go hiking once a week

Still finding it hard to balance work and exercise, but I did manage to drag dear wife out to Almaden Quicksilver Park this afternoon for probably a 5 mile hike. We were following familiar trails, but the dramatically cloudy day added a bit of drama. We also found a new dirt road bulldozed up one hillside. I was hoping they were planning for some new trails and roads around the old mining areas on the top of the hill, but it instead led to some water tanks for the horse troughs at the top of the hill.

Still, it was hiking, and it was exercise. I’ve been really bad about keeping active; I’ve used our exercise bike a couple times, but it doesn’t hold my attention well enough.

Just need to figure out a way to hike regularly…

Last week was crazy at work, so I took today as a vacation day. Partially, I did it just to get a breather, but I also wanted to attend one of the internet group’s weekday hikes – 4.8 miles, ending right at sunset (and hopefully before the rangers locked the gates.)

The start was the usual punishing climb up the steep and constant Deep Gulch trail, but I made it (with the usual breaks to get breathing and heart rate down a bit.) The rest of the hike was pretty leisurely; as usual, I ended up at the back of the pack picking up the stragglers, and ended up making sure a mom and 8 year old made it home. They knew the trails and seemed to be doing good (except for occasional stops when the kid got tired), but leaving anyone behind always seems just not right.

And even for a beautiful, clear, warm day, the trails were still really empty. Nice!

I haven’t been hiking at all lately thanks to work, so this was a real treat. It was even better because dear wife and I did another 3 miles on a new trail on Saturday.

The weekend was just one constant downpour, so I didn’t get out at all. Again, I actually found myself just wanting to move and ended up on the exercise bicycle twice this week. I even found that all that “not-happy” music I’ve been trying to avoid does a great job of keeping me fired up. Liz Phair and the Cranberries make sure I do the full thirty minutes.

I’ve been stuck in the office way too much; I was getting antsy enough that I even got on an exercise bike mid-week because I was just missing doing any moving. (I normally can’t stand exercise equipment or gyms, so my willingness on Thursday to get on the exercise bike is pretty frightening.) Luckily, Dear Wife thought hiking sounded fun, so we planned to go off into Almaden this weekend.

The weather was unseasonable; warm, dry, only a slight breeze. We made a five mile loop around the top of Mine Hill. It’s a wonderful time to be hiking; the tall grasses from summer and leaves on many trees have disappeared, so there’s more vistas and more chances to see some of the ruins normally hidden. The county had also been through clearing brush along some of the trails, opening things up even more. At the old site of Englishtown, the clearing had exposed a bunch of artifacts which some nice hikers had stacked up on one of the picnic tables – a plate, part of a bottle, and some metal objects.

[Picture: the only hint that it’s January are the long shadows.]

I hiked with Dear Wife on Sunday. We only did the 2.5 mile loop because she’s recovering and we’ve got a bunch of family stuff to deal with. It was fun to get out, but I was so wanted to do a longer hike like I had been doing a few months ago.

Now that I’m working, my weekday hikes are a thing of the past; it’s too bad because they pushed me to do a good workout. I really hate gyms, so trying to find exercise time during the week is hard. I’m trying to train myself to walk a few blocks in the afternoon, and hopefully that will help.

I’m also looking forward to spring; perhaps the internet hiking group will do some more weekday evening hikes!

My crazy fantasy has been to head up into the hills at 7am maybe a day a week and to do 5-6 miles, then head home, clean up, and go into work a bit late. I’d have to stay longer, but at least I’d be exercising.

Clever me managed to sprain my ankle last week. Luckily, I wasn’t five miles from the car on some deserted trail, but at a pothole just down the street from the auto body shop where we’d picked up my wife’s car.

Plus side: One of my new co-workers was kind enough to find an ice pack in the emergency kit downstairs.

Minus side: I’d prefer to be walking all over campus meeting all the folks I’ll be working with.

By Saturday, I could walk on it (with a bit of pain), and with the help of my trusty hiking boots, went hiking with Dear Wife and a couple friends in Rancho San Antonio preserve. It’s a nice park, but it’s got to be the most popular park in the area. Saturday was the first really sunny day in a week, and every parking lot was stuffed with cars, and we passed tons of people in our short hike. Quite a change from Almaden.

At least I hiked, and I hope I heal quickly so I can hike this weekend too!

Another hike before the storm hits – this time, just a two mile loop or so. Cold and windy, but I’m still glad we got outside!

It’s been a dry fall, but a big (and cold) storm is due on Saturday and Sunday. DW and I wanted to push to keep in the exercise habit, so we did another 2.5 mile hike like yesterday. This time, we went in via Almaden’s Wood Road entrance. For a weekday, there were a ton of hikers – there were four cars in the parking lot, and I think we saw every one of those groups while hiking.

We’re also on a “see all the predators” tear; on the way back, we saw a bobcat on the trail ahead of us. It got out of the way pretty quickly once it realized there were hikers around.

Dear Wife and I have both been sick lately, but we’re both feeling better. We decided to test ourselves with a 2.5 mile hike in Almaden Quicksilver County Park.

The highlight of the day was when a woman on a horse stopped, looked off in the field, and said “Hey, there’s a mountain lion out there!” It was a few hundred feet away, sitting on top of a fallen tree, but every now and then it would move and we’d realize there was a cat out there. It looked big enough – maybe four feet across – that it might have actually been a mountain lion, too! Luckily, it wasn’t hungry for hikers.

[Photo on the Mine Hill Trail about 1/2 mile in from the McAbee Road entrance.]

It’s a beautiful fall day, so Dear Wife and I decided it was a great day to get out of the house and hike. We ended up in the park I visited with the Internet hiking group the week before last – the Fall Creek part of Samuel Cowell State Park. We had a nice time. The trail climbs gradually, so although there’s a reasonable overall climb (about 500 feet), there aren’t any particularly difficult stretches.