Hiking Fun - Week 1

Here's the looong post (and some pics) I promised about last week's hikes.  We hike here 6 days a week, but only because Sunday is a day of total rest & recuperation. 

Every Monday is an evaluation day.  Everyone is randomly divided up and at the end of the hike the guides group everyone up according to ability.  That means Tuesday to Friday you will be hiking with the same group of people and the same guides.  (Saturday hike you get to choose which hike you want).. which is good because you get to know your group.

Last Monday on the evaluation hike I did Chuckwalla.  It was a tough mixed terrain hike.  Uphill, downhill, sand & rocks... but the part that I did like was that we climbed a mountain!!!  I was a bit stressed about where to step at some points and found that I walked almost the entire 2 hours with my head down focused on the trail, which killed my neck!  The guides said we did about 4 miles, but it was probably equal to about 6 flat miles.

Here are the pics of Monday's hike:

Tuesday was a much milder hike called West Canyon.  There was no off roading, no sand and no climbing up rocks.  We walked further, probably about 5 miles.  The best part was not stressing about EVERY DAMN STEP.  I purposely walked with my head looking up for long stretches to try and counter the neck pain and it worked.

Here are the pics of Tuesdays hike:

Wednesday we did a hike called Overlook, which again was very mild.  I was honestly appreciating the mildness for 2 days in a row!!  There were still tough inclines and we were able to walk further with our 2 hour time frame.  At one point along the hike we went off on a little path just to look over the canyon below (hence the name Overlook)  After we got back to the van we had a few extra minutes so a few us decided to start back on foot... which happened to be completely downhill.  It felt good to just be walking downhill but that's how I got my first blister.  My feet do not like downhill Ive discovered. 

We did run into a tarantula.  Amazingly I was not completely freaked out.  It was not quite as big as Ive seen in pet stores, but nonetheless there it was crossing the road.  Thanks to Sean for getting the up close pics... because I was not going to get that close to a wild tarantula!!



Me at the Overlook





Here comes the van!  You can see how steep this damn hill is!


Thursday we did a hike called Anasazi Ridge, which is named after the Anasazi Native Indians that lived in the area 1000+ years ago.  We were back to off-roading it, but I was ready for it.  I felt stronger already and that my lungs were a bit more acclimated to the conditions here.  Its very DRY and also at a higher altitude than where I live.  We got to see some very cool Petroglyphs, which are stone carvings made by the Native Indians.  Some of them are easy to figure out, others are very puzzling... but they were all so cool.  I have never seen anything like this out in real life... only in a museum.  It was neat to think about the Indians wandering the same trails 1000 years ago.  On the way back to FR we passed by an area that must be used for target practice for the locals, because I found a Smith & Wesson shell casing.  LOL!  We are in the wild west here people!  And on the downhill part home I got the start of my second blister... again with the downhill and the blisters!  These damn blisters may also get their own post because I have some really gross pics!!

Finally Friday it was time for the infamous Stop Sign hike.  Stop Sign is only 4 miles, but it is 90% uphill... so steep uphill that we go from 3000ft elevation at the beginning to 4000ft elevation at the end... and at the very top of this crazy crazy hill is a lovely Stop Sign.  (its the exit for the state park and actually a 3 way intersection, so it is a real stop sign)  The good news is that it is all paved.  Not everyone finishes Stop Sign and there are numerous little parking lots on the way up that you can wait for the van to collect you if need be.  That helped me feel more secure about trying it.... but really I wanted to finish it.  Last year they used to do Stop Sign twice a week and everyone was timed.  They no longer time people since its not a race per say... but since I am going to be here for so long, I wanted to know what my time was.  I want to do this hike at least once a week and see how my time improves as the weeks go by.  Here are the pics...



A dude was sweeping the trails - I was just happy to see another human!





This one was looking back downhill behind me



I DID IT!!!  It took me 2 hours exactly to get up that damn hill.  Let me tell you it took every ounce of energy and determination to get up there.  The last mile is SO STEEP!  I wanted to just die.  But dammit I did it!!!  The good thing is that you do this hike alone at your own pace... so I put in my earphones and it was just me and my music.  My friend Violet was a few hundred feet for most of the way, but the at one point I had to stop and have my banana for energy (I was so drained!!) and she kept on going so I ended up finishing just after her.  Deb and Don were our hiking guides and they just keep popping up to check on us... but Deb walked the last mile with us.  She finished with Violet and then came back to finish the last tiny bit with me.  At one point I was getting really discouraged and then all of a sudden I saw the Toll Booth and knew I was getting close.  Then I saw a car whiz by... OH MY GOD - A CAR!  That means I was SO CLOSE!!  I could have jumped for joy!  Of course I had to hug the stop sign and shed a little tear.  I found out later that afternoon that you are supposed to take a rock as a little reminder of your awesomeness... so next time I am going to take 2 rocks!!  ;)

OK last but not least - Saturday we did West Canyon again.  By this time my blisters were absolutely killing me and I really didn't do all that great.  But the sun was shining and the sky was a beautiful blue so I have some better pics.

Thanks for reading this far!  Its off to bed for me - oh what a reward sleep is here!!
(and apparently my apostrophe key is not working tonight... so apologies for any missing punctuation)

This week I will try and write about my fun fun fun blisters and also a bit more about the workout schedule here.  Anything else you guys want to hear about?