Time again for the next APC outing!

Last week I mentioned that we were going to try doing the 95mi Lone Star Trail route in sections this year, and I think this weekend is a perfect time to start at the Western end.  This route goes from the first trailhead to the third, for a total of 7.4 miles.  A little longer than the 6.1mi of last week, and with similar terrain (forests, infrequent stream crossings).

The address is Lone Star Hiking Trail, Richards, TX 77873
The day is Sunday, 2/7
The step-off is 10:00AM again, but I would strongly suggest arriving at 9:45AM to help us arrange transportation from the far end of the trail, lest you be delayed in leaving once we're through
We'll again plan to have lunch nearby to recover & plan out the next week, location to be determined

We won't know what the weather is until a couple days before, so make sure you have both rain & sun gear on hand.  A liter or two of water is strongly recommended.  We had two hikers last week with the requisite 45lb rucks for the APC qual, and three hikers with lighter loads that still kept up the 3.2mph pace, which was excellent.  If anyone wants to try hiking with weight or a full size pack, please let me know since I have one or two loaners I can provide for the occasion.


@bollox
@thomasplaster223
@MMcfpd
@JTX23
@peecmkr45

@Blitzcraig173
@Bishop3
@Austin4130
@Flushdraw
@Jerryjeff

@HBIII
@rbutcher
@Agilt
@jordanmills
@dirtymachinist

@Forgemonkey1066
@rudinater

BTW, if any of ya'll don't want to receive an @ for invite notices in the future, just PM me

And be sure to @ whoever ya'll think I may have missed

I was laid off a couple months ago and just got a temp role that has me working weekends for another couple months. Please do keep @-ing me and I will make it once I finish this role.

I'm down as a "maybe". Had fun last time.

Oh man that looks nice. But it's WAY farther than I could get away with the kids and baby.  Thanks for the mention though.  I need to go to one of these.

@barnbwt & @bollox, definitely keep me in the circulation; I'd like to continue. That being said I think I've let both of y'all know I have some things that will keep me out of it until about mid-April.

Plenty of time left before we're done with that trail, lol; take as much time as you need, man.

Here's a link to the route, btw; if you zoom on the map, you'll see parking symbols pop up at the various trailheads.  We're starting at the start (logically) and ending at the third trailhead, which works out to just under nine miles.

https://www.hikingproject.com/trail/7011141/lone-star-hiking-trail-lsht

ETA - some glitch with that site was giving me the wrong distance before; it's closer to 8 3/4 miles to go from marker 1-3.  We all did really well last weekend knocking out 6 miles in just under two hours, without problems; my thought was that we could do these nine miles, but do the last three slower, and after an extended break (get the packs & shoes off, maybe have a small snack to recharge).  But, I know we likely won't have the same folks and not everyone may be up to that.

It is about 3mi from trailhead 1-2, and just under six from 2-3; if some (or all) of us don't feel up to the full 8.72mi distance, we can do one of these two sections and double-back a small amount to get the minimum six miles we're after.  It's easy enough to figure out those details the morning of the hike.

Damn...would you please @ me for the next one?  I'm between Kingwood/Porter.

This looks like a lot of fun.

@barnbwt

So is anyone coming?

We had a real good turnout the last couple of these, I want to keep up the momentum!

I'll be there.

Belated AAR;

-Great turnout (5), especially for a longer hike like this (8.5mi)
-Great participation (3) in the heavy-ruck portion of the outing
-Trailhead 1-3 was some good scenery, and even had some small hills, which are hard to come by in Houston
-We had to shuffle-jog about a 1/4 mile near the end to ensure we got our 3.0mph; that is pretty tough to meet in uneven terrain
-We mostly made it through in one piece (some minor foot issues toward the end)

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SOOOOO close on that last one; we'll make sure you earn your wings on the next outing with a full 45lbs

Looks like a great time, I'm sorry more of us couldn't make it out hiking

Twas a good hike. Thanks for posting up the AAR. We have some people out including Barnbwt so I'm looking for 3 others to commit to make it this coming Saturday. Any takers?