Winter Break Awesomeness (part 3)
Well, a letdown the rest of break was not!
Got back to my parents' place, relaxed for a few days, then spent a weekend doing what I love best (besides dogs): romping around in a couple of rugged mountain ranges in the absolute middle of nowhere! Saturday, I met up with a good friend and we climbed a peak I'd already been up, and he had not. It was an enjoyable scramble for the most part, as the parts I remembered as being unpleasant were actually not so bad. On the way down, I smashed the side of my foot into a rock, which hurt for about 5 minutes and then (seemingly) became a non-issue. My friend and I crashed in a motel (camping = not so comfy in winter!) in a nearby tiny, run-down outpost of civilization, so small it didn't have any restaurants open for dinner. I feasted on "delicious" microwaveable food, then slept.
Next day, we arose early and met up with another friend, heading into the middle of nowhere shortly after. We'd heard that the roads around our planned hike were exceptionally muddy and impassable, even with 4WD, but this luckily turned out to be outdated information. 90 minutes of dirt-road-driving later, we reached the trailhead, and set off on our lengthy approach hike. 3 miles in or so, my foot became a bit sore. I decided to keep an eye on it and try to walk it off. We reached the interesting part of the hike, and it was largely a blast--we rock-hopped up a steep, but passable gully, topping out maybe an hour and a half after starting the climb. Magnificent views--and we were the only people in sight. Aside from the road we'd come in on, it was an area seemingly untouched by humanity...we headed down, me doing so carefully on account of the foot. I took a few Advil at the base, and my foot felt fine for the walk out. The day after, however, it was dramatically more painful--I could barely put weight on it, and was wondering if something was broken. One trip to an urgent care center later, and that fear was laid to rest--it was apparently just bruised and slightly aggravated, and a week or two of taking it easy would solve the issue. Even then, the doctor mentioned that hiking on it before then wouldn't cause any permanent damage.
My mom and I had to postpone a hike we'd planned to do because of this, unfortunately...the remaining few days went by quickly--one of my stepdad's infamous mood swings aside--and soon I was flying back to grad school. My mom ended up leaving the same day to visit her dad in Florida for a week (unlike last time, she seems to be enjoying herself there). Got back to my apartment, turned around the next day, and met one of my non-zoo friends for a nice winter climb.
Saturday was fantastic in virtually every way. I broke my winter elevation record by a considerable amount (well over a mile!), though the climb was comparable to a few winter peaks I've done in the Northeast. Clouds floated over and among the mountains all day, nestling into nearby valleys and rushing over snowy ridges. Considering the elevation and the exposure, the weather was surprisingly nice--I'd guess somewhere in the teens or twenties. Altitude issues aside, the climb was very straightforward; crampons were completely unnecessary, the snowshoes I brought ended up staying on my pack, and I only ended up using Stabilicers on one fairly steep (but still snowy) section. It was only the last hundred feet along the summit ridge that the wind reached ferocious speeds. While I was sufficiently bundled up to not be cold, it was an unforgiving environment, and one in which it was not wise to linger. We spent a few minutes on top, then beat a hasty retreat. The return trip went quickly, and consisted mostly of controlled glissading and running down snowy sections of trail. Though the actual distance travelled was fairly short, the uphill grind at altitude left me pretty exhausted. We made it back to my friend's place shortly after dark. Oh, and I'm sure many of you would be interested to know that I saw a rather sexy sheppy walking with his owner around 13,000' up! He was an absolutely beautiful specimen, dark-haired with deep eyes and a gentle disposition. I hope he was enjoying himself up there!
Having some time off thanks to the holiday, I met up with the semi-local equine zoo friend I'd met back in September to hang out for the next few days. We then glommed up with another canine zoo he was friends with. The three of us headed to a Vietnamese place for what is by far the best pho I have had in my life (in fairness, I've only had it a small handful of times). We went wandering around a nearby reservoir in late afternoon, bemoaning the fact we'd forgotten our cameras for the spectacular sunset over the mountains. On the way out, we totally spotted an actual coyote running away from the road! The rest of the night was spent engaging in questionable activities, playing video games, and watching movies over at the canine zoo's house. I was in my happy place, playing tug-of-war with and petting his four dogs (and thinking impure thoughts about them ;). After dragging ourselves awake the next morning, we went for a lengthy hike in a nearby canyon, and even managed to spot a few bighorn sheep! Unfortunately, the walk started aggravating my foot again, but it was still worth it. I don't have any big hikes planned for the immediate future, so it should have time to heal up now.
I finally made it back to campus and resumed classes. This semester will be a bit of a grind, and I won't really have a spring break--but I daresay the past couple of weeks certainly made up for it!
Got back to my parents' place, relaxed for a few days, then spent a weekend doing what I love best (besides dogs): romping around in a couple of rugged mountain ranges in the absolute middle of nowhere! Saturday, I met up with a good friend and we climbed a peak I'd already been up, and he had not. It was an enjoyable scramble for the most part, as the parts I remembered as being unpleasant were actually not so bad. On the way down, I smashed the side of my foot into a rock, which hurt for about 5 minutes and then (seemingly) became a non-issue. My friend and I crashed in a motel (camping = not so comfy in winter!) in a nearby tiny, run-down outpost of civilization, so small it didn't have any restaurants open for dinner. I feasted on "delicious" microwaveable food, then slept.
Next day, we arose early and met up with another friend, heading into the middle of nowhere shortly after. We'd heard that the roads around our planned hike were exceptionally muddy and impassable, even with 4WD, but this luckily turned out to be outdated information. 90 minutes of dirt-road-driving later, we reached the trailhead, and set off on our lengthy approach hike. 3 miles in or so, my foot became a bit sore. I decided to keep an eye on it and try to walk it off. We reached the interesting part of the hike, and it was largely a blast--we rock-hopped up a steep, but passable gully, topping out maybe an hour and a half after starting the climb. Magnificent views--and we were the only people in sight. Aside from the road we'd come in on, it was an area seemingly untouched by humanity...we headed down, me doing so carefully on account of the foot. I took a few Advil at the base, and my foot felt fine for the walk out. The day after, however, it was dramatically more painful--I could barely put weight on it, and was wondering if something was broken. One trip to an urgent care center later, and that fear was laid to rest--it was apparently just bruised and slightly aggravated, and a week or two of taking it easy would solve the issue. Even then, the doctor mentioned that hiking on it before then wouldn't cause any permanent damage.
My mom and I had to postpone a hike we'd planned to do because of this, unfortunately...the remaining few days went by quickly--one of my stepdad's infamous mood swings aside--and soon I was flying back to grad school. My mom ended up leaving the same day to visit her dad in Florida for a week (unlike last time, she seems to be enjoying herself there). Got back to my apartment, turned around the next day, and met one of my non-zoo friends for a nice winter climb.
Saturday was fantastic in virtually every way. I broke my winter elevation record by a considerable amount (well over a mile!), though the climb was comparable to a few winter peaks I've done in the Northeast. Clouds floated over and among the mountains all day, nestling into nearby valleys and rushing over snowy ridges. Considering the elevation and the exposure, the weather was surprisingly nice--I'd guess somewhere in the teens or twenties. Altitude issues aside, the climb was very straightforward; crampons were completely unnecessary, the snowshoes I brought ended up staying on my pack, and I only ended up using Stabilicers on one fairly steep (but still snowy) section. It was only the last hundred feet along the summit ridge that the wind reached ferocious speeds. While I was sufficiently bundled up to not be cold, it was an unforgiving environment, and one in which it was not wise to linger. We spent a few minutes on top, then beat a hasty retreat. The return trip went quickly, and consisted mostly of controlled glissading and running down snowy sections of trail. Though the actual distance travelled was fairly short, the uphill grind at altitude left me pretty exhausted. We made it back to my friend's place shortly after dark. Oh, and I'm sure many of you would be interested to know that I saw a rather sexy sheppy walking with his owner around 13,000' up! He was an absolutely beautiful specimen, dark-haired with deep eyes and a gentle disposition. I hope he was enjoying himself up there!
Having some time off thanks to the holiday, I met up with the semi-local equine zoo friend I'd met back in September to hang out for the next few days. We then glommed up with another canine zoo he was friends with. The three of us headed to a Vietnamese place for what is by far the best pho I have had in my life (in fairness, I've only had it a small handful of times). We went wandering around a nearby reservoir in late afternoon, bemoaning the fact we'd forgotten our cameras for the spectacular sunset over the mountains. On the way out, we totally spotted an actual coyote running away from the road! The rest of the night was spent engaging in questionable activities, playing video games, and watching movies over at the canine zoo's house. I was in my happy place, playing tug-of-war with and petting his four dogs (and thinking impure thoughts about them ;). After dragging ourselves awake the next morning, we went for a lengthy hike in a nearby canyon, and even managed to spot a few bighorn sheep! Unfortunately, the walk started aggravating my foot again, but it was still worth it. I don't have any big hikes planned for the immediate future, so it should have time to heal up now.
I finally made it back to campus and resumed classes. This semester will be a bit of a grind, and I won't really have a spring break--but I daresay the past couple of weeks certainly made up for it!