Hiking

[emily_in_nc]

That's great, Catrin. What a milestone for you!

What are "armored crossings"?

[Catrin]

That's great, Catrin. What a milestone for you!

What are "armored crossings"?

These are mountain bike trails I'm hiking, and at least around here, they are literally carved out of the side of the hill/ridge, usually by hand. I've helped build them So think about the trail climbing up/down following the side of the hill or ridge rather than going up and over the hill. Of course there are fall lines and actual stream crossings that intersect the trails, and these areas are lined with rocks to assist draining and to allow the area to dry more quickly. Here is a post on the Hoosier MTB Association page that discusses this and include pictures (in Indiana all MTB trails are built and maintained by volunteers). Usually these areas are quite short but sometimes they are longer sections depending upon the landscape. These are sometimes easier to ride than to walk, especially when wet

I've also figured out the route that I'm leading some friends on a hike next weekend! It won't be the same trail, but that same park has 28 miles of MTB trails and each trail has a different character - though they are all full of switchbacks. Many of those miles are VERY remote, so a good map or knowledge of exactly how the trails interact is very important.

[emily_in_nc]

Thank you for the info and link, Catrin! We have seen spots like this before on trails but did not know they had a formal name. Good to know!

[emily_in_nc]

I just put up a blog post on one of the excellent hikes we did recently (actually, three weeks ago now, but my blog is behind the times):

http://travelingtwosome.weebly.com/t...charlton-trail

[Catrin]

Nice, thanks for the link!

Well over 90 today, and it also happened to be the day for the local Pride Parade and Festival (over 100K show up every year). SO THANKFUL for all the lessons I've learned on how to deal with the heat from both riding and hiking. In the end I walked about 6 miles on pavement in the heat - as well as just hanging out in it for hours. Frozen hydration pack, and a huge bottle of Salt Stick Buffered Electrolytes in my hydration pack. I've pretty good endurance for the heat, but was flagging seriously by the time I got back to my car after ~6 hours in the heat. Drank almost 2 liters of water, and shared some of my electrolyte caps with someone I knew who seriously needed it as well as taking some myself. I suspect more people were drinking alcohol in the heat than water, but was thankful I handled it the way I did. I'm not going back outside again today.

To give an idea of how hot I really was, after walking the ~2 miles from the festival back to my car, I stepped into a lovely ice cream place I know across from my parking lot. It didn't feel any cooler inside the store than it did outside. I really wanted ice cream but was afraid it would be too cold, given how hot I was. There is a fancy term for combining ice cream with hot coffee (they cool the coffee off a bit first). Premium coffee from a local roaster over a nice serving of craft Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Ice Cream was perfect. Not too cold, not too hot, and it breathed new life into my overheated body until I could get home. Pity I can't end my hikes out in the woods in such a wonderful fashion It also passed for lunch, I figured that was a better choice than festival food in the heat...

[emily_in_nc]

Mmmm, that coffee + ice cream drink sounded like a perfect ending to your day in the heat, Catrin! Glad you did okay. Too few folks know how to deal with hydration in this kind of heat.

[Catrin]

Mmmm, that coffee + ice cream drink sounded like a perfect ending to your day in the heat, Catrin! Glad you did okay. Too few folks know how to deal with hydration in this kind of heat.

I only know from my long bike rides on country roads in 90+ degree temps :-)

The drink is called affogato and looks like this. Well mine was in plastic and the coffee poured from a plastic cup after they brewed/cooled it and it wasn't mint chocolate chip ice cream but you get the idea. Coffee was very strong. Wonderfully refreshing - far more than either ingredient would have been solo. Sorry for the size of the image, as it is from a link I can't change the size.

[Pax]

That looks delicious!!

Glad you stayed well hydrated. I've seen many young people at pride chugging beer all day in high heat, always wonder how they manage that, I can't drink enough water let alone drink beer!

[Catrin]

That looks delicious!!

Glad you stayed well hydrated. I've seen many young people at pride chugging beer all day in high heat, always wonder how they manage that, I can't drink enough water let alone drink beer!

Yes, I saw many young, and not so young, doing that. There were quite a few ambulances close at hand just in case, and there is always shade in that park where the festival is held.

It WAS delicious, so much in fact that I might have to either make it at home OR make a "rule" that I can only have it at that location. It's really hard for me to get to them when they are open so that might be safer

[Crankin]

That looks really good.

[Catrin]

The trick is getting the coffee the right temperature so it isn't cold, but isn't hot enough to immediately melt all of the ice cream. Don't know how often I would get this - but it was PERFECT after 6 hours in 90+ degree heat + humidity.

I'm also staying inside today for the most part (just got home from church and brunch) - it's already blazing hot and it seems prudent to allow my body enough rest from the heat before returning to my usual schedule tomorrow. Resisting the temptation to make this drink/treat right now - I DO have the perfect ingredients...just not two days in a row. Pretty sure I need to make that rule to never make it at home unless it is with guests

[emily_in_nc]

That looks so delicious, Catrin. I want it right now!

[Catrin]

5 mile hike today on one of my favorite mountain bike trails - and as it turned out - I led 4 friends from my church on the hike. They hadn't been there before and it was a great day to introduce 4 women to the trails in question. Only one of them had hiked mountain bike trails before and all seemed to have a really good time. I seem to have started a monthly event

Body was fine, knees/hips were fine, and my new sock solution really took care of some nagging foot problems (hot spots) I've been experiencing, I had been using medium-weight smartwool hiking socks with no liner. So after talking with the good folks at REI I used sock liners today with light-weight (not ultra-light) hiking socks and I felt like I could have hiked several more miles without difficulty. VERY positive results from my hike today, all things considered. I've now hiked, or had long pavement walks, a total of 24 miles this month. Not bad for a broken-down stubborn broad

[emily_in_nc]

Good job, Catrin! Sounds like you've found some excellent working solutions for your hiking goals.

I don't think we'll be doing much more hiking during the peak of the summer. For one thing, it's HOT (most places we go), and for another, the ticks are atrocious. We've had some wonderful hikes this spring, but I suspect summer will be more about cycling. We definitely plan for more hiking in the fall, however.

[Crankin]

That sounds lovely, Catrin. As with Emily, I think my hiking is over until the fall, unless we are on vacation. Too many tics and too many people i know with re-occuring Lyme Disease.
I am sure I will miss being in the woods before fall, though, and just spray myself with Deet and hike at least once!