Getting ready to hike

Does anyone else turn preparing for a hike into a small ritual? Maybe it is my ADHD (I'm not just jumping on a bandwagon here, I've had it since childhood - a LONG time ago), which means I inevitably end up forgetting something. Maybe it is timed to psych myself up for the hike ahead.

I don't know exactly.

But it has become a comfortable night before and morning of ritual. Preparing and cleaning gear. Planning out evening and morning meals for maximum nutrition. Checking maps, weather reports and trail reports for the proposed route. Laying out the clothes for the hike and then piling it all into the car.

Of course it drives my dog crazy. He thinks this all involves himself or that he is about to go on a grand adventure.

So, do you have a pre-hike/bike/workout routine? How did it come about? How does it work for you?

Let me know.

Catching Up

Yes, I know. It's been a while. An eternity really in "blog time." And most of you have probably abandoned my pithy little blog for greener (or at least more active) pastures.

I understand.

But I haven't been idle and the old man has continued hiking as well as adding in bicycling as well.

So, a quick synopsis. Since my last post, I've hiked Sitton Peak in Orange County, CA, the Cedar Springs trail and PCT to Pyramid Peak south of Idyllwild, the Deer Springs Trail north of Idyllwild, and Devil's Slide on my birthday which turned into a snowy mush towards Tahquitz Peak.

So I haven't yet slunk back into my old slothful ways. I just got lazy and stopped blogging about it. My knee did start giving me fits when I added jogging to my daily walking route, but a cortisone shot seems to have helped. And my doctor still thinks I need to lose a bit more weight. I'm now down about 40 pounds from when I started hiking in 2011.

Oh, and the bike.

My son surprised me on Christmas morning that he wanted to get me a bike for Christmas. And after careful consideration of his financial situation, as well as ours - we compromised. My wife paid for the bike and my son paid for some accessories.

So I now have a Scott Sportster 55 hybrid bike in the garage. Basically a hard tail mountain bike frame with 700c wheels and tires. I didn't think I was ready for a 29er and I knew I wasn't ready for an Italian road bike. Plus, this was on clearance at REI. All the better.

The Sportster and I make regular use of the San Luis Rey mixed use trail near our house. 18 miles out to the Oceanside Harbor and back, often times out in some wicked headwinds coming down through that valley.

So, I'm back. I'll keep this updated, I promise. This year plans on being an exciting one with Mt. San Gorgonio in my sights as well as longer treks overall. I'll keep you all posted.