Hiking with Kat
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- Joined
- Jan 12, 2010
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The short story is that it was a great hike, perfect conditions, we did the entire hike in micro spikes wearing not much more than one layer. Temp were in the 20's. Views were good, but some of the summits were in clouds.
Now for the more light hearted details of the hike.
After my last hike one of my favorite smart wool sock liners had gone missing. It reappeared out of the ether the night before this hike. I took this as a very positive omen.
One of the reasons I was going hiking this weekend is because my wife was going to BOSKONE, so I had the day free. Since I had to wake up early I went to sleep early, she got home late so when I woke up at 4:00 I tried to keep the lights low and be quite. First I managed to walk into a door with my cup of coffee. Fortunately I jumped into the air and most of it landed on my robe. No major damage. Next I managed to spill the rest on my desk and chair. Fortunately I didn't drench my hiking gear.
This was not going well, the good vibes from finding my sock were beginning to fade. Next I tried on my hiking gloves, these consist of a wool glove liner and a wind/water proof shell. For some reason the shell would not fit comfortably over the liner. All I could figure was the it had shrunk on my last hike, but this didn't seem likely. So I resorted to the normal solution and just rammed them on.
While finishing packing I couldn't find my extra pair of glove liners to pack for emergencies. Since it was time to go I just decided this was one extra pair of equipment I didn't need. It wasn't till I got home in the evening that I discovered the extra glove liners rammed in the finger tips of the shell. Daa, well at least that mystery was eventually solved.
I meet Bob and June at the parking lot in front of LL Bean to carpool to the trail head. Neither of their cars was running well so it was decided that I'd drive. I figured it was best to not tell them about the doublly spilled coffee. No sense in having them worry also
We arrived at the trail head with no further incident. A quick decision was made to not bother taking snow shoes and we started out with micro spikes. This turned out to be a good decision.
Conditions were beautiful and we headed up the trail at a good pace.
The climb up was uneventful, it was also one of the easiest upnhill hikes I've had in a while. I thought it must not be as steep as I remembered, but turned out not to be the case on the way down I had a good time sliding on my butt.
At the top we had 2 kinds of summit cookies and valentine chocolates. Life is really good sometimes.
After admiring the views for a while, we headed back on down. Joy and June took off down the trail like a bullet, I quickly fell far behind and was thinking, "remember you always get injured trying to keep up with fast women." The rest of the group seemed to be falling behind me so I didn't hurry too much. We all rejoined at the tent site, and then spent the next few miles hopping and sliding down the mountain.
As we started looking for topics of conversation they talked about what they look for in a man. I thought this was bordering on sexual harassment, but they told me to suck it up. I decided they were right and that I should take notes in case my wife decides she doesn't like the valentines gifit I got her.
First point, be a good listener; check, I was already doing that. Second point, be active. Check. I was hiking wasn't I? Third point, good chemistry. What the heck, that's a subject I was luck to pass the first time I took it
At this point I decided it was best to hike on ahead. The rest of the hike went uneventfully and everyone head a good time.
Drove back to LL Bean to return my car pool mates and decided to take a quick stop in the store to see what was on sale. Turns out all they sold was clothing and not much technical stuff, so I left very disappointed.
So here I sit with my copy of "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet", reading and day dreaming about my next hike.
Now for the more light hearted details of the hike.
After my last hike one of my favorite smart wool sock liners had gone missing. It reappeared out of the ether the night before this hike. I took this as a very positive omen.
One of the reasons I was going hiking this weekend is because my wife was going to BOSKONE, so I had the day free. Since I had to wake up early I went to sleep early, she got home late so when I woke up at 4:00 I tried to keep the lights low and be quite. First I managed to walk into a door with my cup of coffee. Fortunately I jumped into the air and most of it landed on my robe. No major damage. Next I managed to spill the rest on my desk and chair. Fortunately I didn't drench my hiking gear.
This was not going well, the good vibes from finding my sock were beginning to fade. Next I tried on my hiking gloves, these consist of a wool glove liner and a wind/water proof shell. For some reason the shell would not fit comfortably over the liner. All I could figure was the it had shrunk on my last hike, but this didn't seem likely. So I resorted to the normal solution and just rammed them on.
While finishing packing I couldn't find my extra pair of glove liners to pack for emergencies. Since it was time to go I just decided this was one extra pair of equipment I didn't need. It wasn't till I got home in the evening that I discovered the extra glove liners rammed in the finger tips of the shell. Daa, well at least that mystery was eventually solved.
I meet Bob and June at the parking lot in front of LL Bean to carpool to the trail head. Neither of their cars was running well so it was decided that I'd drive. I figured it was best to not tell them about the doublly spilled coffee. No sense in having them worry also
We arrived at the trail head with no further incident. A quick decision was made to not bother taking snow shoes and we started out with micro spikes. This turned out to be a good decision.
Conditions were beautiful and we headed up the trail at a good pace.
The climb up was uneventful, it was also one of the easiest upnhill hikes I've had in a while. I thought it must not be as steep as I remembered, but turned out not to be the case on the way down I had a good time sliding on my butt.
At the top we had 2 kinds of summit cookies and valentine chocolates. Life is really good sometimes.
After admiring the views for a while, we headed back on down. Joy and June took off down the trail like a bullet, I quickly fell far behind and was thinking, "remember you always get injured trying to keep up with fast women." The rest of the group seemed to be falling behind me so I didn't hurry too much. We all rejoined at the tent site, and then spent the next few miles hopping and sliding down the mountain.
As we started looking for topics of conversation they talked about what they look for in a man. I thought this was bordering on sexual harassment, but they told me to suck it up. I decided they were right and that I should take notes in case my wife decides she doesn't like the valentines gifit I got her.
First point, be a good listener; check, I was already doing that. Second point, be active. Check. I was hiking wasn't I? Third point, good chemistry. What the heck, that's a subject I was luck to pass the first time I took it
At this point I decided it was best to hike on ahead. The rest of the hike went uneventfully and everyone head a good time.
Drove back to LL Bean to return my car pool mates and decided to take a quick stop in the store to see what was on sale. Turns out all they sold was clothing and not much technical stuff, so I left very disappointed.
So here I sit with my copy of "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet", reading and day dreaming about my next hike.
