It’s all my brother-in-law’s fault, as you will see. But since the solstice is almost here and the new year really begins tomorrow, I decided to inaugurate my new fitness program today by hiking up the mesa.
The last time I was up there was about 10 days ago. Winter conditions, obviously, but that’s actually pretty good for a snowy trail. Every 10 days, I mean. It’s just that this won’t lead to any kind of fitness. The program, then, is to actually do this at least 20 days per month, and that’s just the beginning. My brother-in-law and his wife are coming out for a visit in June, and he wants to climb Wheeler Peak (13,161 ft.), which I’ve never actually done — came close, though. The thing is, he can. He’s not much younger than I am, but he’s relaxed, retired, a former Marine, and runs marathons. Eek.
There are two main routes to the summit of Wheeler Peak. One of them is short but nearly vertical (the trail up from Williams Lake), and the other is much more gradual but twice as long. That’s the one we’ll take, a round-trip distance of just over 14 miles. My occasional hike up the mesa is about two miles all together, so you see what I’m up against. I figure I can walk once a day in January, twice a day in February, three times a day in March, four times a day in April, and five times a day (10 miles!) in May to get in shape. Hahaha. But geez, the guy runs 26 miles at a time. I’m either going to have to be ready in time or hire a sherpa with great drugs.
No, that’s not Mt. Wheeler, but a ridge not far from where we live. (This is actually a view from the turn-around point of my usual walk.) I have another kind of hike entirely planned for the highest point you see in the photo. Not a marathon, but my favorite kind of hike, heading off into the unknown without a trail. It will take me most of the day to get to the top, and I’ll need to find my own path. Talk about focusing! — this way of moving across a steep, rocky landscape will get you high on concentration. What I’d like to do is spend the night up there and come back in the morning. This will have to wait until the snow melts, though.
Speaking of which, today was a beautiful sunny day with no wind, about 40° F, and there were patches of exposed brown soil where the snow had melted in the sun. I tried to avoid walking on the dirt, because there’s just no way to tell if it’s firm or not. At one point I had no choice, and sure enough, after five or six normal steps, the seventh went SPLUT, and I sank in almost to the top of my boot. Ten days ago when I last took this walk, it was much colder, and there was a lot more snow. That’s when I learned that the easiest way through the stuff was to follow the animal tracks, because coyotes and rabbits always choose a path with the shallowest depth.
All the way up and back, those two miles, and not another human being. I swear I saw elk tracks, too.
Related posts:
I’ll...
