M.I.A.

A couple of years ago, a dear friend gave me a ten year diary for my birthday.  I was completely freaked out by it, thinking I would have to fill these pages with trivial bits of my life.  But it turned out to be a wonderful way to keep track of my hiking experiences along with other pieces of my daily routine.

Now it sits here mocking me.

As faithful as I have been to my PT exercises, I can’t seem to get my body back to hiking quality. If my knee is feeling well, my back is out, if my back and knee are okay, my hip is out – I cannot get them to coordinate so that they all three work at once.  I’m missing my women’s hiking club and I know they are missing their leader.  Several of them are older than me and in much better shape.

This is what I should be doing right now:

Instead I sit here having a pity party for one.

However, having just finished reading “The Underground Railroad” by Colson Whitehead, I came to the realization that my life is amazing and I need to get over myself.  I have a great family, wonderful, supportive friends, and most importantly, freedom.

The mountains will be there when I’m ready – and I will be ready someday (hopefully in the not too distant future).

Please share your hiking experiences so I can enjoy your adventures!

Baby Steps

It’s really criminal that we have had such perfect hiking weather and I’ve been stuck in rehab.  Today, I decided to throw caution to the wind, and just try a “baby” hike.  Heading out this morning, I wasn’t really thinking about a big hike, but it was such a gorgeous day, I really wanted to be on a trail somewhere.

We discovered a trail that had recently been cleared out for hikers, and learned that several other trails are currently being readied for summer.

Located inside of Gatewood Park, this trail takes you over a few creek crossings to get to some nice views of the lake, and it certainly lives up to its name.

You can see that beavers have been chewing on the trees.

We did have to cross the creek a few times, but it was pretty easy.

And the lake was really beautiful!

The thing I liked most about this trail, was the orange markings.  It is so well marked that I think I could bring my hiking women here and not worry (too much) about getting us lost.

These markings were well positioned.

But it really didn’t matter where we were, just being back in the woods was enough to bring me joy!

Fingers crossed that my body stays as happy as my frame of mind.