... soft... then suddenly it would change into the coarsest sand I've ever had the displeasure of walking on. It was like stepping on glass.

We found our stuff in the dark and started to make our way back to camp. A good 1.5 miles of uphill before flattening out. My calves wanted to die. My thighs wanted to die. I really wanted to collapse a couple times. Luckily, my friend was nice enough to walk with me at my glacial pace so I didn't pass out.

Made it back to camp. Had dinner. Talked a bit and gave some wine to some other campers who have been out in nature for the past week. Finally, I passed out in the tent at midnight.

Woke up at 8:30 to eat breakfast and pack up. I left my jeans out on a tree branch to dry overnight as they had gotten wet at the beach. But what terrible luck! It rained in the morning, so my pants were even more wet than when I set it out. But I had no other pants, so I had no choice but to bear with the dampness during the hike out. I'm looking to invest in hiking pants now, haha.

One of my friends had to make it to work by 12:30, so we wasted no time getting ready to head out. It was foggy, misty -- almost a bit eerie? Half of our group blasted out of there with this new found burst of energy while the rest of us took our time, admiring the nature around us, sharing stories from our travels, and stopping occasionally to check out the creeks.

An hour or so later, we made it back to our cars and my friend went off to work.

The rest of us swung by Stinson beach, and ended up passing out on the sand (soft this time, how awesome). It was right before leaving I realized blisters had formed on my foot. Ew. And ow.

Funny thing -- as soon as I had reception again, my phone was flooded with a flurry of texts and calls from my other friends asking if we were all okay. A cliff had collapsed at Pt.Reyes just earlier that day, and it had been all over the news. Luckily, we weren't on the beach around that time, and I assured everybody that we were just fine.

Stopped by a restaurant to have lunch on the drive back. Halfway through, I tried to get up to use the bathroom. I then realized that my legs were so exhausted I couldn't stand unless I used my hands to push myself up. My knees also clicked in pain every time I tried to bend them. It was a long journey to the bathroom, involving 3 steps that took me 15 seconds to walk down. I always knew my knees were weak, but I didn't think they'd hurt to this extent from just one full day of moderate hiking.

When I finally got home, I went upstairs and didn't come back down for rest of the night. I don't think I even left my chair except to go to sleep. Such pain. I was sore for 3 days straight and my knees hurt for a whole week after.

But... Yeah. It was all worth it. The adventures, the outdoors, and the great company. Without a doubt, I'd do it all over again.

During the hike out, I jokingly told one of my friends, as I was sweating my ass off with my ill fitting backpacking bag, damp jeans, and non hiking shoes,

"PAIN IS WEAKNESS LEAVING THE BODY! THIS F****G BUILDS CHARACTER!"

Featured photo: View of Wildcat Campgrounds, Pt Reyes.

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Destroying my knees at Point Reyes