Busted..

This is the only word I can find to describe how I feel after last weekend. Friday night I stayed up all night partying because it was August 8, 2008 (8/8/2008). I know, Skagway is so demanding. Then I left early Saturday morning (2am) with my friend Grover. We headed to Whitehorse, capital of the Yukon Territory (CA). We needed to take his brother and sister to the airport there and planned on a fun day in the city (population 20,000 people). We had a pretty good time. We did a bunch of thrift shopping, he saw the new Batman movie, I also went grocery shopping in a real grocery store! At night we went out, looking for the party scene. Didn't find much. The legal drinking age in the Yukon is 18, so we felt pretty old everywhere we went. That was Saturday. The reason my entire body is sore is because of my activities on Sunday.

Sunday I decided to hike up to AB Mountain. As per usual, I couldn't find anybody to go with me so I went by myself. I wasn't planning on going all the way (about 11 miles round trip with 5,000 feet of elevation gain) but it was such a nice day that I decided to go for it. This hike takes you up to a mountain in the Sawtooth Mountain Range and gives you a panoramic view of the valley that Skagway sits in.

At times it seemed never ending. Every time I summited a hill, another one would come into view (Moe, this was very similar to when we hiked the continental divide in Glacier NP). Unfortunately by the time I finally made it up there the clouds had rolled in. I waited around on the summit, hoping to get the panoramic view that I had invested hours of my time for, to no avail. The clouds only got worse. Then I had to head back to Skagway.

This is what jacked me up. I was so tired from climbing (the last mile was basically a rock scramble) that my legs just kept giving out underneath me. This happens just about every time I hike, but it was especially bad on this hike because it was really steep and very muddy. I fell at least five times really hard, mostly on my bum but at least once on my side. Once I got to the tree line my feet really started hurting (I didn't have my hiking shoes on because I didn't think I was going to summit) and I was sick of falling so I decided to run the rest of the way because I just wanted to be finished (I think this was probably the worst mistake). Long story short, every muscle in my body hurts. I feel like I have whip-lash from falling and jerking my body and I can barely walk down the stairs because my knees are so sore (I assume from running down hill). The best part about it is that I had to guide two trips today. I imagine it had to be amusing for our passengers, seeing their bike guide extremely stiff and clearly in pain. With all that said, I'm really glad that I did the hike because it was rewarding and I got some awesome photos.

Update: my court date for my speeding ticket is Friday. Wish me luck!

More photos on my flickr site, tagged: AB