Muse back!
May 05, 2008 / Monday
Mission Peak
I finally did Mission Peak, but not on a bike as I'd expected. I made it up there on my feet. My feet! And why? Because Aaron had this crazy idea about hiking up Mt. Whitney this summer. He went as far as to get a permit to do so, and that permit date (July 2nd) is rapidly approaching. We need to hike more, and NOW.
This crazy idea has been something of a boon to my gear addiction. It was the perfect excuse for a sweet technical day pack (Gregory Z30) and a pair of nifty ultralight hiking poles (Leki Thermolite). This crazy idea has been a boon to REI, too.
I haven't tried out the backpack yet, but I did take my new poles on today's hike. I'd wondered whether they would do more harm than good (after all, it's more weight to carry), but I really do love them on the uphills. It definitely keeps my legs fresher and helps me keep a nice rhythm and pace. They keep me from getting bored and walking slooowly, too. (Yes, I find hiking boring. No wheels, no edges, yawwwn.) The jury's out on whether I like them going downhill; I didn't have a chance to figure out how to use them in that direction since I let Aaron borrow them. He hates downhills, and seemed to find the poles helpful. I'll count that as a yay up and down.
The hike up took 75 minutes, which included time for me to complain about being hungry and then stop to eat. It was moderate to steepish, boring but short enough to be over quickly. The poles helped a ton on the extra steep section just before the summit; I just scrambled up on all fours. Up top, it was incredibly windy. And cold. And windy. Waah.
On the way back down, we encountered a bunch of cows. They were eating. Some of them pooped. Some of them mooed. I tried to take a picture of a pooping cow but failed. Just as well; Aaron thought that pooping cow pictures would sully his camera anyhow.
Near the bottom of the hill, I noticed that my fingers were plump (plump for me, at least). It was difficult to make a tight fist (is this how people with really fat hands feel?), and the fleshy pad on the final joint was puffed up, which reminded me of alien fingers. Just color me green! I think I'll use my poles on the next descent; it'll keep my arms from swinging and my fingers from getting fat.
I'm reading up on the Whitney climb. It doesn't look too bad, except for the fact that the peak is at 14,505 feet. My legs burn just walking my snowboard to the ski lift line in Tahoe; hiking up a mountain at an even higher altitude is going to be interesting.
Comments
Check it out, it helps
http://walking.about.com/cs/med/a/swollenhands_2.htm
Posted by: Shadow at May 5, 2008 01:21 PM
Big Hand Syndrome, hah!
Posted by: Viv at May 5, 2008 01:24 PM
Ooh, how fun. Thank you for doing this so I can do it vicariously and not be scared of the height.
Posted by: Jennie at May 9, 2008 03:26 PM