I finally posted the full report from our Rabbit Ears Peak hike two weeks ago, for any who are interested!
http://travelingtwosome.weebly.com/t...bbit-ears-peak
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I finally posted the full report from our Rabbit Ears Peak hike two weeks ago, for any who are interested!
http://travelingtwosome.weebly.com/t...bbit-ears-peak
Great pictures, Emily! I am not sure if I could have gone up to 10K feet. When we hiked at Mt. Baldy, we started at 5K and ended up at 7. It made me feel very slow. Two days later, we drove just north of that trail to find another hike my son had described. Right after we passed the turn off for where we hiked the first day, I started getting the high altitude headache. We couldn't find the trailhead, and I was actually kind of happy. We ended up doing a hike that looks very similar to Rabbit Ears; fire road, some loose dirt, and very steep as we progressed, despite being within the city limits.
The colors are gorgeous. We are just starting are foliage season, so it makes me look forward to the next 2 weeks.
Just beautiful! It would be difficult to find a more beautiful place to hike in the fall, I'm sure. Pity you didn't have your poles but you still did it!
Crankin, I am sure I would have suffered more had we not already been at elevation for weeks before -- in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, among other areas. We had a good long time to acclimate. So really, the elevation was not that big a deal. I noticed it more during bike rides, since those really get your heart pounding and respiration going! I am quite sure I would have suffered mightily if we had flown there. I have never gotten a headache from high elevation, but I definitely pant more than in the lowlands on any sort of climbs, even minor ones.
One more from a couple of weeks ago:
http://travelingtwosome.weebly.com/t...mountain-trail
It was beautiful today, but wind gusting to 35, so no riding here. I had the day off, so we did a 3 mile hike in Spring Hill conservation land in Acton, which is the first time in 10 years we have done it, without our friend leading. The one time we did, we ended up up getting lost, it was getting dark, and we ended up walking almost 7 miles out, through housing developments, and on busy roads, with no lights, to get back to where our car was at the trailhead! It is quite confusing, and most of the time we are there snowshoeing, and it just looks different with no leaves on the trees. But, we now have an All Trails subscription, so we downloaded the basic route. We did about 3 miles, not the usual 5, we have done, but it was fine. No fall color in there, at all. Then, we came home, showered, and went into Harvard/Porter Square and walked another 3 miles, which included a stop for wine and cheese.
So, I work on Friday mornings, now; still leaves plenty of time to hike or ride. When I got home, DH was there, and I suggested a hike in Estabrook Woods, including the big climb. He was thinking more of a walk into town. It was cool out, but gorgeous, a bit windy. I relented, kind of being grumpy. I just put my sneakers on, with my regulaar clothes. When we got to the village, there was some commotion, with 3 fire trucks, police, so we stood around for a bit, but never figured out what. Then, we headed back. We always do a loop of the center, and head back to Main St. a different way. We cut through a playground, and then as we were heading up that street, we saw a trail! One we have never seen. There was a trail map, and it did end up in the direction we needed to go, albeit, in a longer way. Off we went. There was a fork in the trail (we knew it was coming) and we took the fork that the map had shown with lots of elevation markings. So, I got my climb in, and actually felt like I exercised. The trail was pristine, with no roots or rocks, and the climb was good. And I walked down a street that I have only ridden or driven on.
I guess we walked about 5 miles, more than I had planned on.
That sounds so fun, Crankin!
Emily, I can't wait to get back out West again, so much gorgeous scenery just waiting to be discovered.
Catrin, we are getting our new truck all set up to get back to camping!! Having a topper put on in the next month and I'm going to try to fab a couple of hangers to hold our poles along the sides... so we're ready to go, wherever we are.
Crankin, that sounds like fun, glad you enjoyed!
Pax, that sounds like fun as well. I love that you're able to set your truck up like that, it makes life much easier that way - looking forward to seeing what it looks like next year!
Today was my birthday hike, and I....may have, ahem, over done things a bit :rolleyes: :cool:
I've never been in Morgan Monroe State Forest before, and a friend and I had decided some time ago to do one of the 10-mile "loops". Loops SHOULD end where they stop, shouldn't they" Otherwise we should call them....I don't know...Horseshoe trails? Almost-loop trails?
First of all, the trails were great! Wide variety of terrain, LOTS of "up and down", many switchbacks, and thankfully very little of that one trail feature that I can't do. The ONE place where that existed required some creativity from me but I made it. I've pictures that I will post tomorrow, I am just too tired to play with the photos tonight.
11.3 miles in total with over 37K steps. The trails were beautiful, but the maps were awful, the trail-head initially hard to find and while we were never actually lost, we were sweating the possibility of losing the daylight in the woods. None of the signs had the actual trail names, and we had no connection to online mapping services. I will go back, but I will have some other mapping system on my phone or some other device.
Beautiful day for a hike! Afterwards, I started getting terrible ramps in feet, shins, and even thighs. After my hiking partner dropped me back at my car I spent an agonizing 30 minute drive home in my manual transmission car with terrible feet/shin cramps. I've seen this before, but never on the way home. I'm sure it will wake me up tonight - when I normally experience it. I was taking salt-stick capsules throughout the hike, drank over a liter, munched on my favorite trail mix during, and had a good dinner. It could be dehydration, or just plain over-doing things. I've never done THAT before...
Pictures tomorrow, I've a couple beautiful ones!
happy early birthday catrin!!!!...i like celebrating the month but a week will do too :) hoping you can sleep uninterrupted tonight!!!!!
Birthday is next weekend, but yesterday was a good way to celebrate my upcoming 57th. Broken "bits" aside, I think I can't complain if I can hike 11 miles :cool: So what if I had hours of foot/shin cramps last night - I really need to figure THAT out. Obviously something is lacking. At least I learned I CAN drive when both lower appendages are in agony - I drive a manual. Probably shouldn't have but I saw no other way to get home.
Onto the pictures:
I love this upwards shot, the trails were quite empty. We did meet people from time to time but not that many. These trails are quite remote.
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These diamonds were our friends. Maps were horrible. No real internet phone connectivity. Not one trail sign that actually had a trail name or number. AND, drum roll, neither of the two 10 mile loops actually end at the location from which they start. I don't mean they end across the street, but down the street, around the corner, and (literally) through the woods 1/4 mile or so. Did I mention the lack of signage? So regardless of which trail-head one enters the system, you do NOT finish at your car and there is no information to tell you how to get back to it. That's how we hiked 11 miles on a 10-mile trail. No wonder we were sweating daylight :eek: THANKFULLY the two 10-mile trails do NOT intersect.
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Very calm/peaceful lake that our trail took us around.
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Overlooking the same lake as we made our way down/through the ridges to the bottom lands.
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The trails themselves were quite diverse. Lots of up and down - mitigated in the steeper areas by switchbacks. They DID reinforce some of the steep areas to help prevent erosion. Other areas were quite flat and another section appears to have been an access road at one time leading to a long line of telephone poles that cut through the state forest. Much of the trail, thankfully, was quite "mountain-bike-trail-like", which fits my limitations well. Both 10-mile looks in this forest is classified as rugged, probably due to the MANY creek crossings. Most of those were dry, but I can see how it could quickly become impassable after a lot of rain.
I will return at some point - but not solo. Also with printed or downloaded maps on my phone or other device. And, unless I can figure out this cramping thing, not the full route.
Glad you figured the way out! This is the part of hiking I don't like at all. I have a good sense of direction, but once I get in the woods, it seems to leave me. Your pictures look awesome.
We leave for Acadia NP on Friday morning, after I finish my Woman's Group. It just started 2 weeks ago, and I didn't have the heart to cancel on them. DH is going to drop me at work, go sit in a café, and then come back to get me and we will be off. It's a 4.5-5 hour drive, and we want to be there for dinner with the group. I am still quite nervous about descending rocky trails, but it looks like we won't have rain, so that is good.
I think I'd like to not announce I am an AMC leader, but unfortunately, my fleece vest prominently displays the AMC logo with the words "Boston Chapter Leader." Guess I'll just laugh and emphasize the fact that I am a cyclist, trying to be a hiker.
That looks like a fantastic hike, so glad you managed to make it all the way. We did a poorly mapped hike in NM one time, it was supposed to be a 3 mile loop... that went on for 7. Adventure!
I had leg and foot cramps after walking for hours at a convention last summer, guess it's our bodies way of telling us we overdid it?
3-7 miles is rather worse than 10-11! Yikes!
The cramping thing is quite new - at least to that degree. I had something similar a week ago after a 3 mile hike. As fatigued as my legs are today and the level of feet-tenderness it may well be more over-doing things than anything. I've been doing 6ish mile walks/hikes, that's rather different than 11... :rolleyes:
Eleven is pretty extreme if it's not your norm. I assume you're getting enough potassium and magnesium?
Yes? Maybe? Perhaps? I do need to look into my diet for my usual input of pot/mag. All the great supplementation in the world can't help much if I'm starting from a deficit. YES, 11 miles was a bit much, even the originally planned 10 - but I really like doing endurance things for my birthday. Sadly the weather hasn't been conducive for getting out there for long trail hikes - seems like I had a hard time getting past 6ish miles before there would be another 3 weeks of solid rain and then I wanted to start at 6 miles again and then more rain...Quote:
Originally Posted by Pax
HERE is a link to a map I made online of the lovely trail from yesterday. There are NO good, or even ok, maps for the trails in this forest. I'm not saying this is good either, but it's nice to have.
I saw my doc for another reason today and mentioned the cramps. He examined me and doesn't think it mineral related. Either my blood flow to my legs, especially the left, is a problem (which would be bad), or I've a structural problem that is the root cause - and he knows what that is.
Hopefully the latter, getting a simple test to rule out the former. If it is the latter as I hope, I will need new boots as they are forcing my legs to work too hard in an unnatural way that's causing the cramps. My only concern would be to find something that make both feet and legs happy.
Why, for once in my life, can't it be simple?
Praying it is the reason that is easily fixed. When will you know?
Oh, the weather forecast has changed for Acadia. Now, we will not only have a rainy drive up there, but also, a rainy hike on Saturday.
Great, descending slippery rocks!
Yes, hopefully it's the exertional compartment syndrome rather than other things. Hopefully the simple ankle blood pressure test will be negative and I will just have the expensive task of finding new hiking boots. The test will, hopefully, be next week.Quote:
Originally Posted by Crankin
Slippery rucks, ugh. Hope you have fun anyway!
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catrin....if thrombosis was mentioned you need to be really proactive and get help if a feeling of cramping continues to come up....
and yes...hoping it's the latter
saying this in a caring way!!! :)
Catrin - hope it's the simple issue. And I get "expensive", if I end up needing to replace my old boots in the spring, I'm looking at $150 easy. Miss the days of youth when I could (and did) hike in the Alps in adidas tennies since that was all we could afford (one shoe for anything remotely athletic).
I may be resistant to quick shoulder or foot surgery, but anything circulatory or cardiac related is a different ballgame entirely. The cramping has recently increased, which is why I mentioned it today at my appt.
Pax, I LOVE my $200 Solomons... same model is even more spendy this year. Hopefully we won't find out that my legs need the opposite of what my feet need to be happy. I won't buy anything before we learn more but, if push comes to shove, perhaps a higher ankle version of my Keene hiking shoes will work
He didn't mention his specific concern and I didn't push because I didn't want to stress myself out before the test. I did spend 5 minutes on Dr. Google-Mayo to see what sort of things that test is used for and shut the browser down quickly...Quote:
Originally Posted by rebeccaC
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Very wise move. I would really enjoy some blissful ignorance with regard to my new knee joint.Quote:
Originally Posted by Catrin
Well, I've been there before Pax, most recently with my neck and shoulders. It did not do me any good at all, what I learned in those first 5-10 minutes was really all I NEEDED to know. The rest just gives hooks for anxiety to play with. This HAS gone on, rarely, but periodically for years so I'm hoping for the simple answer. Either it's something, or it's not. Hopefully nothing that a new pair of hiking boots won't help :cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by Pax
It was a fun hike though. Fortunately :D
Catrin, couple suggestions to see if it helps.
drink some electrolytes before bed,
eat a banana everyday for the magnesium.
use your foam roller or a rolling stick if you have one.
massage your calves by getting on your hands and knees and then taking the knee from the opposite leg and pressing it into your calf muscle and rotating the knee as you move up and down your calf (yes, I know you are feeling the shin but this will help over all)
take a tennis ball and roll your shin area
Do hip flexor stretches (expect you are)
I hate shin cramps and find I get them most often when we've been riding in hot weather and I haven't had enough fluids.
Thanks Sky King - these are my usual practices. For whatever reason, my dr doesn't think it's an electrolyte imbalance. We're both hoping it's the structural problem (and there are signs of it) - which has a simple solution. There are also signs of decreased blood flow, but hopefully not enough to be a problem. I get the little ankle test tomorrow morning and, hopefully, will pass with flying colors. Regardless of any other underlying contributor, 11 miles was a bit over-kill :o
Catrin, sounds like a gorgeous hike, and 11 miles is a lot no matter how you slice it. I would be hurting too -- though not sure if I'd be cramping, just tired and sore. I hope you can get to the bottom of it. I tend to let all my aches and pains go, since we're on the road and getting to my doctor (or any doctor) can be a non-trivial thing, and more often than not, the problem just goes away with rest, but I know that is not the case for every ailment! :rolleyes:
Has anyone been to Natural Tunnel State Park in western VA? We are here now and did a nice hike today after setting up in our campsite -- around 4.2 miles in the lovely woods, pretty easy, just some climbing and switchbacks, but nothing too rocky or strenuous. We haven't seen the Natural Tunnel yet. That's on tap for tomorrow, our only full day here, plus a few more of the trails here.
How did the hike go Emily?
So they did the ankle test yesterday - while a simple test it must be done in a hospital setting. I think it will be fine
I guess the test can tell a lot about peripheral vascular health and as I turn 57 this weekend it probably wasn't a bad idea. Hopefully I will pass the test.
Saw my chiropractor today and he says that whatever else is, or isn't going on, that shin splints are obvious. He said that shin splints can certainly cause the type of cramps I had.
I'm considering finding another doctor. I like him, but the surprising thing for a DO, he seems to always start with the more complicated, serious causes and solutions. He is certainly the first DO I've had as a PCP like that. I do prefer having a DO over an MD, and I'm going to start looking for another one.
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I would agree, Catrin. Praying that you have a good result.
So excited that we leave tomorrow for our trip! I don't even care anymore about the rain, aka, slippery rocks. I will handle it. Will post pictures.
Looking forward to the pictures! What a glorious time of the year for being out in the woods, wet rocks or not? I want to go hiking this weekend, but should allow my leg to heal before I go out as I can't trust myself to keep it short on dirt - perhaps some pavement walking. It was worth it all however!Quote:
Originally Posted by Crankin
Hi Catrin, Our hike yesterday was very nice. Most of the trails in the park were short, so we did as many trails as we could string together. I suspect we only hiked another four miles or so, but one trail was strenuous (basically stairs and switchbacks to and from the natural tunnel from the visitor's center, much higher up). It was short, though, so no problem. Lovely place!
Today was a different story. We checked into a gorgeous national forest campground in western TN, and did a hike this afternoon that we had no idea of the length of. The sign said 3.7 miles, but was that one way or round trip? We've found that different parks handle out and back trails differently, with some labeling the distance out and back, and some one-way. This one was one-way, and according to our GPS, that was a short estimate. We came up with 4.1 miles one-way, and it was very mountainous, which tends to short-change on miles, since the GPS can't always "see" where we are. Another sign we saw said it was 4.7 miles one way. Plus we had to walk to the trailhead and back, adding an extra half mile at least. So, I am guessing we did around 9-10 miles, more or less.
The hike took us up, up, up a mountain to an amazing overlook, then back down. It was rocky at times and the grade varied from easy to difficult. I definitely learned that I don't care for hikes like this, where you have to do all the climbing in one direction and all the descending in the other. It's tough on the body! I was sweating on the way up, and my heart was pounding at times. I would have loved just a bit of descending to rest, just like on a bike ride! Then on the way down, my left knee started bothering me, and even though I could breathe a lot better than when climbing, I could have used a break in that direction too, from the constant descent. It was a beautiful hike with stunning fall foliage (photos to follow as I haven't uploaded them yet), but a very tough trail for me.
Sounds lovely! Where in West TN were you that there were mountains? The terrain sounds like East TN, I thought I was familiar with all of the mountains in my home state but obviously not :cool:
It would be great if all state parks and forests provided accurate distance information on their signage, for sure. Glad the overlook was worth it, but I can see how the trail difficulty was unexpected. West TN is more known for river delta topography and small rolling hills between the Mississippi River Delta and the beautiful ridges of central TN as you travel east to the mountains leading to Cumberland Gap and the Smoky mtns beyond. Excited to see your pictures!
Oh d'oh! We were in eastern Tennessee, of course. We had been in western Virginia for a couple of nights immediately prior, and I was pretty exhausted from the hike when I wrote the post, so it was simply a brain cramp. Thanks for noticing, Catrin! :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Catrin
We are in the Cherokee National Forest, the Rock Creek campground near Erwin, if you are familiar with this area. The trail was the Rattlesnake Ridge. Finally got the GPS track uploaded today only to discover the over 2700' of elevation gain on the way up. :eek: I am sore today, some in the quads but mostly on the outside of my buttocks, from all the climbing. We had hiked two days in a row prior to this in Va., not long but with some good climbs, so it was just a bit too much three days in a row.
The foliage was spectacular! The cold front came through overnight bringing rain, wind, and much, much cooler weather, so we are bundled up inside today and very glad we got this hike done yesterday while the conditions were so much better. A bit hot and humid but certainly nicer for leaf peeping!
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That foliage does look gorgeous!
BEAUTIFUL! Interesting that East TN is further along in fall colors than Indiana.
You had me excited that perhaps there were some hidden mountains in West TN :cool: Cherokee National Forest is gorgeous any time of the year, glad you were able to go! Also glad you're not TOO sore after the hike, that's a lot of climbing.
Looking back, I think that I already had at least mild shin splints prior to my 11-mile hike last week. THAT just sealed it. I'm chaffing at not hiking this weekend so I must be feeling better.
Yes, the foliage is way farther along here than anything we saw in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, or Virginia, which is where we were over the past two weeks. Of course, a lot can change in two weeks. We were only in Indiana for one night, in Shades State Park, and it was green as could be -- but that's been awhile now. We were there on October 5th.
The foliage in the photos I posted was on the way up on our hike, which started at over 2000' elevation and ended at over 4000', but we were closer to the higher of those numbers. Everyone says the foliage is later this year than usual, but we definitely hit the peak here in EASTERN Tennessee. :D
We are gonna hike on a waterfall trail today in the park, which is fortunately only 3-4 miles round-trip (again, depending on which sign you read!) I am still sore from the longer hike, but it's our last day here, so I'm doing it no matter what. Glad we did the longer hike first! It is chilly and blustery today; a real change from the hot conditions for our first hike!
Hope you're healed up and able to hike again soon, Catrin!
First hike of the weekend is done.
We were really lucky with the weather. However, the area is socked in (we are by the ocean) with fog, and no views from any of the peaks. The foliage is still great, though.
We started out on a carriage road and then quickly ascended, through typical rocky, rooty stuff, but nothing horrible. We got to the top of the climb, about 940 feet. Lots of boulders. We ate a snack, and then shortly after getting off the summit, we had about 100 feet of going down a steep "chute," which was rocky. It would have been a bit scary if it had been dry, but it was wet. In fact the whole hike was wet. I did fine, I just went down on my azz in a couple of spots. After that, we had mostly descending, some up, and very rooty and rocky, but again, usual.
I slipped once, but with a graceful recovery and went down on a knee, without touching, on a stream crossing. I refused help and did it "all by myself." I used my poles on the scary descent and for awhile after, as it started raining for real, but once the rain stopped, I put them away. We ate lunch when we got to a carriage road before the last section of trail. I had bought some veggie brown rice sushi and it was the best! After that, we had about half a mail of trail and another mile of carriage road. It was about 6 miles.
So, we are the youngest in the group :eek:. There is a couple who have been married 60 years! There was one other woman who could hike as fast as DH and I was right behind them. The leaders told us to go ahead, but we could hear the group, and waiting at junctions. So my fears were unfounded and my new Mountain Hardware rain jacket is perfect. I wore my cycling rain pants today, after not using them for years.. I felt fine slowing on the scary parts and everyone was helpful. The leader had even been to one of the bike workshops DH and I do every spring.
I will not post pictures until we get back. Getting ready for happy hour and dinner.
Sounds like a nice hike, Crankin!
We did the waterfall hike today. It was only around 3 miles round trip, and our GPS showed just over 1000' of climbing. Like our long hike two days ago, it was all up to the waterfall and all down on the way back. Very rocky and about four creek crossings (the same creek!) but none difficult, lots of nice stable rocks. It was gorgeous! The leaves were a bit slippery from the rain yesterday, but neither of us fell. I was very glad to have my poles on the way down especially! We passed three younger folks on the way down. :cool:
In contrast to two days ago when I was in shorts and t-shirts and sweating, today was multiple layers and chilly. It was in the 40s with a strong breeze and almost no sun, especially deep in the creek crevass where we were hiking. Still, it was more comfortable than being too hot!
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