Furthest I've gone in barefoot shoes. I had approached this leg multiple times from either direction. On the furthest travels, I've reached a common midpoint, but those are usually heavier hikes. I've always wanted to complete the full thing, so I decided I was going to give myself the satisfaction of saying I've done it. Except I'm a barefoot hiker now, and even the prior failed attempts I had modern shoes. I wanted to give up even on the way out. But I said, but then I'll be pining to get this done for even more years. We're just going to make it happen. This isn't fully barefoot. It's shoes with no foam padding. The shoes are also free to flex, so the foot muscles actually do work. And they were pushed well past the lactic wall. So were my legs in general.

But the point is I think everyone should do a properly grueling hike once a year or two. It's good for you. If you never hit the lactic wall, then you'll never grow your endurance. And if you do it now before the heat gets too advanced, at least it will be less grooling. So if you are going to do an annual "this hike is properly hard," might as well do it now.

Now I'm in full DOMS prevention mode. It's going to hit, and because this is the hardest I've ever pushed, it's going to hit hard. DOMS is delayed onset muscle soreness. Protip, if you feel like crap directly after, whatever you feel then you are going to feel 8x 2 days later. But I'm going to be doing all the hacks. Hydration, electrolites, protein, viparita karani pose, sleeping with my legs elevated, tart cherry juice. I'll just be missing the cold bath hack because I'm still setting up my new system for that.