The Eifelsteig Saga – Part 2
According to Google, in reference to hiking, PUD stands for Pointless Ups and Downs – a common slang term for sections of trail that involve frequent, often very steep climbs and descents without an obvious point like a view or something, making them tedious and energy draining. Tedious and energy draining. No kidding. Welcome to day 2 of my Eifelsteig hike!
Despite the previous day’s misadventures, I was excited and ready to go when I woke up. Ok, so my pack felt a little heavier than the starting weight of 70 pounds (how is that possible?!), but I felt good. After a mile or so, I hit my first hill. No biggie. I can do hills! This was a steep hill though and getting steeper with every step. It was the kind of steep where you can’t see anything in front of you but the trail. It was okay though. I wasn’t in any hurry and I knew I’d get a great view from the top. Then I didn’t. All I could see were trees, and the trail dropping off in front of me. This was worse than the way up. My toes were jammed into the front of my boots and my knees were complaining loudly. I couldn’t wait to get to the bottom.
Yeah, I should’ve waited. At the bottom of this crazy downhill was another immediate incline – just as steep as the previous one. This was my day. Climbing until my lungs were burning and my quads and hamstrings were screaming, followed by steep descents that were killing my toes, my knees, and my back. Luckily, things changed mid-day. It started hailing. (I didn’t say that they changed for the better.)
So, I continued on – the insane hills alternating with steep declines, the hail alternating with rain, and my cussing alternating with crying. After 9 hours of this, I got to the village where I was staying the night. Whew! Or, maybe not. I started walking through town to get to the campground – uphill, of course – but I couldn’t find it. The description in the book translated to “right off the trail”. It lied. After 4 miles up and down the hills of the village of Roetgen, I finally stumbled into the campground.
“Du bist müde.” Although I didn’t exactly understand the words, her sad eyes conveyed the gist of it. I was tired – so far past tired at that moment. I asked where I could put my “kleines Zelt” (little tent), and she motioned to the open area next to the teepee. A giant teepee. It was dark and pouring down rain, so I failed to notice that I had built my tent on a small stream of rain run-off. It didn’t matter. I was wet, freezing, and my legs ached so much that I couldn’t sleep, but at least I wasn’t walking anymore. While I still wasn’t thinking of quitting, I was imagining a nice warm bed – especially when the small stream under me turned into a full-on torrent.
The next morning was beautiful though. I made some hot coffee and oatmeal and packed up my poor wet tent and sleeping bag. I was ready to hit the trail. My pack was definitely heavier this time, but I was still in good spirits. “The last 2 days were tough, but today is going to be so much better!” And it was – kinda sorta…
Thanks for being honest about the PUDs—knowing others struggle through them helps me keep going on tough training days!
Thanks! PUDs are the devil. 😆
Great adventure recap! I love how honest you are about tackling PUDs (Pointless Ups and Downs)—that really resonated with me and motivates me to push through tough trail days. Have you found any gear or strategies that make steep climbs or wet conditions easier? Also, how did you keep morale up during the hailstorm and soggy campsite?
Hi! The two things that made a difference for me after this trip were knowing how to use my trekking poles to help with declines and heel-lock lacing for my boots! I had so many blisters. 😬 Regarding my morale, I think two things kept me going: the first is that I’m stubborn. I wanted this and dreamed about this for years. It was insanely hard, but so was my first backpacking trip when I was 11. I was carrying a pack bigger than me up a very steep hill – in the rain again – and I cried silently the whole time. But – I had lied to the camp counselors and told them that I had a lot of backpacking experience so they’d let me go with the bigger kids. I didn’t give up then, so I couldn’t give up this time. Both times, I was rewarded with better days and memories that will last forever. Not a bad trade off! Just keep going. Things will change – they may not necessarily get better, but they won’t stay the same and it all beats watching someone else live life from your couch.