OK, a PR was a given, since I have never done this before.... ;)
Day 3 in a row of baby duty, combined with cooler temperatures, had me itching to get in a bit of a longer hike carrying the girls. After juggling conflicting naps and eating schedules, we finally got out the door a little after 2:30 and got on the trail at 3:02pm. Heading up Amphitheater was a bit of a grunt and even though the temperature was relatively cool, it still felt hot having a baby on either side of me. I did not go super hard on this, as to not make the girls uncomfortable, or risk injury to any of us, but it was a deliberately swift walk with the loose intention of getting to the summit in under an hour. My HR stayed in the ~150s for the climb, but it felt like more than that, probably because my body is just not used to such an effort and was regulating itself a bit.
Both Amelie and Isabelle really seemed to enjoy themselves and did not fuss once, they just looked around, smiled, chatted and slept occasionally.
The descent was a bit of a challenge carrying that much weight down the often steep trail, as the impact is much more static (vs. the more dynamic stesses of the ascent). I was super careful to not take a fall and not put too much force on my joints, yet was surprised to have made it down 10 minutes quicker than I went up.
Of course we got a lot of attention and comments from the large number of hikers on the trail as I passed. I sort of felt like a circus act or something, based on the attention we got and felt like one of those "only in Boulder" anomalies.
As fun as this was though, I think I will seek out less steep routes when carrying 2 babies, as it is just plain hard on the steep stuff. I enjoy the challenge, but I think over time, this could be detrimental for my joints and ligaments.
Amelie (front), Isabelle (back)
