Document my hikes.

There’s still too much rain, snow and mud for after-work hiking, but just after dawn, when the ground is still frozen, is a good time to hit the trails. I did exactly that on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

On Saturday, we climbed to the top of Burnt Ridge and then caught the aquaduct trail to the old mine road, for a total of 6 miles. It was a beautiful, chilly morning, and I could hear cranes croaking nearby.

On Sunday, we did the same loop in reverse, and it was almost like hiking a completely different trail.

I have nerve compression in both my feets, so I am trying to find a way to keep hiking without too much pain and, more importantly, without exacerbating the problem. It seems as if keeping the distance to no more than 5 miles helps. I think I’ll try hiking poles, too.

It’s been raining here, and the weather is warmer, which is the perfect recipe for muddy trails. I avoided that by taking Becca & Elbee hiking as early as possible.

We set out to climb Burnt Ridge at 6:45 a.m. The sky stayed snuggled under a blanket of cloud cover, but the birds were up and at ‘em, chattering away. The air felt soft and humid.

My foot was a little sore, but it wasn’t too bad. I was able to walk a little faster than last weekend. Becca and Elbee had a great time sniffing, running and frolicking, and they were very good about staying close to me.

The grass on the ground is really greening up, but the shrubs and trees are still leafless. I saw on tiny yellow glacier lily preparing to bloom. These mountainsides should have lots of flowers by next weekend.

A very fun and exhilarating hike, and we were back home by 8:30 a.m.

75 minutes, 4 miles.

On Saturday, I took Becca & Elbee to our favorite state mountain park. With this winter’s scant snowfall, I’m sure we could have hiked all winter, had it not been for my foot sugery. The trails are still very muddy, so we left as soon as the sun was up, before the ground thawed.

It felt great to be hiking on such a beautiful and familiar trail again. The trees were still bare, and the trails were lined in piles of last autumn’s fallen leaves. The air was full of bird songs, including a lot of goose honks. There are a lot of geese in the area this Spring, which is unusual.

As we climbed up the mountain, there were more patches of snow. We didn’t go past Spring Pond because at that point the trails were lined with big ice patches. I didn’t have cleats on my boots and didn’t want to risk another injury.

Speaking of foot injuries, I saw my doctor on Friday and he told me something interesting. He told me that the antibiotic Levaquin now carries a black box warning because it can cause tendon problems. That goes a long way toward explaining my original injury, which occurred about a year ago, when I was taking Levaquin for about 8 weeks to combat a severe and very stubborn ear infection…and was snow hiking most of that time.

Anyway, on the way back, my mind was elsewhere, thinking about a job application I’d just submitted, and I took a wrong turn. I’ve hiked in this park hundreds of times, yet I took a wrong turn! It took me about a mile to realize that we were off course, and then I actually got a little confused. Strangeness! I finally decided to turn around and retrace my steps, and eventually my mistake was clear. I had intended to hike only about 3 miles, because my foot was hurting, but it ended up being a 5 mile hike.

It’s good to be back at it again, and I was pleased that I’ve been able to maintain my heart and lungs conditioning through the winter, despite taking it easy for several weeks following surgery. Right now, the trails are too muddy to hike after the ground thaws, but I’m hoping to do some more early morning hiking this weekend.

This morning I took Becca & Elbee back to the Old Mine trails. We climbed to the top of Burnt Ridge again, but this time we took different routes. We climbed up the Sage Trail and returned on the Cottontail Trail. I thought this was a slightly shorter way, but it is actually longer.

It was cold, 14F, and kind of windy. I regretted not wearing my thermal underwear. Three seasons were evident: wintry patches of snow and bare trees, piles of dry autumn leaves, and Spring green grasses coming up for air. I saw some robins and bluebirds, too.

Total time: 100 minutes. Mileage: 5 miles.

:D

It’s been four months since I’ve done any serious hiking. Finally, thanks to a combination of medical treatments and my wonderful new orthopedic super hiking boots, it was time to give it a try.

I took the girls to one of our favorite spots, the Old Mine Hollow trails. The road to the trailhead is still closed for winter. We squeezed past the gate and walked the trailhead road up to the trails. I planned to take it easy and turn around if I had pain or the trails were too tough. Guess what?! I didn’t have to turn around! Yahoo!

When the temps warm up again, these trails will be mucky with mud, but they were solid this morning, when the temp was 17F/-8C. We started out as the sky was just lightening, before the sun was up. We climbed up the Overlook Trail, farther up to the top of Burnt Ridge, and then looped back down on the Sage Trail.

The ground, trees and bushes were sprinkled in a light snow and made me think of powdered sugar doughnuts. The mountain peaks shone with rising sun and snow. The air sparkled with ice crystals. Birds chirped in the bare trees. Becca and Elbee zoomed up and down the mountainsides and came back every time they were called.

When we were almost back to the car, we met up with a woman and her three dogs, who were just starting out on their morning hike. I stopped to chat, and Becca stayed calm in the midst of all those unknown doggies.

It was absolutely thrilling to be hiking again!!!!!

total time: 80 minutes. total miles: 4 max heart rate: 156.

I wanted to watch the festivities in Washington, DC, so I took Becca and Elbee out to hike as soon as the sky started lightening. It was beautiful and cold. My hair froze in places, and Elbee’s black fur was frosted all over.

Elbee was awfully adventurous and ran far ahead of me. This is unusual for her. Becca, on the other hand, stayed near by, which is unusual for her. It’s as if they traded places.

I hiked for 3.5 miles, and my foot hurt only a little. Yay!

I was up early yesterday to drive my brother-in-law to the airport. Of course, Becca & Elbee went along for the ride. On the way back home, I decided to stop & take the girls for a little hike.

Some wonderful soul has flattened the snow on the entire Donkey Ridge trail with a sled. This is just what I need right now, while my foot is still healing, since the very worst thing for it is walking on uneven ground. It was a beautiful, cold day, and it felt just great to be out in the clean air, with brilliant blue sky overhead and glittery snow all around. Becca especially had a blast. She was bounding through snow banks, rolling in snow, and chasing Elbee around.

I turned around to come back as soon as I felt the first sign of foot pain. Still, this was the longest hike since the surgery, at just over 3 miles.

Yesterday I took the girls back to Dutchman’s Way. It was a classic winter day in the mountains, cold air, gray sky, and snow everywhere. And it was quiet. No birdsongs or squirrel chatter, just a little rustling wind in my ears.

Becca and Elbee had a good time sliding around on the trails and chasing each other. We ended up hiking three miles, which is the farthest I’ve gone since my surgery. It felt okay while I was doing it, but later in the day my foot hurt a lot, and I think that means it was too much.

I am feeling pretty discouraged about how long it is taking for my foot to completely heal. To counteract the discouragement, I’m reminding myself of other injuries that did finally heal, even though it seemed to take forever. I’m thinking that maybe I should pay me GP/sports medicine doc a visit for some advice on a post-surgical recovery exercise program. Yeah, that’s a good idea…

Yesterday, we went back to the Donkey Ridge Trail and climbed a bit farther, for a total of two miles. The day was beautiful, sharply sunny, blue and cold. My foot was hurting, so I didn’t want to push it. I’m looking to going out again today!

This evening, Mr. Wren, Becca, Elbee and I went out to Donkey Ridge. There is a lot of snow on the ground and the trees, and on this trail it is so well-packed that it is like walking on a cold, white sidewalk.

I just wanted to give it a little try to see how my foot would feel. I had no big expectations. As it happened, I was able to walk without any pain. We climbed up the hill until the trail started to get choppy, and then we turned around and came back down.

It felt FANTASTIC to be hiking in the mountains again. The cold air made my face feel tingly, the trees were bare and snow-covered, and the sky over the mountains blushed amber is we walked back.

We hiked about 1.5 miles, and so far, my foot feels okay. I think we will do this again tomorrow!