Two years ago I attempted a hike to Kennedy Lake, which is about 8 miles one way with 1000ft elevation gain most of which occurs in the first 3 miles. I needed a ton of breaks and blamed it on anything I could think of (heat, elevation, you name it). The reason I even started to work out was so that I wouldn't die on hikes and I was embarassed that I still couldn't hang. Needless to say, we didn't make it to the lake that day. We still made it to a beautiful reservoir but I felt guilty for holding back my friend.
This weekend that same friend and I went on a backpacking trip to the lake. I was worried that with a 15-20lb pack on my back and given my previous experience, that it would be absolutely terrible. The hills that killed me two years ago (one of those hills is in the photo on the left) were easy this time around even with the pack!!!! I was so excited!!! We made it to the lake in ~4.5 hours. It was absolutely gorgeous. Hurray for progress!!!
Next weekend I'm taking a four-day weekend and I'm going to attempt Rae Lakes (45 miles). Wish me luck! :-)