Things I've learned from the weekend

1. It is entirely possible to hike 50km in 3 days (30km all in one day) with 25lbs of gear on your back. But I don't plan to ever do it again. EVER. But it was an experience and I'm glad to be able to say I've done it.
2. Climbing to the highest elevation of the Bruce Trail is an accomplishment. Doing it 3 or 4 times in a single day is ... painful.
   
3. A group can only hike as fast as the slowest hiker. That would be me.
4. Fire is a wonderful thing. It cooks your food, it keeps you warm, it dries your wet clothes. It also melts your boots if you aren't careful. I am now a member of the 'Singed Shoe Club' - it adds character to the boots...
5. My boots saved me from rolling my ankles, and smashing my toes on tree stumps, a number of times. They also made my big toes go numb (a permanent sort of numb), made my feet sweat a lot, and caused a number of blisters. I hope these problems can be solved with decent insoles and better shoe-tying techniques. I am convinced that it is not the quality of the boot but my feet that are causing the problems.
   
6. Moleskin is not sticky enough to stay in one place on a sweaty foot and therefore is not an effective blister deterrent. Fabric band-aids work 100x better.
   
7. The back of my heel, where I thought I was going to get giant blisters, is not where I got giant blisters. The ones that hurt the most form on the joint under the big toe - I wasn't expecting that.
   
8. While gimping around trying to not walk on giant blisters because they hurt too much, I effectively gave myself more blisters. Yay me.
9. Trekking Poles might look stupid, but I'm a fan and was leaning on them quite a lot by the end of the weekend!
10. Mummy bags are warm, but having an extra person's body heat inside the tent really makes a lot of difference.
11. Rain makes you wet, and wind is chilly, but it keeps the bugs away!
12. Kleenex is more important than you might think.
13. Advil is the breakfast of champions.
14. The proper balance of cheese and dried apricots should have a balancing effect in your digestive system.
    
15. Outhouses along the trail never have properly latching doors.
    
16. All that backpack weight sitting properly on my hips eventually made my hips & knees scream in pain, but my shoulders didn't hurt at all!
17. 
18. Friends make the trip. It doesn't matter what you're doing - it matters who you're with. (it was a good bunch)
19. I'd rather walk in the bush than on the road, even if that means precariously stepping over rocks, sloshing through mud, and avoiding hawthorns & other prickly plants.
    
20. Cameras are great, but they don't capture the real beauty of God's creation. Go, see, do - experience it for yourself.