Sunday, February 21, 2010

A crazy long hike, part urban, part trail

With a minor milestone birthday coming up and feeling wistful for the long days and great fitness I had on the PCT, I decided to spend the last day being my current age pretending like I was still in great shape. I walked out my door and went to the Daily Grind for breakfast, then walked to Steven's Park. I thought I would just walk up to the junction with the Jesusita Trail and come back, but everything was so nice I decided to go up to Inspiration Point.

Lots of flowers were blooming. It's going to be a good year for flowers. Some of the ones I saw included:

  • Milkmaids
    Milkmaids

  • Stinging Lupine
    Stinging Lupine

  • Lupine
    Lupine

  • Blue Dicks
    Blue Dicks

  • Giant Phacelia
    Giant Phacelia, a fire-follower that can stain your clothes

  • Indian Pinks
    Indian Pinks

  • Chaparral Nightshade
    Chaparral Nightshade
This is just a sample. There were lots more.

After I got up to Inspiration Point, I felt a little thirsty, and having left my house without anything more than a little money and a windbreaker, I decided to head back toward the drinking fountain. On the way I found a small stream and drank right from it. The water was really good.

Once I got back down to Steven's Park, I was feeling a little hungry so I walked down to State Street. I decided to go to Jack's Bagels, but on the way I decided maybe I would go to Java Station near Modoc instead. They have soft sofas. I had a bagel with tomatoes and boy did it taste good! Drank a little more water and decided maybe I had overdone it and should go home. So I walked back home. I live on the Westside.

It seemed like a pretty long way, but I was out there only about 5 hours, so it wasn't like one of my big 25 mile days. (I just measured it with Google Earth. I can't tell where Inspiration Point is, so it's not accurate, but the line I drew is about 14.5 miles long.) I felt pretty darn sore toward the end and now that I'm home I feel like maybe this whole crazy adventure was a mistake. Time for ibuprofen and a toast to the last day being 44 years old.

1 comment:

  1. Happy Birthday for tomorrow, and wishing you many interesting journeys, both internal and on trails. (Wish I were tuning 45, but those days are long gone.)

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