End-of-Winter Hike

Yesterday I had planned to do another social bike ride but couldn't do it because it snowed 2 inches the night before, very unusual for this time of year in the South. I went to the gym instead and did a spinning class and an additional hour of cardio machines. I'm trying to increase my cardio endurance to start the season right. I even put a new battery in the Flight Deck.

My bike goal is to do long-and-slow solos, credit-card camping, on weekends... bringing this up to a solid week of beach-to-home. I've also scheduled two long hikes... a week in the Rockies and a week for rim-to-rim Grand Canyon.

This morning it was beautiful sunny but freezing when I got up, so I put on boots and down, went to breakfast and followed that with a 4-hour 8-mile hike that included two 1,000-foot climbs. I'm proud of myself, but boy, do my feet hurt tonight!

Today I took it easy, left my mp3 player and heart rate monitor home, and enjoyed the bird sounds and the melting snows and ice gurgling into runoff. Took some pictures, and lots of filmclips... I love the way water sounds relax me.

This is definitely my favorite time for hiking.

Life is good again.

- © 2008 by Willy

.