Hike This: Granite Mountain

Hiking Granite is always a good time, always a push. I generally do this hike once a year and last weekend was my time to hit the mountain again. It's a popular area and there are several alpine lake trails that start from the this same trail head, making this easily accessible trail a freeway on most nice summer days. Beatrix and I suite up in the parking lot and hit the trail. As expected, we quickly start passing people up the trail, dropping them one by one. My back is a little achy, but nothing to stop me from speed hiking. 

Firewatch

Beatrix enjoying the view

Blanca Lake

I set out for a hike to Blanca Lake with my trusty trail companion, Beatrix, and was amazed at the trail condition. I did this hike toward the end of July and there was still massive amounts of snow on the trail. The first half of the hike was a steady climb in relatively hot weather. It quickly became obvious that I wasn't used to the heat. Since we've had such ridiculously lousy summer, there hasn't been any time to adjust to warm weather. I was trudging up the switchbacks, it became painfully obvious that I had cut my carbohydrate intake a little too low. I was trying to climb up the mountain at a feverish pace, but wasn't having it. I asked myself, "why the hell are you so tired!? Why do your legs feel heavy?" Then I realized I had inadvertently been eating a pretty minimal amount of carbohydrates lately. As soon as I realized this I started chomping on the apple that I brought and thought to myself that I should have planned better and should have smartly prepared for expending some serious effort. And when I say prepare I mean I should have eaten some nice healthy carbohydrates the night before or at least the morning of the hike. It's all a learning lesson, right? Right. So, I ate half my apple and started feeling a little more lively. Phew! Go go gadget-carbs!

Run, run, run, snow, snow

About half way through the ascent, Beatrix found her first patch of snow. She was ECSTATIC! I mean, I can't explain how hilarious she gets when she finds snow.  It's the greatest thing I've ever seen.
We continued up the trail where we hit the snow line and left the dirt behind. It was a welcomed relief for Beatrix; she doesn't do well in heat. With the abundance of snow, all of a sudden SUPER B arrived and we were off to take on the lake.

It's obvious we're products of the Northwest,  it's either too cold or too hot when in reality it's neither. We Northwesties are pansies when it comes to weather. Anyway, this hike was overall pretty strange because it was warm the entire route, even when we were walking on several feet of snow. I've never experience this before. Normally, temperatures drop and you have to layer up, but as we walked atop the snow a warm breeze would blow by. I was glad for this too because I wasn't all that prepared for cold weather. I was in workout shorts and tanktop with possibly a long sleeve shirt in my running pack. Not so prepared, lesson learned.

July 24, 2011 - still so much snow

The trail was nicely marked with blue ribbon so it was relatively easy to find the trail. Blue is NOT a good color for trail markings. Really? Only dark green or brown would have been a worse color. Seriously, why not hunter orange or red? Something that actually stands out against trees, rock and snow. Anyway, once you get near Virgin Lake, which was completely covered in snow, the markers disappear and your left to navigate on your own down to Blanca Lake. Since I'd never been on the trail before, every once in a while I'd check my GPS to make sure I was on track. Little clothing, little food for me or Beatrix, and in an unfamiliar area... Not somewhere I'd like to get lost.


I tagged along with a few fellow hikers and all four of us made our way down to the lake. Beatrix and her far superior agility had no problems navigating the rest of the trail. It seemed to take forever to drop the last half mile to the lake. Every once in a while the trail would pop out amidst 3-5 feet of snow and we were reassured that we were at least in the right area. Once we arrived at the lake we sat for a quick snack and a little rest. Quickly, I packed up and turned around to head on out. Not really being confident in the trail, I wanted to make sure I had people following my tracks so if I could always hook up with them if need be. Thankfully, it wasn't necessary and I made it out just fine (of course).

Due to all the snow and route finding, the 7.5 mile trail took about twice as long as it normally would. When I arrived back at my car it felt like at least a 13 mile jaunt. Not that it's a bad thing, just unexpected. The trail was great and I can't wait to get back there a little later in the season to see the lake in all it's splendor. Lessons learned from this hike: never underestimate basic layers, even if it seems warm (especially with the cold summer we've had), always fuel up in order to throw down! I never want to feel "BLAH" when I'm on the trail. I love the outside too much to make it a negative experience. Next time I'll remember to eat my sweet potatoes!

Blanca Lake w/o snow (WTA)

Take'n it to the trail & street

Lake Serene during summer

Good news all around! There is hope to getting back to my normal self again!  This weekend I went on a maiden bike voyage around Seattle neighborhoods, went on my first real hike of the season, and rode all the way home from work! Woohoo! Yes, OUTSIDE! Yes, cool breeze in my face and bugs in my teeth. It was grand.


Up until last weekend, I'd been playing it safe by sticking to the urban trails near Seattle - Soaring Eagle Park, Cougar Mountain, Discovery Park... All fantastic. Seattlites are blessed to have such amazing places so close, but I've been itching to get out on a "real" trail. With the initial plans to do a ridge hike out of the question due to lingering snow levels, Lake Serene was a no-brainer alternative. Let me be honest, I hate going to Lake Serene unless it's first thing in the morning. Due to the ridiculous number of people on the trail, you end up having to battle passing several hordes of foreigners and/or newbie hikers. These are people that don't know or acknowledge proper trail etiquette. Yuk.  I generally play outside to get away from people, clear my head, enjoy nature, and to be grounded by spectacular views. Lake Serene is not my idea of serene, but it's easy to get to, relatively close, and can be tough if you kick up the speed.

Unfortunately, the lake was covered in snow and the fog was
thick so we couldn't see a damn thing. Avalanches were a
plenty falling from Mt. Index though. Great sounds!

Unfortunately, the night before I'm afraid I may have eaten something tainted with an un-Leigh Ann-friendly ingredient. My stomach hurt and I mean like old school hurt. Boooooo! And, I was tired from two weeks of insomnia. We arrived at the trail head sometime in the early afternoon and sure enough my mood immediately tanked. Great. PEOPLE. Even though I was prepared for there to be a lot of people, I didn't think there would be THIS MANY! I mean there were cars and cars, more than I'd ever seen before. Ahhh! I wanted to crawl back in the car and pout, but I decided to be a big girl and not let others ruin my big day outside nor let my grumpy attitude ruin the day for my hiking partner. We headed out on on the trail at a medium pace hoping to wake up a bit and let my stomach calm itself. By the time the trail really started increasing in elevation I started feeling really good. I had my new Black Diamond Distance Trekking Poles, which I love, and took off up the trail. We passed the biggest group of foreigners I have ever seen on a trail. They just kept coming, it was creepy. I try to be civil and say, "Hi, how are you? Have a nice hike" etc., but sometimes I feel like the world is out to test me.

With the help of the poles I was able to relieve some pressure off my back and keep a pretty darn good pace. By the time we were back down the trail I knew I was going to be sore and it felt great. My quads and knees are not used to going down hill (why isn't there a stair machine that mimics going up and down stairs? I guess I could use real stairs). When we arrived back at the car I was stoked and had a huge grin on my face. In the end, no one ruined my day outside and there's hope after all. I will trail run again, I know it.

RIDE THIS!
I had an ergonomic bike fitting with my physical therapist yesterday. The good news? I'm not completely discunctionl when I ride or how I had my bike set up. Hooray for me! A few minor adjustments here and there and a few tips on how to ride more efficiently and I was out the door. Okay, well about two hours later I was out the door. But none the less, I rode on my merry way and felt more confident in hoping back on the saddle, literally.

My bikes had gathered a lot of dust over the last several months, so about four weeks ago I cleaned them up and did a little maintenance in preparation for my maiden voyage. Saturday was my first time back on a bike and let me tell you, my back was utterly confused by the situation. Faced with a 20 mile ride home, I debated a bus-bike combo and identified key points along my route to dismount. At a little over 1/3 of the way home my back was talking to me and I decided that at one the upcoming opportunities, I would grab a bus. Instead, I pulled over about 1/2 way home and gave myself a few minutes to stretch, hoped back on the bike and told myself that I had a little longer to ride before I had made it to my minimum riding goal. However, by the time I arrived my back was actually feeling better and I decided to keep on keep'n on. I was super excited when I finally rolled up to my apartment building. I had made it. It was a big goal for me at 3.5 months post two back surgeries. I was happy and proud of myself. I didn't feel like I pushed myself too much. I rode at a leisurely pace to keep pressure off my back and I think it worked. This meant allowing people to pass me. Yes, pass ME. Now, I'm not really that fast of a cyclist, but I'm stubborn to boot and damn competitive. I don't like to be passed. Maybe I've grown up a little ;)