Down and Out in OC

I’ve been feeling pretty down lately. I know I haven’t blogged in months and that’s because we haven’t hiked since Yosemite! It has been said that when John Muir would be in the city he would grow ill and his illness could only be cured by the wilderness. I’m beginning to think it is the same with me.

I’ve also been battling an injury since the beginning of December. I noticed intense pain in my left wrist when doing push ups or other exercises requiring my wrists to be flexed with weight on them. The pain would go away with a little rest usually. I took a gym break around Christmas, but at that time the pain started to get worse. I knew I had to go see a doctor. 

I went to a hand and wrist doctor to get looked at. She took x-rays of my wrist to make sure nothing was broken. No breaks or fractures were discovered so I was given an injection of cortisone and a prescription for physical therapy. The preliminary diagnosis is either a ganglion cyst or tendinitis. 

I’ve done 3 PT sessions so far. I don’t feel there has been much of an improvement. I have weakness in  my wrist from either lack of use or some kind of deterioration. I get aching and throbbing pain sometimes, which could be a result of the cortisone wearing off. I have a checkup with my doctor next week so we will see what she thinks. I may need to get an MRI. That will be decided when I go in. 

I think my cloudy disposition has to do with not working out the way I want to, and the fear of never being able to work out properly again. I know I’m jumping to conclusions but that’s just the way I am. 

So what am I to do? The weather is crappy in California on the weekends of course. It goes between hot and windy or cold and rainy(ish). I’m hoping to get out and hike some more. If we’re in a drought I should take advantage of the dry trails! 

I’ve been dreaming of the PCT lately also. I know its crazy, but a part of me just wants to quit my job, drop everything, and set out on my own. A girl can dream…

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity...”-John Muir

Yosemite: Part 2

Day 3: The Big Hike

Thursday was the day we planned to hike North Dome. We started the day early, meaning to get out of camp ahead of the heat and crowds. The weather was beautiful and clear when we woke up at 6:30am that morning. Sadly we didn’t end up at the trail head until 10:30am! Way to get out early…

So excited to get out there!

The trailhead was not that crowded thankfully, and we were able to park close. The first ¾ of the trail is on a paved work road. For a second we were worried this was how a lot of the trail would be but thankfully hit dirt a short while after we started.

When we read about this trail the synopsis said its mostly downhill the whole way. We assumed getting to North Dome would be long but easy and the way out would be a grind. Well…the whole trail was pretty much a grind! There was a lot of up and down, and the up portions were on the verge of steep. Mixed with the elevation it was a bit of a struggle.

Kristen and Heather taking a break

However, the trail was beautiful. It was very forested in some parts, and then wandered through small meadows in another. Every once in a while the trees would break and you would get a beautiful vista.

The first view that broke was actually one that caused us a bit of alarm. We were greeted with a view of a huge smoke cloud. We knew there was a fire on the other side of the park but we didn’t know it was as big as it was. The Rim Fire raged that Thursday. When we returned to Tuolomne I heard from a through hiker that the fire had doubled in size since the day before. It was quite alarming, but we knew we were a safe distance away.

After looking at the smoke cloud for a bit we moved on. The claim to fame for this trail is that the view from North Dome is eye level with the face of the iconic Half Dome. I’ve been at the rim of the valley before at Glacier Point but this was different. It felt surreal to hike along the edge of the valley that I’m usually hiking in. Every once in a while a startling view would come in to sight and I couldn’t believe I was experiencing this, a view only some get to see.

Cloud's Rest. Some say this is the best view of Half Dome

About 3 or 4 miles in you hit an open granite area, if you walk straight across you will meet up with the trail continuing to North Dome. You can also take a detour to Indian rock .3 miles off the trail. We opted to take the detour before continuing on the trail. The climb up to Indian Rock makes you curse the mountain gods, its that bad. By that time in the hike your legs are already mildly fatigued. This climb will burn them out. Its also very rocky and steep. Once you get up there though…whoa. Its worth it. First of all, Indian Rock is actually an arch. And second, it gives you an amazing view. I highly recommend it (but do it on the way back).

Indian Rock as seen from the trail

That's me!

Sitting in the arch, this was my view. Beautiful

The reason I recommend doing Indian Rock on the way back is because after this part is when the trail becomes a bit challenging. You start to descend out towards North Dome and just when you think you can’t go down anymore you come out on to a large open granite area. I originally thought this was the dome, as the description we read made it seem it would be. Nope, this is a faux ending point. It provides a great view, but you aren’t done yet. We had to descend more down open granite to find the trail leading out to the real dome.

Me on the trail

 We were pretty tired by this point and becoming discouraged. We found the trail marker saying North Dome was 1.5 miles away. We could see it, but the trail went down steeply in to a forested area and back up the dome. This was when we had to face the dreaded decision every hiker has to face one time or the other, do we hike on or do we decide this is the end point? We started a little too late in the day, we had burned out our legs and time on Indian Rock, and we still had to hike a lot of uphill on the way back. Kristen breached the subject, and we all decided it wouldn’t be a good idea to press on. If we did, we would be on the trail after dark and none of us are comfortable doing that yet.

That's North Dome. What you can't see is that it drops down and back up

We decided to find a nice open spot to enjoy the view we already achieved and enjoy out celebration beer we brought along. After all, we already challenged ourselves getting where we were. It was more of a hike than we have ever done.We enjoyed our feasts of peanut butter sandwiches, electrolyte infused water, and beef jerky and took copious amounts of pictures. 

This view was still pretty damn good!

Victory beer!

Proud of myself, no lie

We think this is Nevada Fall

My favorite photo

Sadly, it was time to head back. We started the long climb up through the trees to the next open area up by Indian Rock. This climb is not that steep but it never evens out, you are climbing the whole time. By this time in the hike I was suffering from an ill fitting day pack that was pulling on my upper back. Heather went out to the false dome, as I call it, and took more pictures. We then continued back.

This portion of the hike was easy, some up, some down. We came across a mama deer and 2 of her babies. They we so cute! She let us snap a couple of pictures but then we decided to be on our way. 

You NEVER want to threaten any mother animal by coming close to her babies, so we made sure they moved on before we did. We made loud noises and clapped our hands until they were further away from us.

When you are tired and in pain (as I was, thanks to my pack) the last couple miles of a hike can drag on. I didn’t want to go to a place of negativity so I simply settled into the rhythm of the hike. I sang songs to myself and enjoyed the scenery; I watched my feet take step after step with my hiking poles. I was enjoying the experience of hiking in a wilderness area. Every once in a while I would have to take a break to remove some pressure from my shoulders or stretch my back, but otherwise I was just trucking along.

I reached a point about a mile away from the end where the paid was radiating from between my shoulder blades, all the way up my neck and in to my jaw. I was miserable. I started to get angry at myself for struggling like I was, but then I realized something fantastic. My legs we just fine. As much as I was struggling, my legs were carrying my body up these hills, steadfast, never resisting. Your legs are the part of your body that takes the most beating while hiking. While they were dirty and scraped up from rocks and such, they were just fine. That realization made me smile, I felt proud of myself. The work I had put in up until that point was paying off. I kept pushing.

We finally reached the trailhead. All of us were beyond tired and happy to be back. That night our campfire pizzas were well earned.

The aftermath of hiking in shorts!

Relaxing by the campfire

Day 4: Day of Rest

Friday was our designated resting day. We hung our hammocks and read in them for hours. It was the best last day we could have given ourselves, simply enjoying the beauty of Yosemite.

Heather and Kristen in their hammocks

Happy girl in a hammock

My view from where I layed

When Saturday rolled around we were sad to end our trip, but happy to be going home to our showers, clean beds, and clothes that did not smell like campfire.

Heading out through Tioga Pass

 No trip to the Eastern Sierra is complete without a trip to Schat's!

Yosemite: Part 1

Day 1
We left home around 6am to pick up our friend Heather. We had packed over the weekend so we were more than prepared come Tuesday morning. The excitement in the car was high, we were finally leaving! The drive was uneventful as always, we just wanted to get there. Although I have to admit, highway 395 once you get in the Sierra is very beautiful. I often find myself staring dreamily out the window, wishing I was up in the mountains and not in the 100 degree heat in the valley. A highlight as always, driving through Lone Pine, where some consider the gateway to Mt. Whitney. From the road you get a beautiful view of Whitney. I gaze at it as long at it is in view, craning my neck around until I can see it no more. One day, I say to myself, one day...

Hitting Lone Pine means we are almost there! We take 395 until we reach the turn off the Highway 120, the road that will take us through the Tioga Pass and into Yosemite. We're almost there! But first thing is first...we must eat at the gas station restaurant. Gas station restaurant you say? Why!? Well, its famous to those who know it. The sign only says Mobil Restaurant, but to those who know it, its the Whoa Nellie Deli and its amazing. Gourmet food at a gas station. No joke! I grub on lobster taquitos and Kristen and Heather have fish tacos with mango salsa. We finish, grab some local Mammoth Brewing Company beer and head up the pass.

Am I excited? A little

Oh, and the gas station overlooks Mono Lake. Gorgeous, right?

 The Tioga Pass is a crazy beautiful area. It serves as a great introduction to to the beauty of the Yosemite high country. 6 hours of driving and we are here!

We set up camp quickly and get settled. We decide to take a short walk to stretch our legs.

We had a great site

We decided to take the trail to Soda Springs and Parsons Lodge. Nothing interesting hiking wise, but its pretty, and has a great view of Lembert Dome and Cathedral Peak.

Lembert Dome. Those clouds behind look pretty ominous

Cathedral Peak cloaked in the storm.

This is Soda Spring. I took a close up of the bubbles

Heather and I in front of Parsons Lodge

While we were checking out the sites a storm that had been brewing started to come to a head. Thunder rolled in the distance so we decided to head back to the camp store, grab some fire wood, and head back to camp. We got back to camp and got a fire going before it started to pour on us. Boy did it pour! The thunder got closer and closer, soon we were able to see the lightening bolts. A storm in the Sierra is a beautiful thing, and this was a great one! We huddled under the easy up and imbibed in the beer and scotch we brought.

Our gourmet meal of fire cooked hotdogs

 It almost rained too much. I say it lasted about an hour, but our fire survived! Once it stopped raining we enjoyed the fire and ate dinner.

It was cold, but I had my scotch

Day 2
We started the morning out kind of slow, making breakfast and enjoying our coffee. Our hiking plans kind of had to change around due to weather and crowd. We decided on hiking out to Elizabeth Lake for our hike that day. The trail gained about 1000 feet in elevation and round trip was about 6 miles from our campsite. (The trail head was in our campground)

Maybe we should go to Sunrise? hmm...

The hike was beautiful of course. On our way out it started to sprinkle. We kept hiking thinking it would let up but it got heavier. Luckily we packed our rain jackets.

Hey look, sun!

Hiking along Unicorn Creek

Amazing scenery everywhere

We arrived at Elizabeth Lake and it was spectacular, the kind of beauty I've only seen in Yosemite. There were not many people to be seen, probably only about 8 people. This is why we hike!

Yeah, I guess its ok

We found a place to enjoy the view and snack. Thankfully the sun came out and we were able to soak in the rays. Above Elizabeth Lake sites Unicorn Peak, which actually looks like a castle to me.

Enjoying the sun showers

My love. Is this real life?!

The closest thing we saw that resembled a bear

We walked around the lake a bit to investigate. Its an interesting shaped lake, kind of like a horse shoe. We hiked back in a while later because we were worried about another downpour. Thankfully the rain had ended though, and we rolled back in to our campsite for the night. Great weather was to be had from that afternoon on!

Wish I could see this view every day

We turned in relatively early that night, barely even having a drink a piece, because tomorrow was the big hike out to North Dome.

To be continued next week. To tide you over, I'll give you a sneak peak.

What's that peaking out from behind those trees?

2 Years

2 years ago today, I embarked on the most challenging task I have ever given myself. 2 years ago I joined Weight Watchers. I started out at 297 pounds. At 5’9 my frame hid a lot of the weight, but I felt it every day of my life. It took a medical scare to make me realize I needed to do something to make myself a better version of myself. I wanted to be healthy. 

Me at 297 pounds with my best friend...food!

Starting out was hard. I’m not going to lie. You go from eating anything you want whenever to want it to watching every little thing you put in your mouth. For the first week I was STARVING. A big thing in WW is portion control. You have to weigh and measure everything you eat. I cut down my portion sizes basically in half, so you understand the hunger. It was worth it though. The first week I lost 8 pounds! 

This is me a few weeks after I started. I was down about 10 pounds already

 The weight loss was pretty consistent for the following months. I would go between losing half a pound to 4 pounds a week. It was always challenging turning down food I wanted to eat. I started craving food I hadn’t eaten in years, like McDonald’s! Yuck! I also started drinking diet soda again because I told myself I had to let myself have something. (Diet soda is 0 points in WW).

The first year I lost 75 pounds. That’s a lot, just in case you don’t know!  All joking aside, it was wonderful. I felt healthier, I could move easier, and I could fit in to regular sized clothes. But when I hit that point I also kind of hit a wall. I couldn’t lose anymore. I would go up and down a pound, never consistently losing. That’s a lot to deal with, considering I was used to losing pounds a week.

Oh look, I fit in to my old cheerleading uniform!

 

Alot smaller than those "before" pictures

It took be a few months to realize the easy part was over. I know….losing 75 pounds isn’t easy. I know it wasn’t easy, but compared to the next stage it was. I realized my next stage was fitness. In December I decided to join a gym by work so I could go right after I was off. I joined LA Fitness and started going. I had always thought about getting a personal trainer and now was the time. Let me tell you…I was way out of shape. I left my first session feeling light headed and ready to puke all over the locker room. It wasn’t pretty

I spent 6 months with my first trainer, Faramarz. He was great at first but then I felt like I hit a certain point and he stopped challenging me. I guess I got a little lucky when he had to leave LA Fitness to run a family business. I thought it was terrible at the time, but then I knew it was for the best, cause I met my new trainer Patrick. Oh man…Patrick has really changed the way I look at fitness. He challenges me every time I see him and he NEVER goes easy on me. I feel by December (the end of my training contract) I will have a seriously improved body. I’ve already developed way more muscle with him, and its only been a month. I’m excited for the opportunity.

Now, I feel like I can attack anything

I haven’t lost much weight with trainer, but I have lost a lot of fat. I’m okay with that. I’ve been told over and over again that the number on the scale doesn’t matter, and this experience has really helped me see that. We're leaving for Yosemite in less than a week and its going to be the best trip we've had there. I am now able to hike farther distances at higher elevations and enjoy what I'm doing. I’m working really hard to succeed and I think I’m going to get there if I just stay motivated!

This isn’t an easy process, and its not fast. But its so worth it!

Me now. Not at my goal, but I'm getting there!