Hiking

[Catrin]

Let's try this again!

This first picture shows one of the scenic overlooks from the trail. It's a nice view of McCormack's Creek - which became the name of the park.



THIS was an interesting descent. I had meant us to take the trail the proper direction to go up rather than down - but it went better than expected. Of course it helped knowing I had already come down this hill once before with no knee instability.



Last week I used my new orthotics in my hiking boots with less than optimal consequences. THIS time I didn't, and my feet were quite happy. So, for whatever reason, my orthotics work quite well with me light hikers and other shoes but most assuredly NOT with my full hiking boots. I love these boots and they are finally broken in. It's interesting that they are even more expensive now than they were a year ago when I bought mine - so glad I pulled the trigger then!

[Crankin]

Nice pictures, Catrin. Funny how different shoes work differently. My Lowas are pretty well broken in, after a year and a half. My bunion is the only thing that bothers me, but it's much better than with my old shoes. I've had my Merrill light hikers for about 15 years; they are fine, but I really need ankle support of full hikers for anything more than flat trail walking. My new trail runners, on the other hand are just not working out. They are kind of tight.
No hiking today. My day consisted of going out to breakfast, playing with my granddaughter, and going out for ice cream. Surprisingly, after some initial stiffness, my legs are fine today. I think tomorrow we will get up early and do another in town hike. It's going to be 102 degrees here, so we need to be done by 9 or 10 am.

[Catrin]

102?!? We can't complain with our 90ish...they say that things will cool down next week.

It really surprised me to find my orthotics just don't work in my full hikers but they do in all of my other shoes that aren't totally broken down. I have to wonder if the more rigid backpacking shoes just change the dynamics of how the custom inserts interact with my feet. Well, the Salomans feel fantastic as long as I don't wear them on pavement and I can use the orthotics in all my other shoes - outside of my winter UGGS.

The custom inserts have been quite the surprise. I was rather surprised to find that they are NOT expensive arch supports - indeed they aren't arch supports at all but somehow work by adjusting how my hind foot hits the ground. However they work, the cranky foot with the bone spurs in my metatarsal joint is calming down nicely and my OTHER foot is feeling better as well. My podiatrist supplies 2 orthotics- which to me makes far more sense than just providing one insert. To my mind having two different inserts creates another kind of imbalance & he doesn't charge any more than those who just get one.

I did enjoy the hike today, though I must admit it was a little disconcerting to see a family walk down that lengthy descent like it was nothing - and it took me some time to negotiate it with my trekking poles. No matter, I got down it, that's all that counts. AND neither knee was snarky about it.

[Crankin]

Everyone descends faster than I do, which is not much different than riding...
So, we never thought that the red flag warnings for fire danger/heat/dust storms would close the Claremont Loop Trail. We got there at 6:35, the sun was not quite up, when we saw signs and gates in the road. DH and I parked, walked to the entrance, which was also shut. So, luckily there was a bike trail/path that started near the parking, so we did an out and back of about 4.5 miles on that. Thankfully, I had opted to wear my regular running shoes and running gear, because my full hikers would have been torture on pavement. So, we were disappointed, but we had mountains on one side of the trail and lovely homes and parks on the other. It was really busy with walkers and runners, only saw 3-4 cyclists.
We got back to my son's house, ate, and then headed down to Seal Beach for fish tacos and a walk on the beach. Now to relax.