Yesterday I expected the walk to be physical. I expected it to be around 21 kilometres. I also saw that it was meant to snow overnight. It got me to question whether it made sense to do the hike. I went anyway. In the end I walked 35 thousand steps according to at least one device. That’s a lot of walking, especially in snow that was up to 30 centimetres deep at moment.
We parked in one place, and then walked to one train station before getting to Le Brassus and starting the walk. We walked up to the Col De Marchairuz, had a "meal" at the Col and then walked across to Mont Tendre. What makes this walk physical is that it’s undulating, once you get to the top of the Jura. You descend and ascend so although the altitude does not change by much it does require a lot of up and down.
When I was driving I saw that the snow cover seemed quite thin. This was wrong. The snow was quite deep. If I encountered the same temperatures and conditions I would strap the snow shoes that I had in the car, and I would carry them with me. After the col we walked through deep snow and at moments the snow required steps through deep snow.
With snow shoes I would have glided over the surface. It’s not that it was difficult, so much as that after a while my back was aching. I think that this was as a result of staring down rather than forward. My head was pulling neck and back muscles and putting a strain that is not normal while walking. With snow shoes I would have glided along.
I got cold when we stopped, especially for lunch. That’s when I began to walk around and do the same moves as when I was skiing and cold, trying to warm up. I considered taking a warm drink but didn’t. I should have. It would have helped.
I don’t think that it’s the cold itself that got to me, but the amount of energy I burned during this walk. You’re burning energy because it’s a physical hike, but also to keep warm because we were in a cloud the entire time.
Usually on such a hike it’s cold in the clouds but eventually you get above them and you feel warm. In this circumstance there was no let up. It was cold for the entire walk.
When you’re moving you don’t feel the cold, but when you stop to eat for lunch the body cools and then it takes more energy to warm up again. If I was walking alone I would stop long enough to take a photo or two every so often but I wouldn’t stop until we got to the top. I suspect that my legs don’t like that stopping and starting, so that’s why they get lactic acid build up.
If it had been warmer my trousers would have become quite wet, from walking through snow. It was cold enough for the snow to gather on my trousers and stay frozen. If it had been warmer I could have been soaked through. I considered wearing snowboarding trousers and I think they would have had a positive effect on my level of comfort. Luckily my legs never felt cold but my core could have been warmer with appropriate trousers.
As I walked I considered something. In and around Nyon you see that leaves are starting to come out. A few days ago it was warm enough to go for a bike ride wearing autumn cycling clothes, rather than winter ones. It’s when we’re between seasons, as we go from winter to spring that we’re tempted to wear less, and find that more would have been better.
It is also a reminder that when you walk with a group you need to dress warmer than when you walk solo. When you walk solo you walk, and barely stop. With a group you stop every so often, and they almost always want a "lunch".I need to learn the habit of carrying a lunch with me, on group hikes. It will ensure that I find them less tiring.
In summary I should have taken a warm drink or meal with me. I should have carried the snowshoes as I had them in the car and I should have worn snowboarding trousers to walk through the deep snow. All of these things would have helped me conserve heat and energy. When I got to the car my fingers were numb for several minutes after starting to drive.
It was a good hike, and a good group so I would hike with them again. Having said this, I think that an easier hike could be rational this weekend.
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