Stay on Offense Climb Mountains

Attacking Adversity

Go Hiking and See A UFO

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Dirty Harry’s Peak is not a hike I look forward to every year, but it is a good challenge and great for conditioning your legs. Old legs need all the conditioning they can get.

This year was no different in that regard, but the hike did hold a couple of surprises.

Early Morning

As anyone knows if they have been reading these posts, I like to go hiking very early in the morning. So I pulled up into the Dirty Harry trailhead parking lot at 3:45 AM. I got out of the car to make some last adjustments to my pack and looked up past the sky. It is my custom to see how much cloud cover there is or just to look at the stars.

When I look up I see what appears to be a passenger jet going across the sky from y right to my left. It appeared to be higher than most passenger jets. Then it stopped. It did not slow down.It stopped.

Arrested Attention

Haver you ever had something happen where all of s sudden all of your attention was focused on that thing? This is how it was that morning. The “jet” moved down to the right. I grabbed my phone and started taking a video. It moved around some more and then I stopped filming it and I put my phone down and looked back up. It was gone.

Where did it go? I had no time right then so I went on my hike. A typical brutal last two miles to an area that doesn’t have much of a view compared to other places I go.

The Answer?

When I finished my hike it was about 9:45 AM. As I drove from the trailhead to the freeway along a cement but potholed road, there on the side of the road were about six or seven military jeeps and trucks and soldiers walking around.

“That was it,” I said to myself. A military drone. That’s what I saw. This explains it. The military has some cool stuff.

Then I got home and watched the video: https://studio.youtube.com/video/D_g_oYl1YnA/edit

Go Hiking And Endure Or Not

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I know what you’re thinking! He’s going to tell me I need to endure the hikes even if I am sick and tired or over trained. If I had written this a year ago, I would have said you were dead right.

However, climbing a grueling mountain trail when you are over trained doesn’t make a lot of sense. Like I said, a year ago I would have done it anyway, but I changed my mind.

Pay Attention

If you are fortunate or nerdy enough to use the NatureBeat (Sweetwaterhrv) App, Whoop, or even a Garmin watch, you are paying attention to your heart rate variability. With NatureBeat it will give you both your Sympathetic and Parasympathetic numbers. Those to numbers make represent you autonomic nervous system. The first one is your “flight or flight” readiness and the second your “rest and digest” score. With the Whoop you also get a recovery score.

So what do you do if you don’t have any of this technology? Listen to your body! If you are overly tired maybe a day off would be the wisest choice. Then you will have less chance of getting an injury or even sick. Now don’t think you can just be a slacker. You can get improvements in fitness by pushing yourself when the numbers are bad. Just don’t do it all the time.

Pay With Your Heath

If you do not listen to your body and push through there is a good chance you will not do well. I learned this myself the hard way. A pattern developed where I was not getting enough sleep and was exercising hard every day and then of course, climbing a mountain. All my numbers were bad. So I thought I would see if I could get the numbers to go back up after taking a week off from exercise. It worked. They went up a little. More on that other time.

After once again hitting the trail, a late night (anything after 5:00 PM) wedding resulted in making me even more tired than the exercise. Of course I had climbed a mountain the day before so I was primed for weariness.

My Permission

It is official. You have my permission to take a week off from s hike if everything is stacked against you. You do not have to endure! Of course you don’t need my permission for anything!

The most important think to remember as a general rule with some exceptions: Go Hiking!

Go Hiking And You Won’t Regret It

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Actually, there was one hike that I regret. Maybe it wasn’t so much the hike itself, but the fall I took.

It was on a hike up to Camp Muir on Rainier.

Camp Muir

If you haven’t done this hike, I do recommend it in spite of my fall. It begins at 5000 ft in the Paradise parking lot. If you arrive early you can get a paring space. For some distance the the trail is a steep cement walkway built for tourists. Then it converts to a combination of manmade trail and natural.

After about two miles you will come to Pebble Creek. Crossing Pebble Creek can be interesting. One year the rocks had a thin coating of ice on them. I watched a couple hikers take the plunge into the creek and I barely made it across myself. After Pebble Creek you will be into the snow even in August most years. Then on to Camp Muir just another two miles away. You will think those two miles are a hundred or at least fifty.

Going Up

After leaving Pebble Creek you climb a steep area of snow. This is where I fell, but more on that later. From there it just goes up. You may run into a crevasse or two on the way up depending on the snow melt, but they are small.

It gets steeper as you climb but there is a trail. Actually, there are several trails made by climbers in the snow. If you go on a clear day it is pretty easy to determine which one to take and you always want to go on a clear day. Once you can see Camp Muir it is still about a half hour away at my pace.

Coming Down

Coming back down the mountain can be fun. If the condition of the snow is right there are long slides you can take. It is called Glissading. Do not do it if the snow has frozen into ice. You will go way too fast. But if conditions are right it is a lot of fun.

Typically I will jog down. Be sure to keep your weight forward and place your heel first into the snow.

The Fall

On that particular hike, I was wearing Yaktracks instead of Microspikes. Don’t do that. When the snow is just ice the Yaktraks just don’t give you enough traction.

When I reached the area just above Pebble Creek I was slowly making my way down a steep area when I slipped and slid a hundred yards down into the jagged rocks. I cut my head and legs. Fortunately, an EMT was on his way up the mountain and he bandaged me up and told me to go to a hospital within eight hours. I did.

Go Hiking And Be A Hero On A Mission

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How many of you use a Garmin or a Whoop or a Fitbit or and Oura Ring to track everything? Two out of the three track you steps, all track your sleep, and two your recovery from exercise. Everything! So you can look at the in the morning and get a good idea about how much you can push yourself that day.

Last Sunday morning my “devices” all said I was a mess. Now I could have used that as an excuse to skip the hike altogether or maybe just “stroll” up the mountain. However, if you are depleted and you push yourself the upside is that it can improve fitness.

Hero

Still, what do you do? I decided to take on the challenge and push myself like never before (at least not recently) and I beat my recent records to the top. After all, I was a Hero on a mission. A mission to get to the top of the mountain.

Did I mention how much my legs hurt when I was running the trail? They hurt! But the challenge was exciting and getting to the top of a mountain is meaningful.

No Trekking Poles

I recommend everyone uses trekking poles, especially when they come down a mountain, because it will save your knees long term. In fact my knees were so bad in the past that I could not get down a mountain without them.

However, one of the devices mentioned above does not count your steps correctly when you use trekking poles. So Decided that I would climb up and down without them. The difference in number of steps was 15,000!!. Yeah, kinda nuts.

Do It Again

When I would make a sale in the past one of my favorite sales managers would tell me, “Good job. Now do it again.” It is the same when you climb mountains. You may have done a good job this week, but now it is your responsibility to keep executing.

Did you go hiking last week? Did you beat your personal record to the top? Then do it again!

Go Hiking And Become A Lion Tracker

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Wait, what? No, just kidding. No amount of hiking will make you a lion tracker, but when your hiking you can dream about tracking lions.

Of course in my area of the country, “lions” are cougars. If there is any tracking going on they will be tracking you, not the other way around.

The Last Hike

Actually, what I wanted to discuss was last weekend’s hike. It was so cold with snow all the way up the trail. The snow was soft so I didn’t need my Microspikes on the way up. However, I did use my Trekking poles which I usually don’t use going up hill.

The snow was deep as you got closer to the top and my toes were getting cold. Climbing over the rocks, my gloves got wet and then froze. It took me three hours to get to the top and usually only takes me 2 hrs 15 minutes on a good day.

Boots

I see people coming up the mountain when there is snow in their tennis shoes. Maybe they don’t care if they reach the top and just figure they will go as far as they can. That’s foolish in my opinion. Unless you’re a trail runner and then you are a different breed. I saw one with no water, no pack, no jacket. Just tights.

Get some boots!

Jackets and Umbrellas

Layers are the best, but at least wear a jacket. Two weeks ago I saw young man coming up the trail in his T-shirt. I asked him if he knew who Wim Hof was and I was sure he was a follower, but he didn’t know anything about the Ice Man.

You don’t need an umbrella, but I see people carrying them. One guy was ingenious. He devised a connection on his pack where he inserts the umbrella so he doesn’t have to hold it. I am not sure what might happen if he trips.

This Week’s Hike

Tomorrow morning is supposed to be cold and cloudy which could mean snow. You just never know. So be prepared people! It is hard to predict what a trail will be like until you are on it.

See you in the mountains!

Go Hiking And Have An Undefeated Mind

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Could it be true? If you do nothing else but climb a mountain every week, will you have an undefeated mind? Of course not, but the title sounds pretty good. However, I do believe it improves your inner game.

How does it do that? As I have said before, it is not easy to go climb a mountain in bad weather or when your knees, or back or hips hurt. When you’re old!

First Hike Of The Year

Which brings me to my first point. Yesterday was the first hike of the “season” and year for me. So I have been languishing in the gym on hiking days for five months. Of course I am trying to strengthen all the muscles I use for hiking during that time. I think it works a little.

Working a little is just not enough to compensate for the grueling ordeal that is the first hike of the the season. The tendons in the back of my knees hurt. Yes, my quads hurt. I have a planters wart on the bottom of my foot and that hurts. Have neuropathy and that hurts. Did I mention it was cold with snow and ice?

Mountain As Obstacle

Getting up to the top and down the mountain the first time in months is a challenge. The mountain is an obstacle, but “OMMS.” OMMS? Yes, “obstacles make me stronger.” That is the mantra you need to ingrain in your brain over and over again.

In fact getting out into the 34 degree weather at the trailhead, knowing that to gets colder as you climb is also an obstacle. A mental obstacle, but an obstacle nevertheless.

Adventure Happens

I dropped one of my Microspikes. It was two hours before sunrise so a little on the dark side. Even with my dim headlamp I couldn’t find it. I climbed back down the mountain. Still no micro spike. Then someone coming up the trail behind me found it. Adventure!

That meant I could continue on up the mountain, but it slowed me down a lot. No record time yesterday. But losing one of my micro spikes has made me stronger. How so? I decided to super glue the broken pack strap so it doesn’t happen again.

Cramps

When I spend 4-5 hours on a mountain I need salt pills to keep me from getting cramps. Yesterday, I forgot the salt pills. So guess what? I got cramps coming down. Cramps were an obstacle to a good hiking experience. And of course obstacles make me stronger.

How did I insure that would be the case? When I returned I immediately ordered some more salt pills and put them on my pre- hiking check list. You do have a check list don’t you?

Wrapping It up

The conclusion is that because obstacles like mountains, lost Microspikes and cramps make me stronger mentally, then climbing mountains certainly contributes to my inner game.

The photograph on this page is one I took yesterday morning. I hope it inspires you to Go Hiking!