Continuing on the path

I've hooked up with friend Sally and we've been walking every (M-F) morning for the past couple weeks. It's good to have a walking buddy again. We head out early, 7 am, to beat the summer heat and I'm back home by 8:15 am for iced coffee and the newspaper. I'm not all that thrilled to be waking up so early when I dont' "have" to, but I'll get over it. Early morning is the key because with work and above 100 temps and then all the crazy afternoon storms, that's the only time you'll catch this chick outside. The fire season is in full swing and the air is becoming hazy with smoke. Makes for incredible sun rises and sets, but crap to breathe. Anyway, I'm off to trot around on Shanks Ponies. See ya.

Good For What Ails You

A trip to the cabin is always a cure for what ails me. I couldn't wait to get there and couldn't stand the thought of leaving. We hiked to the waterfall through a narrow canyon of shear granite. It was cool and refreshing on a hot summer's day. Then on up to the top where there is a smaller waterfall that feeds the larger one below. We didn't attempt the decent from hell. We turned around and came back the way we went up. Feel so good to be in nature; smelling the smells (even the pine sol of the outhouse as the top of the trail head), hearing the sounds and just being. I also climbed up to robber's roost (see photo) which sits on the mountaintop overlooking the cabin. All the childhood tales of how it got its name came rushing back. As if robber's would really hang out up there and spy on the cabin, plotting their next big heist. What would they steal? The old enamelware basins? The hike felt great and then relaxing on the porch swing with a good book and a slightly cool beverage topped it off. Slightly cool because it was so dang hot that even the creek was only barely cool. Since that's where we chill our beverages, slightly cool was as good as it got. But it was over all too soon and it'll probably be another year before I get back. If only we lived closer.

To Do List

8:00 am.....Hike the "M"

9:15am......Take Chloe to the Bark Park

10:00am...Weed

11:00am....visit with Molly and Gracie

1:30pm......Weed

3:30pm......Blog

after that.....cold beer

Ah, life is good.

Get Moving

Walking gets the feet moving,

the blood moving,

the mind moving.

And movement is life.

~Carrie Latet

Gorgeous day today. Walked with Allison and Chloe. We went a new route, up and around some windy streets and cul de sacs and then down a very quiet road, passed some cows and too many dogs. It was 50 minutes. Just right. I feel full of energy, happy, and ready for the day. We talked about our walking options after school gets out next week. We made some plans for new routes for our walk and a few hikes. Should be a fun summer

Bring on the Rain

Boy did they ever!! Days of rain. Gallons of rain. So much rain we almost floated away. But today was good and tomorrow is supposed to be even better. So, after a few days of the stairs, I"m back to walking. I want to do the "M" again and there is a nice trail up Waterworks hill with fabulous wildflower sightings and the view is beautiful.

The true charm of pedestrianism does not lie in the walking, or in the scenery, but in the talking. The walking is good to time the movement of the tongue by, and to keep the blood and the brain stirred up and active; the scenery and the woodsy smells are good to bear in upon a man an unconscious and unobtrusive charm and solace to eye and soul and sense; but the supreme pleasure comes from the talk. ~Mark Twain

Walking Buddies

Allison has been getting up to walk with me in the mornings and the other day I got an email from Sally (a worse walking buddy than me) to see if I wanted to walk in the early mornings when school gets out on the 13. Yes, and yes. I love having a buddy to walk with. I'll walk farther this way. It's working out great with Allison. She brings Chloe, of course and we all just trot around. A new direction every day. We go for about 45 minutes right now, but that might bump up when school's out and we can leave earlier. Anyway, I'm still hoofing it on shanks ponies and I have company for now. Good and good.

The Reward

Last Thursday Allison and I took a hike up to the "M". The hillside was full of wildflowers. When you go later into the summer you don't see much, but this time of year the reward is stunning. I hadn't hiked the "M" since last summer. I didn't know how I'd do. The trail zig zags up the side of Mounta Sentinal and there are 13 switchbacks. The first leg is always the one that kicks ass. It's the longest and steepest. I told Al that I was going to go painfully slow so that I wasn't a quivering puddle before switchback #2. It worked. Slow and steady really does win the race. It was perfect weather, not too hot and not too cool or windy. The only downside was we had to go straight to work and I was all loose and wobbly the rest of the day. Its almost like that feeling after you've had a massage. Not as enjoyable during, but the loose feeling is very much the same. Anyway, first hike is firmly under my belt and I'm ready to go again later this week. Hopefully we'll be able to do it weekly. That would be a huge benefit to my hind end.