Page 74 - HCPVitalityChronicles

he has speed and endurance. On the not uncommon; it was 105
trail, hikers have trail names. His was degrees at one of the ridges,
Trailzilla. Mine is Turtle. On the and on their last day at
passes, he would sprint ahead to the Mount Whitney, it was snow-
top, then come back down a little way, ing at the top.
hid and pelt me with snowballs as I got
close.” Would she do such an adven-
ture again? Initially Mauge
The biggest difficulty was overcoming said no, but followed that
the physical exhaustion needed to go with, “Well, I might do it
on. “Pushing my body day after day—I again,” adding that it was dif-
had never done that so fully,” said ficult to be away from her
Mauge, who is 58. “You really don’t husband for those 14 days.
know if you’re going to make it; you A view of Rae Lake. She would love to do a
take a leap of faith.” shorter journey, such as the
High Sierras she and her son did in 2012. There are some
They averaged 16 miles per day in what was, looking back, places, like Lake Virginia, on that trail that she would love
an ambitious schedule. There was not as much down time to enjoy again and linger. For this summer’s backpacking
as she would have liked. During their 2012 High Sierra Trail journey, Mauge will receive 700 points for accomplishing
hike, for instance, at noon she and her son used to find a an Extraordinary Achievement.
stream to swim in to cool off. Other challenges were the
logistics of coordinating the entire trip, including sending She suggested a few trails people can try: any of the trails
your own food to yourself. In addition to dehydrated foods to Mount Baldy, including Ice House Canyon, which follows
and a lot of yogurt smoothies, Mauge laughingly recalled a stream. “You don’t have to go too far on this one to get
that they enjoyed M&Ms every day. “I lost seven pounds— into nature,” she said.
you can’t keep weight on,” she said.
For her personally, outdoor activities settle her brain.
They did encounter a windstorm at Garnet Lake, with rain “Everything falls into place; it’s like meditation,” she
and hail, and two days of storms, which are typical in the noted. “It clears my mind. Everything is so simple, and you
Sierras during the afternoon. Temperature extremes were have the feeling of living in the moment.”