Saturday, November 23, 2013

Nordstrom Beauty Trend Show

Rocksanne and I went to Nordstrom's Beauty Trend Show today and had a fabulous time!  We attended the fashion show bright and early in the morning and then had our make-up done at the Bobbi Brown counter.  It was a madhouse!  Lots of crazy Nordstrom women.  We spent way too much money (myself especially) but we don't do it often so we had fun.  Georgia and Gia braved the Fashion Valley crowds to come have lunch with us at PF Chang's.

Waiting in line at 7am:



Pictures from the actual fashion show- a little blurry though:











Picture with the Angel lady (my favorite fragrance):



Rocksanne and I after the make-up session.  We are eating at PF Chang's with Georgia and Gia:



Monday, November 18, 2013

PCT Backpack- Scissors Crossing to Barrel Spring

I did a one night backpack on the PCT with Carolen, Nancy and Ingrid. We went 24 miles from Scissors Crossing to Barrel Spring and had a fabulous time doing it.

We started with a bit of trepidation because the weather had been rainy and the wind was pretty blustery. But thankfully we never got rained on. Just very chilly and windy that first day. We checked in at the first water cache under the Scissors Crossing overpass that Larry the trail angel stocks. We didn't need any water since we were all carrying the amount we would need the whole time. 6 liters for me and I think the other ladies had 5 to 5.5 liters apiece.

We started climbing and I want to say that it was a gradual up hill climb for most of the day. It seemed like alot of uphill. The views were fantastic and the stormy weather made for beautiful cloud displays. It was awe-inspiring. I felt nature laying a velvet blanket of peace over me. My mind was erased of all the day-to-day crap and settled into a quiet tranquility.

We decided to go 14 miles because there seemed to be a good spot to pitch tents at that mile point. I'm so glad we did it that way because that set us up for an easier 10 miler the next day. The wind got so intense in the last miles of the first day that I thought I might blow off the ridge a couple of times. At one point in the last stretch, I had to stop and brace myself with my poles. After we made it off that ridge, we came down into some chapparel that blocked the wind a bit. There were 3 dudes camping at the first open spots so we chatted with them for a minute and then went on down the trail to find a spot to fit the 4 of us. Nancy scouted out a stellar location so that's where we landed. We got everything set up and started making dinner. I had my dehydrated quinoa, lentils and ham and it was delicious! I was sipping hot chocoate when Nancy and Ingrid brought out their bottles of honey bourbon so I added a shot of that to my hot chocolate. We chatted and laughed around dinner while watching the full moon rise. Doesn't get any better than that! This full moon is called the Beaver Moon for Native Americans setting beaver traps during this month before the swamps froze to ensure a supply of warm winter furs.

At about 6:30 I had to excuse myself to go get in my sleeping bag to warm up. My teeth were starting to chatter. I snuggled down into my cozy bag and warmed up. Then got back out to change into my sleeping clothes. Then snuggled back up to read my kindle. I didn't get very far because my eyes started drooping. I was pooped. The wind was still whipping pretty good so I drifted in and out of sleep with the night noises.

About 2am, I hear a scream "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" I sat bolt upright and was flailing about trying to get my sleeping bag zipper down. I was going to poke my head out to make sure everything was okay. Then I heard Carolen say "Nancy, are you okay!?" Nancy replied and said that she thought someone was dragging her tent away. She was dreaming. LOL. Later we found out that she thought she was shouting HELP but actually she yelled "Shit, Nooooo!" I hadn't heard the shit part. Hahaha! We all got a good laugh about it the next day.

We started moving around about 6am, making breakfast, drinking coffee and packing up. Carolen and I walked down to the bottom of the hill where another water cache was and were delighted to find a little oasis. There was a ton of water jugs under trees with a couple of plastic chairs and a sign with instructions. Looked like there was a jeep trail where a trail angel drove the water in from. Carolen is doing the thru-hike beginning April 20 so this was good info for her to discover.

We started hiking about 8:15am and it was much nicer weather. Sunny and clear but still cool enough to be enjoyable. We had a nice rythmn and according to Nancy's phone app, we averaged between 2.3 and 2.8 miles per hour. The terrain was easier although my legs were tired and I felt like I was moving through molasses on the uphills. I did yoga breathing pretty much the whole hike. It really helps me keep an even, steady pace. In my yoga practice, the Ujjayi breath helps me maintain a nice rythmn through the poses so why not hiking! Inhale Love, Exhale Peace.

Periodically, Nancy and Ingrid would stop and look at animal poop to see if they could determine the type of animal. It was pretty fun and I'm glad I'm not the only one interested in different types of poops. LOL. We made the 10 miles to Barrel Spring by 2:30pm and this was including at least an hours worth of breaks. That's another reason I like hiking with these ladies- breaks! The last break we took, none of us wanted to get back up. It was lovely just sitting, chatting, looking at the view and soaking up the sun.

We made it back to the car and we were done! Ingrid and Carolen have  now completed section A and Nancy only has a few miles to finish.  If work allows me, I'd like to do all section A in one fell swoop in April when the thru-hikers start.  That would be pretty sweet.

Enjoy some pictures!











































Funny picture but you can see how windy it is by my hair and facial expression:











































Sunday, November 10, 2013

Lopez Canyon

I did a short and sweet 3.27 mile hike up Lopez Canyon with Pico today.  It was perfect weather and the terrain was flat and shady.  I had wanted to go further but the trail disappeared into a dry creek bed so I turned back.

Here's a good crop of poison oak:



Dry creek bed:



Lots of mistletoe in the trees:



Me 'n Pico: