Saturday, January 26, 2008

Hike Around Seven Oaks

Last weekend several of us decided to take a hike around Seven Oaks in Boone (sorry for the late post on the hike - I got busy and it got away from me).

It was a lovely day for a hike:




Five of us didn't have enough sense to stay home on a day like today. Troy Kyle, Taylor, me, and Ron.


The opening climb isn't much easier on foot.

This is as close as I've ever been to Kyle on that climb.



After climbing a few hills, the slight twinges of cold that we had felt out in the open gave way to open jackets and sweat. Down in the valley it actually felt warm.

After a while we were all covered with frozen condensation.



After the hike, Troy convinced Joel to let us take a few runs on the tubing hill. What a blast!
We looked like a bunch of kinds out there.


Clothing note from the trip. Although I have quite a bit of experience riding is these type of conditions, I'm not as experienced hiking in them. I overdressed. For next time, A base layer and my ski jacket was plenty warm. Fleece tights and ski pants were also enough. Unfortunately I also had jeans and a sweatshirt. That was too much and it held too much moisture. I also wore my down mittens. I spent half of the time with them off, because they were too warm! Ski gloves would have been enough. It's amazing how little clothing you can get away with at nine below zero if you are staying active. I'll get this all figured out someday.

3 comments:

Paul said...

So, did you just show up and start hiking or did Seven Oaks know that what you were doing?

I would love to do that sometime!

Paul Varnum said...

The guys I was hiking with are the guys that make up "Single Track Promotions". They put on the MTB races at Seven Oaks every year, including the Boone 24. They are pretty tight with the Seven Oaks management.

That being said, I'll bet you could go hike the Seven Oaks trails anytime you wanted, if you signed a release and paid the trail fee. It was a great hike, and a great workout.

mr. f. g. superman said...

Too fun. That must have been a decent work out.