Hiking

[Catrin]

Sounds delightful Crankin!

Today the trails were much too wet as our monsoons don't seem to want to go away...so I decided to do some hill walking in preparation for a 10 mile hilly hike I'm planning for my 57th birthday weekend next month. My feet really don't much care for pavement for more than 2 miles at a time, and today I walked >4. Feet and ankles are paying for that now... It was, however, a beautiful afternoon.

I just find it interesting how different my experience is on dirt over pavement - if I had moved to dirt my feet would have responded in about 5 minutes...but the trails were too muddy AND too flat for what I needed to do today. So no more 4+ mile pavement walks at a time, which is a bit frustrating knowing that I can trek on dirt for more than double that distance with no consequences. Oh well, but it was a beautiful cool afternoon with sunshine!

[emily_in_nc]

Sounds pretty nice, Catrin!

I took a short hike this morning in gorgeous Dinosaur National Monument. DH was cranky and didn't feel like getting ready, so I took off on my own. The trail was supposedly easy to moderate, but I'd classify it as moderate in terrain anyway; I think the "easy" was because of the distance -- just two miles out and back. But there was climbing and descending, quite a few rocks as well. Fortunately, it was absolutely gorgeous, so I had to stop quite a few times for photos! Only saw one other person on the hike -- another lone female with her dog.

Given the rating of this trail, I didn't wear hiking boots nor take my hiking poles. I didn't miss the boots but wished I had had my poles for the descents. I have a blister on my heel now, which I guess is a result of wearing trail running shoes instead of my hiking boots, but it was totally worth it!

[emily_in_nc]

Yesterday we did the most amazing hike right from our campground in Colorado in the Proutt National Forest east of Steamboat Springs (and 3000' higher). The info online on the campground about the trail just said "Rabbit Ear Trail - 2 miles". We had no idea that the trail was a summit hike, very, very popular and well known in these parts. Nor that it would have us climbing from 9500' in altitude to over 10,600'! And they got the mileage wrong too -- it was more like 2.75 miles one way, so round trip from our campground was 6.2 miles -- a nice 10K.

This trail was classified as "easy" on alltrails.com, but I beg to differ. With over 1000' of climbing and lots of rocky areas, I would call it moderate. We had thought it was "easy" so didn't take water or our hiking poles. Dumb! Fortunately, we'd just eaten a big breakfast and had plenty of coffee, and it was cool out, so we were actually fine -- other than needing to pee badly for about half the hike since there were no vault toilets and just a few too many other hikers to squat. Would have liked to have had the hiking poles, especially coming downhill. The last 1/4 mile to the summit was killer steep and very slick on the way down.

It was a gorgeous hike with amazing views on the way up and down and at the top of Rabbit Ears Peak!

[Catrin]

Incredible location Emily! I am going to...ummmm...borrow a couple of those shots for my devices background. They made me smile and are just beautiful. Thanks for sharing!

I've a question about these trails - I get that there were steep inclines/declines. That's clear. Were there steep vertical step-downs? My knee can't handle those, and I'm looking for a good road trip destination for next year where I can get a relatively inexpensive hotel room and go for day hikes and drawing. I think the Arches Nation Park might be a good destination - but I can't handle that one particular trail feature. With the right boots, my poles, and patience I think I can handle most "normal" descents.

[wnyrider]

Scenery looks very inviting. Would love to hike this area too. Been a while since I hiked. Think I'll head out this afternoon down the Niagara Gorge. Not too soon to practice.

[emily_in_nc]

Incredible location Emily! I am going to...ummmm...borrow a couple of those shots for my devices background. They made me smile and are just beautiful. Thanks for sharing!

I've a question about these trails - I get that there were steep inclines/declines. That's clear. Were there steep vertical step-downs? My knee can't handle those, and I'm looking for a good road trip destination for next year where I can get a relatively inexpensive hotel room and go for day hikes and drawing. I think the Arches Nation Park might be a good destination - but I can't handle that one particular trail feature. With the right boots, my poles, and patience I think I can handle most "normal" descents.

Glad you liked the photos, Catrin! I haven't even had a chance to look at the ones my DH took yet. Of course it looks even better in person.

On your question, I am not sure I know what a steep vertical "step down" is as opposed to a steep incline/decline. Could you elaborate? The trail definitely had some steep sections but nothing that tough until the very end. The last 1/4 miles was very steep, with loose rocks and sandy soil. It was not rock scrambling, though, more like a gravel road on steroids. I think my DH got a photo of it, so I will look and post back here if so.

One place you might consider is Bryce Canyon NP. We found the hiking trails there very manageable compared to some of the other places we hiked in the southwest. We also found Arches to be not bad. Canyonlands and Zion were both tougher, and of course the grandaddy of them all, the Grand Canyon -- definitely not for those with knee problems.

[emily_in_nc]

Okay, I found the shot he took of the steep section up to the summit. Of course with the way cameras tend to flatten things out, it looks like barely an incline, but trust me, it was seriously steep -- I could never have pedaled up it, fer instance. It was mostly just dirt so slippery. I had to side step it to get down to avoid slipping. I really could have used my poles!

Of course, the trail is lovely even if you skip the last 1/4 mile and don't reach the rocky summit, but that would be disappointing.

[wnyrider]

Was lucky enough to complete the trail before the rain started up again. Lots of side stepping here too, but mostly due to the wetness.
Newer rock fall blocking the path that I hadn't seen before. If you look closely in the one white waters shot you can see people across the river in Canada. Need to go more often, felt good.

[Aromig]

Incredible location Emily! I am going to...ummmm...borrow a couple of those shots for my devices background. They made me smile and are just beautiful. Thanks for sharing!

I've a question about these trails - I get that there were steep inclines/declines. That's clear. Were there steep vertical step-downs? My knee can't handle those, and I'm looking for a good road trip destination for next year where I can get a relatively inexpensive hotel room and go for day hikes and drawing. I think the Arches Nation Park might be a good destination - but I can't handle that one particular trail feature. With the right boots, my poles, and patience I think I can handle most "normal" descents.

I think I know what you mean by vertical step downs -- where I'm standing on a rock or something and I need to step or jump down 3 feet or so. I can't do those, and I'll admit, I often sit on my butt and then slide down. I see those in non-park areas around Moab (mainly because we're out in BLM land and not following a trail). Arches National Park has some pretty good trails where they've worked around those kind of features.

[emily_in_nc]

I think I know what you mean by vertical step downs -- where I'm standing on a rock or something and I need to step or jump down 3 feet or so.

Three feet?!? Don't think I've been on many of those. The trail we hiked today in Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park, the Green River Trail, rated as moderate, had a lot of stone steps, some of which were a pretty long step down, but nothing crazy like 3'!

[Aromig]

Yeah, 3 feet is more like scrambling. These aren't trails. You'll find yourself suddenly on a ledge and you need to get down (which is always better than finding yourself on a ledge too high to get down so you have to backtrack.) The guys with good knees I'm often with jump. I sit down and slide. Yup, pride went a long time ago in favor of my bad knees.

[ny biker]

Three feet?!? Don't think I've been on many of those. The trail we hiked today in Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park, the Green River Trail, rated as moderate, had a lot of stone steps, some of which were a pretty long step down, but nothing crazy like 3'!

My sister used to have a house next to Rocky Mountain National Park. I loved to visit. We never did any real hiking, but I liked walking the trails near the visitors centers on the main road. I did notice the thinner air up there -- I would have to go slowly and sometimes stop to rest and catch my breath.

Closer to home, I once tried a scrambling trail at Great Falls Park in Maryland and had to turn back after a while. I just didn't feel confident that I would not hurt myself, even with good knees.

[Catrin]

I tried hiking a moderate trail in the Great Smokey National Park with my sister earlier this summer. We only got in about 1/4 mile before we turned around. Going UP wasn't a problem but the nature of the trail told me it would be a problem getting back down. I've not yet figured out if it's the angle of the step-down or the distance. That trail we were on certainly didn't have 3 ft step downs, but they were longer than the average step.

Glad to hear that the Arches may not be a bad choice for me - if I can keep my knees, feet, and shoulders in one piece!

[Crankin]

Spent part of today hiking on Mt. Baldy, in eastern LA county. My son lives about 15 minutes and 3 climate zones from the entrance to where we started and also not far from the ski area. I laughed when I saw large highway signs telling people "Do not throw snowballs at other vehicles or you will be fined." I guess a lot of people who have never seen snow come up here. Anyway, we did 4 miles out and back and this was fun. Varied terrain, dirt, rocks, a teeny bit of mud, and a few steps. All carved out well and just when I would get sick of the rocks, they stopped. We started at 5k feet and probably got up to 6,500 or 7. I am struggling with a viral thing, but I tried to put it out of my mind. I could feel the altitude in my legs, more than anything; a heaviness I have experienced before. We went slowly, it wasn't super steep, and DH complemented me on the speed of my descent.
We will probably go back. Had a nice lunch at a lodge on the mountain road before coming back. Pictures will follow when I get home.

[Catrin]

Sounds lovely Crankin, looking forward to the pictures!

This weekend I did a 4.25 mile mountain bike trail. I had been afraid it would be too muddy, but that trail drains well and outside of a couple sloppy places it was fine. It was also the first time I tried my new orthotics in my hiking boots and the jury is still out on that as had more problem with my feet than I normally do with those boots. It was a beautiful hike though.