Let's take it old school! Remember this one?
There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.
Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.
-Shel Silverstein
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Monday, June 24, 2013
Iron Mountain Full Moon Hike
As you probably already know, last night's full moon was the quintessential moon of the year. This full moon was the closest to earth as it will be all year, thereby making it the biggest and brightest and dubbed "Super Moon" by the masses.
My friend Rocksanne, her dad, and Simone all came out to hike with me. Us four and hordes of other people had descended upon the trail to witness this lunar event. I'm talking hundreds of people. Huge groups with lots and lots.....and lots.....of kids.
It was a gorgeous evening and we had the benefit of seeing the sunset in addition to the moon. The skies were hazy and cloudy so the moon didn't make an appearance through the clouds until well after moonrise. But it was a sight to behold! We all stopped to gaze and ponder the beauty.
Rocksanne and her dad made excellent time to the top. Simone and I were slower and took frequent breathing breaks for her and Little Kahuna (baby bump). When we made it to the top it was standing room only! There were so many people up there it was beyond ridiculous. I was jockeying for position and trying to get pictures but most of the pictures ended up having other people in them because I couldn't get a clear shot. One guy kept moving back and forth in front of me and I was like Dude, get out of my way! Not relaxing or peaceful at all. Here's my sentiment from my hand-written journal "But the moon looked on over all the hubbub, shedding it's beams upon us, disinterested in our hurried and self-involved conglomeration, as we attempted to gain that elusive yet poignant feeling of self-fulfillment."
We headed back down in the dark, headlamps beaming. Streams of people were headed off the mountain now. We stepped aside frequently to let large groups of 15-20 file past with screaming, shouting kids. Once in awhile I was able to gaze serenely on the views in the few seconds of precious silence here and there. I was getting into a pretty good Zen state and a kid screamed a few feet above me and scared the crap out of me.
I sang to the moon, I see the moon and the moon sees me, God bless the moon and God bless me. Then Rocksanne started singing Cat's in the Cradle:
And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin' home dad?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
You know we'll have a good time then
Then the ants go marching one by one hurrah hurrah....we felt like ants streaming off the mountain.
We heard one guy hamming it up and talking in crazy voices and accents. Reminded me of Dennis and I wished he was there. I missed him.
We were in the final stretch and Simone hit a slick sandy spot, turned her ankle, and went down. She managed to fall to her side to protect Little Kahuna. She sat for a bit and got herself together and she was okay to walk out. Poor thing. Her knee got scraped up good too. Her and Little Kahuna are fine.
Rocksanne's dad had beat us and was laying on a bench waiting for us. He said he came out to walk with us because he wanted to spend time with his daughter and I thought that was very sweet.
Oh! I almost forgot to comment on energy levels with low carb eating. No issues whatsoever which is probably why I almost forgot about it. Good energy and legs didn't feel dead. Dehydrators are expensive so I'll have to wait till I get paid again to get one.
Enjoy some pictures!
Rocksanne's Dad
Rocksanne
Simone and Little Kahuna
Simone's scraped up knee!
My friend Rocksanne, her dad, and Simone all came out to hike with me. Us four and hordes of other people had descended upon the trail to witness this lunar event. I'm talking hundreds of people. Huge groups with lots and lots.....and lots.....of kids.
It was a gorgeous evening and we had the benefit of seeing the sunset in addition to the moon. The skies were hazy and cloudy so the moon didn't make an appearance through the clouds until well after moonrise. But it was a sight to behold! We all stopped to gaze and ponder the beauty.
Rocksanne and her dad made excellent time to the top. Simone and I were slower and took frequent breathing breaks for her and Little Kahuna (baby bump). When we made it to the top it was standing room only! There were so many people up there it was beyond ridiculous. I was jockeying for position and trying to get pictures but most of the pictures ended up having other people in them because I couldn't get a clear shot. One guy kept moving back and forth in front of me and I was like Dude, get out of my way! Not relaxing or peaceful at all. Here's my sentiment from my hand-written journal "But the moon looked on over all the hubbub, shedding it's beams upon us, disinterested in our hurried and self-involved conglomeration, as we attempted to gain that elusive yet poignant feeling of self-fulfillment."
We headed back down in the dark, headlamps beaming. Streams of people were headed off the mountain now. We stepped aside frequently to let large groups of 15-20 file past with screaming, shouting kids. Once in awhile I was able to gaze serenely on the views in the few seconds of precious silence here and there. I was getting into a pretty good Zen state and a kid screamed a few feet above me and scared the crap out of me.
I sang to the moon, I see the moon and the moon sees me, God bless the moon and God bless me. Then Rocksanne started singing Cat's in the Cradle:
And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin' home dad?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
You know we'll have a good time then
Then the ants go marching one by one hurrah hurrah....we felt like ants streaming off the mountain.
We heard one guy hamming it up and talking in crazy voices and accents. Reminded me of Dennis and I wished he was there. I missed him.
We were in the final stretch and Simone hit a slick sandy spot, turned her ankle, and went down. She managed to fall to her side to protect Little Kahuna. She sat for a bit and got herself together and she was okay to walk out. Poor thing. Her knee got scraped up good too. Her and Little Kahuna are fine.
Rocksanne's dad had beat us and was laying on a bench waiting for us. He said he came out to walk with us because he wanted to spend time with his daughter and I thought that was very sweet.
Oh! I almost forgot to comment on energy levels with low carb eating. No issues whatsoever which is probably why I almost forgot about it. Good energy and legs didn't feel dead. Dehydrators are expensive so I'll have to wait till I get paid again to get one.
Enjoy some pictures!
Rocksanne's Dad
Rocksanne
Simone and Little Kahuna
Simone's scraped up knee!
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Food!
As you may have noticed from my previous posts, I enjoy food. With all the hiking, I got away from my usual low carb eating ways and gave myself free license to go hog wild the past several months. Can't do that! My blood sugar suffers, my energy lags, and my butt gets bigger. Hiking with the healthy ladies a few weeks ago snapped me back to reality. I'll be researching like crazy in the next few weeks trying to figure out some good backpacking alternatives to Mountain House freeze dried meals, Clif bars, and the usual carb laden backwoods fare. I'll be busting out the dehydrator and testing things out. I think my dehydrator is in a box somewhere in the garage so if I can't find it, I'll just buy a new one.
Let me say a few things about being low carb. This is not Atkins! This way of eating is not for everyone. Many people I talk to don't agree with this approach but I happen to have diabetes and low carb really does help the blood sugar so that's why I do it. If it weren't for the pesky "D", I would not choose to eat this way (as evidenced from all the cheeseburgers and ice cream I've inhaled the past few months!). When I say low carb, I don't mean that I eat just meat. I eat lots of protein, lots of vegetables, and lots of good fat. I somewhat restrict fruit unless I'm doing lots of exercise and basically cut out any processed starch. I do eat sweet potatoes. This gives me between 100 and 150 g of carbs per day. So enough for good energy but not ketosis. I'm not interested in ketosis. Compare this with the average american diet of 300-600 g of carbs per day and you can see the difference.
The problem I will have is going to be the backpacking days where I hike for 7 hours or more with a 30 pound backpack. Will this way of eating sustain that type of activity? I don't know. I know I was able to do it when I was a runner but backpacking is a totally different animal. So I will be doing lots of field tests and experimenting. I have my permit for Mt. San Jacinto in August so I'll have some food options tried out and tested by then.
I'm doing Full Moon Iron Mountain on Sunday so that will be my first hike over an hour being back into the low carb state. We'll see if energy is okay or not.
I'll keep you posted....
Let me say a few things about being low carb. This is not Atkins! This way of eating is not for everyone. Many people I talk to don't agree with this approach but I happen to have diabetes and low carb really does help the blood sugar so that's why I do it. If it weren't for the pesky "D", I would not choose to eat this way (as evidenced from all the cheeseburgers and ice cream I've inhaled the past few months!). When I say low carb, I don't mean that I eat just meat. I eat lots of protein, lots of vegetables, and lots of good fat. I somewhat restrict fruit unless I'm doing lots of exercise and basically cut out any processed starch. I do eat sweet potatoes. This gives me between 100 and 150 g of carbs per day. So enough for good energy but not ketosis. I'm not interested in ketosis. Compare this with the average american diet of 300-600 g of carbs per day and you can see the difference.
The problem I will have is going to be the backpacking days where I hike for 7 hours or more with a 30 pound backpack. Will this way of eating sustain that type of activity? I don't know. I know I was able to do it when I was a runner but backpacking is a totally different animal. So I will be doing lots of field tests and experimenting. I have my permit for Mt. San Jacinto in August so I'll have some food options tried out and tested by then.
I'm doing Full Moon Iron Mountain on Sunday so that will be my first hike over an hour being back into the low carb state. We'll see if energy is okay or not.
I'll keep you posted....
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Buccaneer Beach
Dennis and Simone came with me to a beach hike this morning with a meet-up group. We had some quality family time on a nice 6 mile flat stroll along the ocean. Carolen was there and had brought her husband too. We talked PCT of course! After that, we had a Father's Day lunch at Chicken Feet Buffet and it wasn't even that busy.
Enjoy some pictures!
CHICKEN FEET!
Nice father/daughter picture:
Enjoy some pictures!
CHICKEN FEET!
Nice father/daughter picture:
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Impromptu Iron Mountain
Dennis wanted to hike Iron Mountain this morning when he got off work so I said Let's Do It! We had a little bit of marine layer in the beginning but it quickly burned off. There was a crap ton of people out this morning- winding their way up the switchbacks like little ants. I started singing Bob Marley's song Exodus: Movement of Jah people! That's what I think of whenever there are mass amounts of people all moving in one direction. Dennis was in fine form today and has resumed his speedster status. Lots of pretty flowers blooming too. Lovely hike in perfect weather. 5.5 miles in 2 hours and 45 minutes.
Tomorrow we have a Father's Day meet-up group hike in Oceanside and then after we are going to eat at Chicken Feet Buffet (Chinese buffet that I don't actually know the name of so I call it Chicken Feet Buffet because they have chicken feet you can eat).
Enjoy some pictures!
Tomorrow we have a Father's Day meet-up group hike in Oceanside and then after we are going to eat at Chicken Feet Buffet (Chinese buffet that I don't actually know the name of so I call it Chicken Feet Buffet because they have chicken feet you can eat).
Enjoy some pictures!
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Calavera
Dennis came with me on a meet-up group hike for the first time. He worked graveyard and then came straight with me to hike. What a trooper! I think he liked it okay.
There was a crap ton of people at this one! Ed said this was not a hike to lollygag on because it would be easy to get lost. How right he was! This trail wound in and out of the hills, through deep chapparel, with shoot-off trails everywhere. We had no problem keeping up and we ended up doing 6.83 miles in 2 hours 54 minutes. Nice pace. I didn't get pictures of all the little flowers I wanted to because I didn't want to lose the group. This trail also had the most poison oak I have seen in many many years. I was careful and hopefully didn't brush up against any!
In other news, I sent off for another permit for Mt. San Jacinto. I'm shooting for sometime in August. Solo.
Next outings up are a Father's Day hike at Bucaneer Beach, camping/hiking at Mt. Laguna with my friend Diana, my daughter Simone, and her friend Michelle. Then camping/hiking at William Heise with Dennis and Simone the following week!
Living' the dream, baby!
Enjoy some pictures-
25 hikers at least!
One of the several teeny tiny creek crossings.
Dennis getting his funny on :-)
Forest of poison oak!
We saw horses!
Interesting memorial to a biker that died.
There was a crap ton of people at this one! Ed said this was not a hike to lollygag on because it would be easy to get lost. How right he was! This trail wound in and out of the hills, through deep chapparel, with shoot-off trails everywhere. We had no problem keeping up and we ended up doing 6.83 miles in 2 hours 54 minutes. Nice pace. I didn't get pictures of all the little flowers I wanted to because I didn't want to lose the group. This trail also had the most poison oak I have seen in many many years. I was careful and hopefully didn't brush up against any!
In other news, I sent off for another permit for Mt. San Jacinto. I'm shooting for sometime in August. Solo.
Next outings up are a Father's Day hike at Bucaneer Beach, camping/hiking at Mt. Laguna with my friend Diana, my daughter Simone, and her friend Michelle. Then camping/hiking at William Heise with Dennis and Simone the following week!
Living' the dream, baby!
Enjoy some pictures-
25 hikers at least!
One of the several teeny tiny creek crossings.
Dennis getting his funny on :-)
Forest of poison oak!
We saw horses!
Interesting memorial to a biker that died.
Monday, June 3, 2013
Mt. Baden-Powell
I had another meet-up group over the weekend that involved climbing Mt. Baden-Powell, camping, and hiking the PCT the next day. It was fabulous!
Here's a little blurb on Mt. Baden Powell:
"Mount Baden-Powell is a peak in the San Gabriel Mountains of California named for the founder of the World Scouting Movement, Lord Baden-Powell. It was officially recognized by the USGS at a dedication ceremony in 1931. At 9,407 feet in elevation, Mount Baden-Powell is the 4th highest peak of the San Gabriel Range. The summit has long been a favorite hiking excursion either from the Mount Islip Saddle near Little Jimmy Trail Camp, or the Vincent Gap Trail which leads up a moderate to strenuous set of switchbacks from Wrightwood. Mount Baden-Powell is also the high point along the The Silver Moccasin Trail, a historic 53-mile Boy Scout hiking trail. The Vincent Gap hike leads through a variety of forested areas consisting of Jeffrey Pines, Ponderosa Pine, Lodgepole Pine, Incense-cedar, and an ancient forest of Limber Pine, some of which are more than 2,000 years old.
In 1957 several Southern California councils of the Boy Scounts of America placed a formal marker at the summit with a plaque dedicated to Lord Baden-Powell."
I have had some work stress this past week so I felt a little out of sorts on the drive up to the trailhead. As soon as I got up to San Bernadino and I saw the mountains and the clouds surrounding them, work became a distant hazy memory on the outskirts of my conscious.
Only 6 of us showed up for this outing- myself, Ed, 3 other gals that I have met before (Carolen, Ingrid, Nancy), and a dude named Tom. We started walking up Mt. Baden-Powell at about 2pm from the Vincent Gap trailhead. The weather was close to 70 but there was lots of shade going up with all the pine trees. I got a good rythmn going, Tom chattering all the while. The further we ascended, the more frequent the rest breaks. Altitude steals the breath. Up and up, one swithback after another. I felt like I was back on San Jacinto but without the heavy backpack. Nancy wasn't feeling well so she and Ingrid dropped back a bit and took longer breaks. Tom sped ahead and we thought he would be hanging out at the top waiting forever for us (turns out he only got there 5 minutes ahead of Carolen and myself). Ed decided to turn back because the altitude was giving him problems. Carolen and I kept a pretty steady pace, although very slow, and stopping frequently to catch our breath. We made it to the top and the 360 degree made every step worth it. It was a hazy day but you could see the valley and the desert floor. It was breathtaking. Carolen and I signed the trail register at the top and looked around a bit for Tom. He was nowhere to be seen. Some thru-hikers said he had continued along the ridge. We figured he was smart enough to come back down when he was done so we headed back down. We saw many thru-hikers climbing Baden-Powell and it was fun talking to them. We talked to a guy who's trail name was Half-Cocked and he was spent. He had hiked 14 miles already and was trying to get to the top of the peak.
On the way down, we saw Ingrid and Nancy- thought for sure they had turned back around but they kept pluggin' along and eventually made it to the top as well. Tom caught back up with Carolen and I on the way down and chattered our ears off the whole way. He was an interesting character and had some idiosyncracies I won't get into here. I try to keep my blog as non-gossip as possible- except when it comes to Dennis. I'm allowed to talk about Dennis though because I'm married to him!
Anyway, we made it back to the trailhead. It was 8 miles round-trip and took us 4 hours and 45 minutes.
We drove on over to the Blue Ridge Campground and I'm so glad I had the truck because the road to get there was GNARLY. We saw Ed at a campsite and he pointed us to the one remaining site so we snagged it. It was just Tom and myself and I thought the other gals would be joining us after they got off the mountain (Carolen had stayed behind at the trailhead to wait for Ingrid and Nancy) but they ended up staying at Ed's campsite when they rolled in. So I was by myself in a campsite with Tom. His antics were very entertaining and sometimes a little scary. He brought a 20 year old lantern and took him 45 minutes to light it and when it finally lit, the fuel was on full blast and the thing was engulfed in flames. Then he couldn't figure out how to reduce the fuel. I'm standing there with my toothbrush hanging out of my mouth and a nalgene bottle water, ready to douse the lantern if needed, and alternating between laughing hysterically and being scared out of my wits he was going to start a forest fire. Anyway, that was a little tidbit on Tom.
I had a new hammock I wanted to try sleeping in so I found a couple of trees to string it up. Tom was surprised when I said I was going to bed and it was only 9pm. That's known as hiker midnight and pretty close to my normal bedtime anyway so I trundled off to test out my hammock. I couldn't quite get into my mummy bag and still be balanced enough in the hammock so I used my bag like a blanket. It worked quite well and was super comfy. I laid there and looked at the stars and the crescent moon for awhile before I drifted off. I slept till about 1am when I woke up because my backside was cold. No insulation on the bottom of the hammock so I'll have to keep practicing and see what I can do about that. I took the hammock down and used it as a ground cloth, threw down my sleeping pad and bag, crawled in and had no thought about bugs or snakes or anything other than sleeping.
The next day we were to hike the PCT east from Blue Ridge to Acorn Trail. Tom decided he was done and wanted to go to a festival on the beach instead so he left. So Ed, myself, and the other gals started walking and words just can't describe the beautiful scenery, the fresh pine scented air, and the mountain vistas. It's a shame I can't adequately describe how I feel out there. A few miles in, Ed decided he was done and left us 4 gals to our own devices. We walked to where Acorn Trail splits off and it's 2.7 miles down into Wrightwood. But we turned around at this point and headed back. We took a break at Guffy campground to eat our lunches. These ladies had very healthy lunches and it made it me feel like I should be eating better (which I should!). I've kind of gotten into one of those phases where I don't care what I eat. Not good for the blood sugar. Then we continued on, stopping periodically to gaze out over the mountains or take pictures. These gals have a good pace, they stop to rest, and like to take pictures too so I felt very good hiking with them. Carolen happens to be planning to thru-hike in 2014.
We made it back to Blue Ridge in about 4 hours for a total of 7.5 miles.
I did get a cheeseburger at Carl's Jr. on the drive back but I think I need to quit doing that. I need to figure out something else to eat after hikes that is good for me but still satisfies my hiker hunger.
Enjoy some pictures!
Left to Right: Nancy, Tom, Ingrid, Carolen, Ed
These are snow flowers but I also learned they are called Dick Flowers because they look like penises! Carolen proceeded to call them Dick Weeds everytime she saw one. LOL
I'm signing the register at the summit. I've been wearing skirts to hike in and I LOVE it!
Left to right: Me, Nancy, Ingrid, Carolen
We walked under the Mountain High ski lift.
Our fearless leader, Ed. He would be mad if I told you this but he is 73 years old.
Hamming it up at a PCT marker.
Here's a little blurb on Mt. Baden Powell:
"Mount Baden-Powell is a peak in the San Gabriel Mountains of California named for the founder of the World Scouting Movement, Lord Baden-Powell. It was officially recognized by the USGS at a dedication ceremony in 1931. At 9,407 feet in elevation, Mount Baden-Powell is the 4th highest peak of the San Gabriel Range. The summit has long been a favorite hiking excursion either from the Mount Islip Saddle near Little Jimmy Trail Camp, or the Vincent Gap Trail which leads up a moderate to strenuous set of switchbacks from Wrightwood. Mount Baden-Powell is also the high point along the The Silver Moccasin Trail, a historic 53-mile Boy Scout hiking trail. The Vincent Gap hike leads through a variety of forested areas consisting of Jeffrey Pines, Ponderosa Pine, Lodgepole Pine, Incense-cedar, and an ancient forest of Limber Pine, some of which are more than 2,000 years old.
In 1957 several Southern California councils of the Boy Scounts of America placed a formal marker at the summit with a plaque dedicated to Lord Baden-Powell."
I have had some work stress this past week so I felt a little out of sorts on the drive up to the trailhead. As soon as I got up to San Bernadino and I saw the mountains and the clouds surrounding them, work became a distant hazy memory on the outskirts of my conscious.
Only 6 of us showed up for this outing- myself, Ed, 3 other gals that I have met before (Carolen, Ingrid, Nancy), and a dude named Tom. We started walking up Mt. Baden-Powell at about 2pm from the Vincent Gap trailhead. The weather was close to 70 but there was lots of shade going up with all the pine trees. I got a good rythmn going, Tom chattering all the while. The further we ascended, the more frequent the rest breaks. Altitude steals the breath. Up and up, one swithback after another. I felt like I was back on San Jacinto but without the heavy backpack. Nancy wasn't feeling well so she and Ingrid dropped back a bit and took longer breaks. Tom sped ahead and we thought he would be hanging out at the top waiting forever for us (turns out he only got there 5 minutes ahead of Carolen and myself). Ed decided to turn back because the altitude was giving him problems. Carolen and I kept a pretty steady pace, although very slow, and stopping frequently to catch our breath. We made it to the top and the 360 degree made every step worth it. It was a hazy day but you could see the valley and the desert floor. It was breathtaking. Carolen and I signed the trail register at the top and looked around a bit for Tom. He was nowhere to be seen. Some thru-hikers said he had continued along the ridge. We figured he was smart enough to come back down when he was done so we headed back down. We saw many thru-hikers climbing Baden-Powell and it was fun talking to them. We talked to a guy who's trail name was Half-Cocked and he was spent. He had hiked 14 miles already and was trying to get to the top of the peak.
On the way down, we saw Ingrid and Nancy- thought for sure they had turned back around but they kept pluggin' along and eventually made it to the top as well. Tom caught back up with Carolen and I on the way down and chattered our ears off the whole way. He was an interesting character and had some idiosyncracies I won't get into here. I try to keep my blog as non-gossip as possible- except when it comes to Dennis. I'm allowed to talk about Dennis though because I'm married to him!
Anyway, we made it back to the trailhead. It was 8 miles round-trip and took us 4 hours and 45 minutes.
We drove on over to the Blue Ridge Campground and I'm so glad I had the truck because the road to get there was GNARLY. We saw Ed at a campsite and he pointed us to the one remaining site so we snagged it. It was just Tom and myself and I thought the other gals would be joining us after they got off the mountain (Carolen had stayed behind at the trailhead to wait for Ingrid and Nancy) but they ended up staying at Ed's campsite when they rolled in. So I was by myself in a campsite with Tom. His antics were very entertaining and sometimes a little scary. He brought a 20 year old lantern and took him 45 minutes to light it and when it finally lit, the fuel was on full blast and the thing was engulfed in flames. Then he couldn't figure out how to reduce the fuel. I'm standing there with my toothbrush hanging out of my mouth and a nalgene bottle water, ready to douse the lantern if needed, and alternating between laughing hysterically and being scared out of my wits he was going to start a forest fire. Anyway, that was a little tidbit on Tom.
I had a new hammock I wanted to try sleeping in so I found a couple of trees to string it up. Tom was surprised when I said I was going to bed and it was only 9pm. That's known as hiker midnight and pretty close to my normal bedtime anyway so I trundled off to test out my hammock. I couldn't quite get into my mummy bag and still be balanced enough in the hammock so I used my bag like a blanket. It worked quite well and was super comfy. I laid there and looked at the stars and the crescent moon for awhile before I drifted off. I slept till about 1am when I woke up because my backside was cold. No insulation on the bottom of the hammock so I'll have to keep practicing and see what I can do about that. I took the hammock down and used it as a ground cloth, threw down my sleeping pad and bag, crawled in and had no thought about bugs or snakes or anything other than sleeping.
The next day we were to hike the PCT east from Blue Ridge to Acorn Trail. Tom decided he was done and wanted to go to a festival on the beach instead so he left. So Ed, myself, and the other gals started walking and words just can't describe the beautiful scenery, the fresh pine scented air, and the mountain vistas. It's a shame I can't adequately describe how I feel out there. A few miles in, Ed decided he was done and left us 4 gals to our own devices. We walked to where Acorn Trail splits off and it's 2.7 miles down into Wrightwood. But we turned around at this point and headed back. We took a break at Guffy campground to eat our lunches. These ladies had very healthy lunches and it made it me feel like I should be eating better (which I should!). I've kind of gotten into one of those phases where I don't care what I eat. Not good for the blood sugar. Then we continued on, stopping periodically to gaze out over the mountains or take pictures. These gals have a good pace, they stop to rest, and like to take pictures too so I felt very good hiking with them. Carolen happens to be planning to thru-hike in 2014.
We made it back to Blue Ridge in about 4 hours for a total of 7.5 miles.
I did get a cheeseburger at Carl's Jr. on the drive back but I think I need to quit doing that. I need to figure out something else to eat after hikes that is good for me but still satisfies my hiker hunger.
Enjoy some pictures!
Left to Right: Nancy, Tom, Ingrid, Carolen, Ed
These are snow flowers but I also learned they are called Dick Flowers because they look like penises! Carolen proceeded to call them Dick Weeds everytime she saw one. LOL
I'm signing the register at the summit. I've been wearing skirts to hike in and I LOVE it!
Left to right: Me, Nancy, Ingrid, Carolen
We walked under the Mountain High ski lift.
Our fearless leader, Ed. He would be mad if I told you this but he is 73 years old.
Hamming it up at a PCT marker.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)