Stay on Offense Climb Mountains

Attacking Adversity

Go Hiking In The Rain

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The trailhead parking lots are always more packed when the sun is shining, but it is better to be an “all weather” hiker especially if you live in an area of the world where it rains a lot. There are several advantages to hiking in the rain.

The most obvious advantage is just that you get more hiking done. You don’t have to scratch your head and ask yourself if you will skip this hike. It is always a go! What about the less obvious, but maybe more important?

Challenge

Hiking in in the rain is a bit of a challenge. Do you like challenges? You should because they build your resilience. With hiking you need to figure out the best clothing to wear. If you wear a rainproof poncho you will over-heat, unless you are someone who “saunters” up the mountain. Typically, people over dress in the rain or cold, sweat, and then get cold. It is better to go light and pack a couple extra jackets or pullovers. In fact even when it is hot be sure to pack warm clothing so if you get stuck somewhere overnight your all comfy.

Keep your pack dry with a cover. Put your wallet and car keys in plastic bags. If it is cold wrap them in a cloth and them put them in the bag.

Get Used to Not Being Rewarded

In life when we work hard towards something and we do not reach our goal it is easy to be disappointed. Self help folks point out that it is not the goal, but who we become in the pursuit of it that matters. I agree!

When climbing mountains we sometimes don’t get to see the beautiful mountains in the distance when it rains. When there is fog (low clouds) sometimes you can’t see ten feet in front of you. So you climb and climb thinking that the weather might change and you will be rewarded with a view. When that doesn’t happen there is a tendency to be disappointed, but get used to it. You don’t always need to be rewarded with a view. However, like in this photo you can be surprised with something sectacular. Whatever the weather, just go hiking!

Go Hiking Early

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Frankly I did not want to write about this. I thought I would bury it somewhere deep in these posts. Why? Because it is a secret. It is the secret to a great hike.

Solitude

People are expected at the mall or on busy streets in downtown. Not on top of a mountain. I am writing this a few weeks after several climbers were killed on Mt Everest while waiting in line to summit. That is not right. It should not have happened. When you go hiking up your local mountain you are usually not faced with life and death situations, but that is still no reason to put up with people. The fewer the better.

When you are the first one on top of the mountain, it is quiet. You can hear God whisper. It is just you and nature. No distracting sounds of peoples voices.

Best Photographs

Do you like the picture I took in the Grand Cayon? I took that early too! You also can stand anywhere you want and get the best photographs. Who wants someone standing on top and there is no room for you? Who wants someone else in their photograph? You can choose where to stand and choose what scenery looks best without having to consider the crowd.

I have done commercials for products on top of a mountain. I couldn’t have taken those videos if there were people mulling around.

The Reality

You might ask yourself, “How can it be that bad?” Oh, it is bad. How do I know? It is because I count people coming up the mountain as I am going down. When I get to around twenty I stop counting. Those summits must be crawling with people. And then once I get back down to the trailhead there are no parking spots left. People are parked illegally.

The only way to avoid this nightmare is to get up very early. How early? Early enough so that you begin your hike at least an hour before sunrise. At least. Two hours is ideal. So go hiking early!

Go Hiking and Hug A Tree

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Am I kidding? No, nature is healthy for you. The air is saturated with more oxygen in the forest. You should be thankful for the trees. But do you really need to hug one? Well, don’t actually hit a tree, but I pat one every time I pass. I see this tree as a symbol for all the trees and because I go by it week after week, and because it is so majestic I just have to recognize it some way.

At first I thought I was the only crazy person out here having fond thoughts about trees until I listened to Hal Elrod, author of the Miracle Morning series of books, talk about the trees in his back yard. He went so far as to make faces for the trees and decorate them.

A Little Magic

Baseball players are known for being superstitious and having rituals before games or clothing they wear. It could be a pair of socks or a wrist band that they thought gave them luck. You could say that patting or even hugging a tree as you pass by is like rubbing a lucky stone you have in your pocket. Maybe if I pat that tree I will have a successful hike with no accidents.

Incorporating a little magic in your hike gives it a surreal feeling. It might be my imagination taking hold of me. I wrote a story about magical mountains so that might be part of this habit I have developed.

Trees Are Older

Most trees are much older than myself. This particular one is ancient for sure and there are fewer and fewer people and things that are older than me these days. I respect that. Maybe the tree could impart some wise advice that I am just too young to know. But trees can’t talk you say! Well, I read once that they do talk but just much slower than we do so we can’t hear them. You think? So they are older and they talk slow. Learning something from a tree might take some time, still, I think it is worth the effort. Now go hiking and hug a tree!

Go Hiking Every Week

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Most hikers, even avid hikers, don’t climb a mountain every week. At most they might hike once every couple weeks. That isn’t too bad if you are hiking all year long, but let’s consider the advantages of weekly hiking.

Climb More Mountains

This is pretty obvious. If you are going every week you can climb more in less time. There are so many mountains here in the Picnic Northwest that it is hard to exhaust them.

Enter the hypocrite. Even though I go hiking every week from March through September I do not climb different mountains. I have my favorites and keep gong back to those over and over and over again. Especially in March, April and May when I climb Mt Si again and again.

Your Legs Will Thank You

Consistent weekly hiking will build your legs and lungs. If you wait too long between hikes your legs are going to be sore constantly. It builds your endurance. Your ability to exercise for long periods of time so then you are ready for anything, even the Zombie Apocalypse.

This is an appropriate time to advocate for a little self care. Please, after your hike be sure to use a foam roller on your legs as well as stretching them. This may seem common sense but it is not. In fact, an epsom salt bath or ice bath can help early in the season when your legs have not adapted.

It Becomes A Habit

Now I have to admit that when hiking day rolls around I don’t always “feel” like going. Maybe it is raining. Maybe it’s snowing. It is probably cold. However, going weekly establishes a habit. Then of course you need to establish some “rules” for yourself. Mine are always begin the hike before sunrise, go hiking no matter what the weather happens to be, and always time yourself.

Maybe I should qualify that last rule. Yes, always time yourself, because you want to get better and to get better you have to measure your progress. However, there may be a day on the trail when you want to stop and take a picture or you just decide to take it a little easy. That’s ok. I approve! Now, go hiking every week!

Go Hiking In The Snow

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When the season changes and it snows or the snow just hasn’t melted off the mountain yet you need to know how to handle it. It mainly comes down to gear and staying away from areas that are avalanche prone. So this piece is for those that have never hiked in the snow before.

Snow Gear

It can be dangerous if you so not have the right gear. First of all you need hiking boots. This should be obvious, but unfortunately it is not. I see people in tennis shoes all the time, yes, even in the snow. A friend of mine climbed to Camp Muir on Rainier in his Gucci boots. Yes, that happened!

Then you need some kind of traction device for your boots. There are three. First Yaktrax, which are the minimum necessary. They consist of rubber and wire and are the least expensive. You pull them over your boots. The next choice is Microspikes. These are similar to Yaktrax but have tiny spikes which give you much better traction and they las much longer than Yaktrax. Finally, you could get a set of crampons but that is probably not necessary unless you are climbing a mountain like Rainier.

Be sure to dress in layers so that you can peel them off. It is easy to overdress, get wet from sweat and then get cold quick.

So there you have it. All you need to enjoy the snow. However, some of you might decide to cut corners or just forget to bring something.

Quick Story

I climb Mt Si every week from March through May. There is usually still snow and ice on the mountain in March, but it is not an avalanche area and pretty safe. That is why I stay with it for three months until the snow melts elsewhere.

Last year I headed out the door with what I thought was all my gear, but I had forgotten my Microsipkes. I did not realize I didn’t have them until I reached the trailhead. So do I just go home or see how far I can go. The snow was not significant so I thought I would give it a shot. Going up was pretty easy. Keep that in mind. I knew this already, but it was so easy going up. Once I started down I felt pretty smug. I had gotten to the top without any traction. Then suddenly, I slipped, my feet went out from under me and I went down. As I always do (yes I have fallen before), I laid there for a few minutes to see if I had broken anything. As it turned out I broke a rib. So the moral to the story is make sure you have a check list of items to bring with you ad use it.

Life and Going Hiking In The Snow

So it is pretty easy to apply this to life. If you do not have the right tools to do a job then it either won’t get done as quickly, as well, or it will end in disaster. Be prepared! As Jocko Willink says, “One is none and two is one.” I take two head lamps on every hike, because I begin hiking before sunrise and don’t want to run out of batteries in the middle of a dark mountain.

It is also a good example of preparation matching the challenge. If you are going hiking in the snow then you need to be more prepared than when it is dry ground. There are gradients of preparation too. If it is raining you have to demonstrate more caution when negotiating slippery areas. So keep all this mind when you face challenges and of course go hiking!

Go Hiking – Experience A Burner

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When your quads and calf muscles are talking to you every step, you know you are experiencing a “burner.” I saw this reference when reading a trail report. After researching name Google had no idea where it came from, but I think it is perfect word for describing climbing a mountain that is extremely steep.

This term is once again something that parallels life. We all have challenges to meet, but when something takes all of your focus and effort then that something can be called a burner.

Dirty Harry’s Peak is a Burner

Recently I climbed Dirty Harry’s Peak here in the northwestern United States. It is named for an infamous logger. Obviously if this mountain qualifies as a burner then that means it is very hard by definition.

There are two things that make Dirty Harry’s Peak stand out. First and foremost are the last two miles. It is a little over four and a half miles to the top which is no so bad, but those last two miles are straight up. Two miles is a long way to be going straight up. The second standout for this mountain is the top itself. Even when you reach the top you are surrounded by trees. You can see little views, but that’s it until you step out onto the peak itself. Really it is a cliff. The trail ends. One more step and you’re gone. Even at the peak the view is not a 360, but it is just fine.

Being Unemployed is a Burner

At the beginning of the 2008 recession I was unemployed. At the time I was in my sixties so pretty young, right? Still, getting a job in your sixties is harder than when you are younger. The first thing you have to do is dye your hair. Nobody will even listen if they see a gray haired person walk in the room. I applied to hundreds of companies, did tons of interviews, and came up with nothing. Then I would get a job that lasted maybe three months. This went on for some time. It took me four years to find a reasonably stable job.

This is a personal example of a burner in life. It takes all of you to meet the challenge. You need to have a positive outlook and be adaptable. If you do this then you can look back and say, “that was a real burner.”