Hiking 2017 Reloaded

[Crankin]

I did my first post snow season hike today; it's Patriot's Day here in MA, so since most of the festivities take place in my town, we hung out at home and then went out after lunch. We went to a local conservation area in Acton that is quite close and we have hiked many times with our friends who moved, as well as quite a bit of snow shoeing. I rarely have been in here in the spring and summer, though. The All Trails app has been updated, so DH was able to map a route in the same way you can do a ride on Ride With GPS. We went on trails we had not done, with some awesome water features, waterfalls, ponds, etc. This is a pretty flat area, with one teeny hill, that is much worse in the winter, as it's icy as hell. We saw less than 10 people, and I was surprised, as it is a holiday here. Not everyone has the day off, but between the Revolutionary activities, the Marathon, and a daytime Red Sox game, it is pretty hard to get around or ignore the celebrations! And, it is school vacation, too.
I used to think one part of this was scary, with rocks. Now that I have done some real hiking in the past year, it's nothing. I can't believe how much my balance has improved from hiking.
4.5 miles and I am tired.

[Catrin]

Sounds wonderful Crankin! So glad to read that you've seen such improvement in your balance.

Unsure what was off about my hike on Saturday - but I suspect I had already upset my knee, and that is why my quads were so cranky. Glad I went, though I had intended to spend much more time on the trails than I did. I will certainly go back, and am also looking forward to organizing our first group hike of the year. Apparently I jumped the weather gun, so to speak, have already had to reschedule it twice. So the next one is in mid-May...but I will certainly be hiking (both solo and with friends) before then.

[Crankin]

I didn't get to ride in California this weekend, but I did hike. We went to the Claremont Wilderness Hiking Area, which is right in the city limits. We tried going here in September, but it was closed, due to fire danger. Originally, we were going to go back to Mt. Baldy/Ice House Canyon, with my son and the baby, but my son was tired and was trying to be polite and said, "I know you don't want to go," so DH and I wnt out around 4 pm. It was not too hot at all, sunny, around 75, with a nice breeze. This place gets crowded with trail runners, hikers, and walking groups, but there were not many others here. When we finished, more people were coming, as it was just after 5 pm, on a Friday.
The trail is a 5 mile loop, and since we started late, we decided to do an out an back, knowing it would take us 2 hours to do the loop. It was very different than hiking in the northeast, or even Mt. Baldy, which is about 17 miles up the road, but in a different climate zone. Wide dirt trail, just a few rocks. Lots of trees along the trail, though, as well as wildflowers, and some running water/ streams near the start. However, this trail had elevation. It did feel hard ascending, but I didn't realize how steep it was until we turned around and went down. We did 3.6 miles, with 650 ft. of climbing.
I would have liked to do the loop, but we had promised my son and DIL we wold take care of dinner. It was just as well, as all of the sitting on our travel day, flight delays, etc did a job on my back, and the hike kind of pushed it even more. Thankfully, although we had a day of hell coming home yesterday (got home at 4 AM this morning) as well as a high level of back pain from all of the extra sitting, it is resolving today. I am thinkig I shouldn't hike until after more PT and after I get back from my bike trip. We won't ever be coming back to Claremont but there are similar places in San Diego, where I do go, to visit my brother.

[Catrin]

Sounds like fun Crankin!

I did manage to do a 3-mile MUP trail walk last Saturday with a couple of my hiking friends - the trails were just TOO wet. I thought this weekend might be an option, but no, things are even more muddy. It has to stop sometime though!

[Pax]

Sounds like fun Crankin!

I did manage to do a 3-mile MUP trail walk last Saturday with a couple of my hiking friends - the trails were just TOO wet. I thought this weekend might be an option, but no, things are even more muddy. It has to stop sometime though!

We had three whole rain free days, all the fields are still filled with standing water, and we had another gully washer yesterday. It is a sea of mud out there.

[Catrin]

I FINALLY was able to manage a little 3 mile hike on a couple of trails that were actually boot dry! My neck and shoulder seems to get cranky right now at about 3 miles, so I stopped while I was still feeling well. Major bugs however, obviously this will be a year of bug spray and hats... I suspect I won't be able to hike for the rest of the year once the medical rodeo starts at the end of July - but I will get in as much as weather and body allows!

[emily_in_nc]

Glad you got a little hike in, Catrin! Better than I am managing...just starting back to walks, and those aren't very comfortable yet as my jaw bounces around more than it should, so I have to go slow and steady. I think bugs are gonna be bad everywhere this year!