Twenty people started the hike yesterday, and nineteen finished the whole ten miles. One dropped out at the half-way point and guess who that was?
Not me! I can hardly believe it myself, but I completed the entire distance--actually, 10.5 miles, according to the official recorder.
The first half was a breeze. We walked through the woods rimming the Princeton Battlefield, sometimes on a small road, sometimes on the trails, then looped back to Clark House* where we had started and ate lunch on the porch. It's always so nice to sit in the sun with convivial people and enjoy a meal when you're really hungry. I took a salad, plus cooked broccoli (yes, it was cold, just sprinkled with fresh lemon) and water. Paul, the leader, then asked if anyone wanted to end there. I asked him a few questions about the terrain and any obstacles we might encounter and he mentioned a small suspension bridge, but said it wasn't bad, so I decided to go for it.
The area we covered is so beautiful and so varied and so totally "you never see these things from a car"! We walked through woods, then several miles on a path next to the canal, then on a "nature trail," behind Princeton High School, then through deeper woods. We passed beautiful (and, you'd better believe, pricey) homes--actual mansions, some of them. Now and again, Paul pointed out interesting features and, of course, we chatted together the whole way.
I was pleased to see Sue, whom I had met on the Apple Pie Hill hike last week, and spent time with her. Also met others who knew Alison and Mike and had been on their Friday night hikes.
Ten miles is a long way. It occurred to me that it's about as far as it is to Manahawkin. However, on these hikes, you don't start marching and never stop until you're "there." This one was designated "FS," which means, I found out, "few stops," but it really was no problem. We didn't stop often, but did twice for bathroom breaks and occasionally, for just a minute while Paul gave us some interesting tidbit about the landscape.
I was elated to have finished, but I'm not going to pretend I wasn't happy to get back in the car. I stopped at Alison's on the way home, but she and Mike were out and didn't answer their cell phones, either. I wouldn't be surprised if they were out running; will call her later.
Have no ill effects this morning aside from the ache I had before in the front of my ankles. Took some Tylenol and it's easing up.
I had left everything possible in readiness for Pat's day and he said he was fine. When I got home, it was almost 5:00, and I just gave him soup and a sandwich for dinner. Jumped in the shower after dinner, had my popcorn and wine, and slept like a log.
Hey, one of the great things about the hike yesterday is that now, a five-miler will be a piece of cake!
*This is where General Mercer died (Revolutionary War). We knew a couple who actually lived there about 30 years ago: my friend, Elaine's son and DIL, Brian and Patti, who lived on one side and gave tours of the other, maintained as a museum. This led to Patti's interest in that era. She earned her degree, wrote several small books on the history of various trades of the time, and now teaches history at Notre Dame High School in Lawrenceville.