Day ??? Practice Hike #2

Over the weekend, I took my second official hike since starting training. It was a delightful view over looking the Pacific ocean. We were in the Palos Verde area of LA.

It was me, the husband, my bother in law, sister in law and my two nieces (age 10 and 8). It was supposed to be a "easy" hike, probably walking a fire road, but at some point, we strayed and decided to follow another trail of dirt. Some of th

e dirt was like talcum powder, and we were heading almost to the ocean. I think we all thought that if we didn't stop where we did, it would continue to the water line.

The trail was covered in the bone dry foliage and bushes. Fire season is upon us. And I was hiking with 2 smokers. Scary thought. Thick pan

ts would have been a good move because the branches that lined the path scratched whatever it rubbed against. We found refuge from the sun under some really nice trees. If only the whole hike could be be under those trees! We ate the sandwiches that we brought along with some soda and juice boxes. We took a group photo to prove that we did indeed take a group hike, and turned around.

Up Up Up the mountain.

This is where we stopped navigating our footing not to slip, and instead focused on our breathe, or lack there was, I should say. At times, we were hiking an 8 degree grade only with a few seconds of some actual flat ground.

When we got to a clearing, there were steps... I

am guessing to be about 500 of them that brought us out of the canyon and back to our cars.

We climbed and climbed and climbed. I'm used to steps, but these were tough. There was this Asian man who was working out on the top tier of them, and wow, he was doing something right! He had a six pack and even looked like he was enjoying himself... moron.

But, I only ever hike if the view is worth it... you tell me?

While I was in the Outer Banks, I did my best to try to get as much excerise as possible. Lying on the beach and eating comfort food didn't really go with my "plan", but I wanted to go with the flow. I did have the opportunity to explore and climb Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.



This baby has like 257 stairs (I asked the nice park Ranger from Boston) and then I was able to fly up the steps with only 1 or 2 short breaks to grab some breath. But it was very exciting to see my body responding in a way I'm hoping it to.

In actuality, when working out with Erika, I think I climb about 3 of these lighthouses as a warmup, but I will take the sucesses when they come!







This is what the stairs looked like from a diagram. Its a better picture than I could have taken!




When I asked Brian what he thought of the climb, he said he was winded. It put a nice perspective for me.

Day 65

OMG. I've been gone a while. Work's been busy, rendering me trying to sleep as much as possible when I get home.

Then an impromptu trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina where I laid on the beach for a week and read... Life is good.

Back in the swing of things, I knew that if I didn't work out on Tuesday with Erika, I would have likely put my workout back on vacation too. But I made it.

And...

I've progressed to 10 pound weights for my arms!!! YAY

81000

I must give a great shout out to my baby hitting 81k miles the other day! I remember when I got her, and she had just 100... which I was slightly annoyed about seeing as if you buy a new car, one would think she's have ZERO miles, but I see how that is not possible.

She is as beautiful today as the day I got her back in September of 2004, almost 6 years ago! Each ding and scratch to her exterior is just another battle wound of our adventures together! From trips to work and back, to Oregon and Arizona, and countless camping trips throughout the years.

She has been packed to the gils.

Ventured into Death Valley in July.

Had Grand adventures at the Grand Canyon

Slept next to Giant Redwoods

Crossed into Oregon state to Crater Lake while hauling a pop up camper

Each lost insect life was sacrificed in honor of our travels.

I could not do what I've been doing all these years without her help.

I love you! May you always be treated with the love and care that you give to me :)

Multitasker

So, my Gorillapod is a multitask-er! She's a tripod AND an Apple Holder!

We will be having a naming ceremony as soon as we figure it out.

Day 50

Holy Radio Silence Batman!

I'm not exactly sure when the universe open its mouth and swallowed me up, but I think it was sometime around Saturday after my 1 on 1 with Erika. It was a butt/hamstring/abs day. I worked hard, and its really hard for me NOT to complain during a working cause, well, I hate to work out. I did some convoluted sprinting/jogging/walking routine for the cardio portion, but worked with bars and balls and cones OH MY! Seriously, I think I did about 968 1/2 lunges.

When I staggered through the door at home, I took off my socks, shoes and pants and passed out on the couch for a nap...

a 2 hour nap!

All of the energy I ever found after that was to watch HGTV all afternoon, but it was probably because I had like, zero protein all day after. Crazy, I know. I need to be more conscientious. In the past when i'd "work out" I'd do some cardio and when it hurt, stop. The same went for the weights. But that's not an option with Erika and I'm really truly working out. So I need to make sure I'm fueling up! (note to self, Doritos are not proper "fuel")

My obsessive brain picked up a new toy yesterday...

Its called a Gorillapod.

Its not meant to replace a more traditional tripod, just act as a different type of tripod. I'm going to the beach for a week with just my thoughts, a book and my camera, so I'm hoping to get a lot of play time and inspiration in with my camera. Got to practice practice practice shooting so after I climb 8 miles, I'm don't waste my time taking crap photos!

Here is a search link for many ways in which people used their Gorillapod.

Gorillapod Demos

Day 45 Lions and Tigers and BEARS, OH MY!

I've had bears on the brain lately. It probably doesn't help that my boss keeps giving me "bear clips" to license.

I remember the first time I went camping in "bear country." We went to Sequoia National Park. We arrived very late to the campground and set up our tent as quickly as we could so that we could get a decent amount of sleep before the sun came up. That was the first time my campsite had a "bear proof container"

I slept, on edge that whole night, just knowing that there were bears looming around. Every sound I heard, whether it was someone walking to the bathroom, or a bug flying into the tent walls, I was aware of it all. Thank goodness, its Black Bear country, and not Grizzly Bear country, cause I could never do it then.

I've never seen a bear in the wild. They have all been behind glass or bars.

And I'd be lying to say that I want to... but at the same time, I kinda don't want to. Once when I was at Yosemite sleeping in housekeeping camp, our next tent neighbor said she saw a little guy crossing the Merced River just feet away from our site. YAY! I said with fright and disappointment.

I'm told I'm sure to see bears on the half dome Hike. Especially around "Little Yosemite Valley" at night. There is even a blog about the rangers who chase the black bears out of the campsites at Yosemite Village.

http://jeffreytrust.wordpress.com/2010/06/27/a-sneaky-bear/

I'll be sure to be armed with a bear bell when I start hiking. Perhaps I'll make a HUMUNGOUS bear bell to alert all the bears in all the acres of Yosemite NP (all 747,956 acres or 1,169 square miles) to stay away!