Months ago, I wondered whether I could ever hike from Kampala city to Entebbe Airport with ease. For a bit of fun, how about if I hiked this distance but with a 7kg backpack?
Well, for mountaineers, this is their kinda daily food. You’ll have to hike a mountain with 8kg to 12kg. It can be in form of a backpack or anything that contains your supplies as you go up the mountain.
As for me trying to forge my way to hiking the Rwenzoris in November, it couldn’t be any different. I needed to have the actual experience of mountaineers, whether it meant carrying seven kilograms or more. Like I told you in my previous writings, I have to prepare myself both mentally and physically.
Back to the story
So after my first and longest hike ever, where I did 42km hiking all the 7 hills that make up Kampala, our great city, I decided that for my next hike, I’d make it a bit challenging and fun. Good enough, before two weeks elapsed, my hiking friends at Rwenzori Tutambule organised a hike going across my neighborhood in the eastern part of Kampala, about 15km from the city centre.
About ten of us set off for the hike, estimated to cover 35km from the starting point and back. I decided to carry a backpack with me though I didn’t decide on how heavy it should be.
Early in the morning, before the alarm went, I decided that I would pack my sleeping bag and a couple of textbooks from my shelf. Before I knew it, the backpack weighed seven kilograms.
We set off for the hike and with minimal effort, I found my way through 20km at our first water point. It usually takes about 30 minutes to cool off but also to wait and catch up with colleagues still at the back. We spent nearly 45 minutes at this point, however, I made up my mind not to put off my backpack during hike.
On getting up to resume with the pending would be 15km, I started feeling the pinch of carrying a 7kg backpack. All my colleagues had no weight added on them and I released how unfortunate I was.
For the 15km, we hiked through the villages of Ssonde, Kiwango, Nabusugwe trading centre, Natonko, Kiwologoma, Bulindo, Mulawa and back to -Kira which was our starting point.
I’ll be honest with you, the very last five kilometers were the hardest for me. I started to feel every bit that I was being dragged behind by my 7kg backpack. I had no option of dumping off some kilos since all that was in the backpack was still important to me. Yes, they were precious personal belongings.
For a while, I couldn’t wait to sight the next slope. Every hill dragged me down and the backpack dragged me back. I started to feel pain in my shoulders in the areas where the backpack straps sit.
During the other 42km hike, my toes were cooked to barely bursting with blood forming at the tips of my toes. No, it’s not because of the shoes. It’s because one of my toes is way longer than the others and it makes it prone to almost every hiking struggle. But…
This time around, all my toes were okay and it was the shoulders that caused issues. It was nearly 15 hours after the hike, but I still felt pain in the shoulders as well as joint pain in my right leg which I had to tie with a bandage to get some pain relief and complete the hike. Of course, I know it will go but I have to learn to expect that such will happen.
Finally, it’s starting to click that I have some chances of hiking Mt Rwenzori. With a few full-body in house exercises I do, hiking, cycling and jogging. More so, hiking with some weight on you and not giving up is kinda the green light for me.
I’ll now prep my body and mind for the next hike. I’ll probably try and a carry 10-12kg backpack and see how it goes. Next time round, I’ll make sure I can dispose off some weight if it goes beyond worse.
This whole thing is about FOCUS. I never knew that hiking 32kms with 7kg on you was very possible more so if you’re a beginner with zero hiking experience.
The very last 5km being the most challenging have taught me to focus on myself and listen to my body then keep my eyes on the ground. This keeps me in motion, builds up and helps keep my pace.
For my #HamzaToTheSummit hikes on Mt Rwenzori, I hereby declare this prep hike a success albeit needing even more brainpower and focus. In the next one, I’ll do better.
Please, don’t forget to read why i want to hike Mt Rwenzori.
#HamzaToTheSummit #ReuseablePads
