weekend report / hiking report
Aug. 14th, 2005 09:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jaeclecticHmm, let's see, when does weekend officially start? Well, I had a pretty good day at work on Friday, actually stayed a bit late because I was absorbed in what I was doing (a particular task that has been being ignored for a week or two, so I was relieved to be getting to it), then went to the gym. All good, except that there was some focal point of chaos hovering over the Bay Bridge, which led me to take the San Mateo bridge instead, but that route turned out to have plenty chaos of it's own. Nevertheless, when I finally got home, had a lovely quiet evening watching a very silly movie with the kitties.
Saturday was fairly action-packed, although I did manage to have a reasonably relaxing morning before racing off to: chiropractic appt, errands in Berkeley, lunch with Linda, drive to Alameda to finish the grocery shopping, drive home to do chores before dressing for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ilen's bday bash and picking up bulieb at Lake Merritt BART. Whatever evil force had been hovering over the Bay Bridge on Friday (a ball game, perhaps?) was there again Saturday. It took over an hour -- over a friggin hour! -- to get from Lake Merritt onto the bridge. Ack!
Of course, once we were there it was lovely (albeit quite cold during the picnic phase of the evening). Merriment and bouncy dancing ensued. We did not stay extremely late, however, in part because I was planning to set the alarm for 7 and go for an all day hike.
Which I more or less did: I actually set the alarm for 7:15, hit snooze a couple times and got up at 7:30. Then failed to be a model of efficiency in terms of getting out of the house, in part because I kept remembering useful things to take with me (sunscreen! oh, and print out the small overview map of the park!) and in part because I just was not moving all so fast.
My goal was to be on the hiking trail no later than 10 AM, since the hike in question (a 14 mile loop up to the summitt of Mount Diablo, 3000 ft total elevation change) was estimated to take 8 hours. Sadly, although I was out of the house shortly after 9 (and remembered to buy gasoline, yay!), and was in fact in the park at 10 -- I managed to mess up this fine plan by having taken with me directions to the wrong entrance to the park. Which I figured out when it was way too late. But I was quite determined to do this hike and no other, so (shortly after 10 AM), I got directions from a kindly albeit bemused ranger for how to drive through the park, out the other side, and around through Walnut Creek or Concord or some such to arrive at the correct part of the park -- because, naturally, there was no road within the park that went that way. Something about a big mountain in the way, I guess.
So, I ended up starting at 11AM.
About a half-hour out, turned onto a trail with a helpful sign indicating that it was 2.2 miles to the next junction. And I thought, oh, I should be able to do that in an hour. Which was INSANE because the trail was essentially vertical. So, 50 minutes or so later, I was hiking along thinking, gosh a rest would be nice. Maybe when I get to that next junction, that will be a good place to rest. And staggered on for another 10 minutes before realizing that I was actually starting to shake, and that this was probably my body's way of explaining to the stupid brain that NOW and HERE would be a good place to rest. So I staggered into a patch of shade, holding onto my pack so it didn't slide down the trail (vertical, remember?) and sat for 10 minutes, and ate a Luna bar, and drank most of a quart of water (not that I hadn't been drinking water as I went, but apparently not enough). After which I felt much better and continued on -- and from then on, was much more careful about giving myself a rest break more frequently than every hour and a half, needless to say.
Hmm, I am sure there were other eventful things about the hike but I am starting to fade here. I did the whole 14 miles. It took just under 8-1/2 hours (with frequent stops!)
I have a bit of sunburn, including an odd pattern on my hands where they burned around the straps of the trekking poles. Note to self: It is good to remember to bring the sunscreen. It is even better to remember to reapply it more than once, when you're out in the sun for 7 hours, sweating profusely the whole time.
My knees and ankle were fine on the way up -- I had been a bit worried about the ankle, which had been achey after a mistep while racing around Berkeley on Saturday, and it didn't seem likely that the bouncy dancing would have improved matters. But it was (and is) fine. My knees started aching slightly on the descent, but not in a scary way, just the kind of ache you feel in muscles that are being made to work more than they're accustomed to. The bad news is: during the drive home, my right knee began twinging sharply. Apparently, 8-1/2 hours of hiking is the limit, asking the knee to cope with driving afterward was just too much.
However, having soaked in the tub for a bit, and generally stopped moving around much, the sharp pain has subsided. When I finish writing this, I'm going to go sit in the armchair and put some ice on it. Fingers crossed, it will all be fine by the AM.
The end.
Saturday was fairly action-packed, although I did manage to have a reasonably relaxing morning before racing off to: chiropractic appt, errands in Berkeley, lunch with Linda, drive to Alameda to finish the grocery shopping, drive home to do chores before dressing for
ilen's bday bash and picking up bulieb at Lake Merritt BART. Whatever evil force had been hovering over the Bay Bridge on Friday (a ball game, perhaps?) was there again Saturday. It took over an hour -- over a friggin hour! -- to get from Lake Merritt onto the bridge. Ack!Of course, once we were there it was lovely (albeit quite cold during the picnic phase of the evening). Merriment and bouncy dancing ensued. We did not stay extremely late, however, in part because I was planning to set the alarm for 7 and go for an all day hike.
Which I more or less did: I actually set the alarm for 7:15, hit snooze a couple times and got up at 7:30. Then failed to be a model of efficiency in terms of getting out of the house, in part because I kept remembering useful things to take with me (sunscreen! oh, and print out the small overview map of the park!) and in part because I just was not moving all so fast.
My goal was to be on the hiking trail no later than 10 AM, since the hike in question (a 14 mile loop up to the summitt of Mount Diablo, 3000 ft total elevation change) was estimated to take 8 hours. Sadly, although I was out of the house shortly after 9 (and remembered to buy gasoline, yay!), and was in fact in the park at 10 -- I managed to mess up this fine plan by having taken with me directions to the wrong entrance to the park. Which I figured out when it was way too late. But I was quite determined to do this hike and no other, so (shortly after 10 AM), I got directions from a kindly albeit bemused ranger for how to drive through the park, out the other side, and around through Walnut Creek or Concord or some such to arrive at the correct part of the park -- because, naturally, there was no road within the park that went that way. Something about a big mountain in the way, I guess.
So, I ended up starting at 11AM.
About a half-hour out, turned onto a trail with a helpful sign indicating that it was 2.2 miles to the next junction. And I thought, oh, I should be able to do that in an hour. Which was INSANE because the trail was essentially vertical. So, 50 minutes or so later, I was hiking along thinking, gosh a rest would be nice. Maybe when I get to that next junction, that will be a good place to rest. And staggered on for another 10 minutes before realizing that I was actually starting to shake, and that this was probably my body's way of explaining to the stupid brain that NOW and HERE would be a good place to rest. So I staggered into a patch of shade, holding onto my pack so it didn't slide down the trail (vertical, remember?) and sat for 10 minutes, and ate a Luna bar, and drank most of a quart of water (not that I hadn't been drinking water as I went, but apparently not enough). After which I felt much better and continued on -- and from then on, was much more careful about giving myself a rest break more frequently than every hour and a half, needless to say.
Hmm, I am sure there were other eventful things about the hike but I am starting to fade here. I did the whole 14 miles. It took just under 8-1/2 hours (with frequent stops!)
I have a bit of sunburn, including an odd pattern on my hands where they burned around the straps of the trekking poles. Note to self: It is good to remember to bring the sunscreen. It is even better to remember to reapply it more than once, when you're out in the sun for 7 hours, sweating profusely the whole time.
My knees and ankle were fine on the way up -- I had been a bit worried about the ankle, which had been achey after a mistep while racing around Berkeley on Saturday, and it didn't seem likely that the bouncy dancing would have improved matters. But it was (and is) fine. My knees started aching slightly on the descent, but not in a scary way, just the kind of ache you feel in muscles that are being made to work more than they're accustomed to. The bad news is: during the drive home, my right knee began twinging sharply. Apparently, 8-1/2 hours of hiking is the limit, asking the knee to cope with driving afterward was just too much.
However, having soaked in the tub for a bit, and generally stopped moving around much, the sharp pain has subsided. When I finish writing this, I'm going to go sit in the armchair and put some ice on it. Fingers crossed, it will all be fine by the AM.
The end.