Saturday, July 21, 2018

Hello all,

My husband had a "flip" (endoscopy and colonoscopy) yesterday in hopes they would discover why he has so much trouble with bowel issues. Oddly, we were bummed the doc didn't find a culprit, instead all he found was a healthy colon.

He took biopsies up and down the whole gi system but otherwise he apparently is turning to dietary changes for DH! (Can you feel my glee????) He announced "NO DAIRY" over my husband's supine body and I mockingly said "But, Dr. G.....what about all the ice cream? He uses it to help him fall asleep!" My husband, still groggy from the procedure, managed to mumble "ice cream isn't dairy"

Anyhoo, moving on. I frequently ask people "what is your idea of health?" So many different answers. Ann, you are right....people might use the same words as someone else but mean something entirely different.

Below is the view from today's Mt Dickerman hike. Just over 8 miles and just under 4000 ft gain. It starts dark and dry and then opens up to views everywhere. Very showy. Sometimes I just want to bow down, on the spot, to the greater power who not only created an environment dripping with beauty, but gave me the ability to see and appreciate it.

A few pictures below....I'll add a few to posts the next 2-3 days.

Go hug Mother Nature.

Shel

I want to experience the beauty of the PNW mountains. Do you drive far to these adventures or are they generally close by?

So, how "in shape" would I need to be to experience today's hike with you?

Come on up! I would love to have you along!!! (The rest of you should consider that an open invitation, too)

This hike was 1 hour and 20 minutes away from my house. I will range as far out as 3 hours away. Last week's goat hike was 3 hours away but that included a ferry ride.

Today's hike is usually worked up to with shorter, less steep conditioning hikes. Beside being able to walk 8 miles, you need to be able to go up 4000 ft and then back down again which is sometimes more painful than going up.

HOWEVER, I found that I didn't lose hiking conditioning over the winter even tho I did little hiking and just sporadic snowshoe/ski. I am sure the reason was my usual gym routine that is 1/2 cardio plus 1/2 strength/power work, too. I give credit in particular to leg strength and power work. Lots and lots of squats/lunges/step-ups and step downs. Sometimes weighted, sometimes not.

So, you already have a gym routine so your are way ahead most people. Plus you have a trainer! Lot's of leg work so your recent work outs would fit right in.

But, none of this is to say that you couldn't do it with current conditioning. Even if you weren't in perfect hiking shape, one can go just a bit slower. I have learned not to assume that people I pass aren't going to make it to the top. Most seem to do just fine and really aren't that many minutes behind me.

Also, there are plenty of other lovely hikes that are a bit shorter or less elevation gain. ..... lots and lots of hikes. Here is a website for you to poke around on if you like....I'll link you to the Mt Dickerman hike but it catalogues pretty much everything in WA state. Washington hikes The trip report comments at the bottom are incredibly valuable. Also in the same area are Lake 22 and Heather lake hikes. Both beautiful but I think a bit shorter and less elevation gain (my memory might be wrong)

And.....all the dogs on these hikes!!!! I would love for you to see them!

Wha a great website! So, there are three hikes on the Olympic Peninsula that look fantastic (more for scenery than the hike itself). Then in the Central Cascades there are several I would like to try. Of course, I can't remember the names, but one was a waterfall hike and the other was a "backdoor" hike into some grand meadows up around the 5000 ft. level. I could see going up to WA state for a week of day hikes. Would be pretty cool.

See, that's my kind of vacation! Having less physically stressful days mixed in is good. Most are sore from a hike like Dickerman.

I love the pensiusula and am trying to get there more this summer. When I moved to WA state, I had a job offer there....I have always wondered what that life would have been like. I would probably be married to a logger or a spotted owl researcher.

Besides last week, my last hike there was about 20 years ago. It is rather quaint over there....not very commercial. Logging trucks abound. Sequim (pronounced Squim) is a sunny small city on the water that happens to be in a rain shadow so relatively dry. It has a reputation as a retirement community.

I briefly drove thru Sequim a couple of weeks ago looking for gas. It had some sort of new arts theater, etc, that made me hope that it is like DianeS's, area....cool people moving there in retirement. (My DH and I also are beginning to mull about retirement locations...)

As you think about trip planning, in my short experience, mid July is when snow recedes and the number of available hikes explodes. That's one reason those trip reports are so helpful.....the more adventuresome go and then report back "Still snow! Bring microspikes." Last year, I hiked into Oct but it was getting pretty chilly.

There is a hike on the peninsula I want to do. When I was considering it, the last trip report casually mentioned that the hiker used an ice pick. I don't do ice picks or crampons! Although, I will say, that an ice pick strapped to the back of a pack signals bad-azz like nothing other. No one messes with someone who packs an ice-pick!

Glad you liked that website. None of the other western states (or BC) have anything quite like it. Another website is Alltrails. Its strength is that it is national, and has decent maps, (for printing or for use on app.)

DH used to love hiking, especially winter hikes. We have a ton of equipment. He was trying to hike all the NH mountains with the Appalachian club, but stopped after the last time when he lost his keys. I had to drive an hour and a half to get him and found his keys under the car seat. He was very confused. I am just not a hiker. The views are beautiful, but it just isn't for me. I went with him on a few easy ones, but I am petrified of heights and just don't enjoy the experience enough to go. Unfortunately he doesn't have any friends who like to hike either (which is why he would do it with the Appalachian club). It's sad for him that he can't go anymore.

Ah, that's too bad. Thank goodness he only lost his keys.

I am always trying to think about what could be arranged that provides some respite for you, but DH enjoys too.

I briefly wondered if there is a group that takes memory loss people out on hikes but maybe that simply not something one does with a whole group of memory loss people! He must enjoy your area's beaches and trails even tho he can't go out by himself. Maybe that's something a companion could do with him.

Ok, back from the gallery and eager to catch up with my peeps. Cecily I am like you - need alone time and I cannot stand clingy needy people. Drives me nuts. If I were you I would make up something that you need to go do that is not conducive to having another person along - like trip to the dentist or brain surgery. Then say bye and go sit in the most empty coffee shop you can find. Or see a movie. Once I had 9 house guests on 24 hours notice. And I had to work. I left work early and went and hid out at a friend's house and watched "Tea With Mousellini" - a great chick flick. Got home at 7 pm and all these people, including unfed kids, were waiting around for me to come home and fix dinner. Why they couldn't open a box of pasta I will never know.

So lets all thinks of excuses for Cecily. How about "Auntie I am going to the mosque now to pray".

Hmmm, I am neither an abstainer nor moderator. I refuse to be categorized. I am BatWoman.

Diane S

Yeah, a mosque ... that's the ticket! ;)

And as Batwoman -- you sound like a lot of folks who commented on the Abstainer or Moderator? blog.