I let myself sleep in until 6:30 this morning, since I’d been up a bit late last night getting that story ready to submit. My back was still hurting when I woke up, but not so badly that I couldn’t do things. So I did things.
I moved from bed to couch and journaled a bit. I made myself breakfast and ate it. I headed outside intending to hoe, but then I remembered that I should put my new registration tags on my car, so I detoured to do that first. The rear plate has a plate cover, so I needed to detour back inside to get tools to remove two of the screws to give me access to place the sticker. I sprayed some Windex on so I could apply the sticker to a clean surface, then back on with the screws. The front doesn’t have a cover, so it just needed a little cleaning and I was good to go.
I’m not sure how much my hoeing efforts have improved my mowing surface. I’ll find out tomorrow when I try to mow those sections. It was very windy this morning (still is pretty windy, though not as fierce as last night). I tried to cut down the high spots and fill in the low spots, then stomp everything down. My neighbor suggested wetting the ground; I think I’ll do that next time.
After that, I came back inside for a family zoom. This being the first Sunday of the month, it’s open to more family members. Instead of just my parents and brother, I got to see an aunt and uncle, plus two of my nieces. That was fun.
And then it was time to head out to the trailhead. I chose to hike today instead of yesterday for two reasons. One, the weather forecast. Yesterday had a heat advisory, while today had a high in the 70’s. Two, the Subaru dealership service center isn’t open on Sundays, so if I wanted to get my oil change done, it had to be yesterday morning.
At the start of the hike, the weather was perfect. Breezy and cool, with sunshine and the exertion combining to keep me warm. The motion of hiking didn’t pain my back, and even though my period had just started and I really wanted to curl up on the couch and do nothing all day, it felt good to be outside and moving.
There was a truck parked at the trailhead, but I didn’t see anyone else on my hike. I went faster than I expected on the first mile, and then made a push to make as much distance as possible before my timer went off for break time. I got pretty far, but not as far as I’d hoped. I took my break just below where the leaning tree had been, but someone had cut it down. Makes sense, that thing was going to fall sooner or later. Better to have a controlled fall.
To my delight, someone had also made cuts on all the deadfall higher up the trail, so I didn’t have to detour off-trail this time. At times, the hike was hard. My body was tired, my feet hurt, and my back was still twinging here and there. But I wanted to make that peak, so I pressed on.
Within about a half mile of the peak, the wind picked up in both intensity and temperature. Well, ‘up’ isn’t really the word for the temperature. It was frigid, whipping my ears and fingers with icy lashes. I had forgotten to bring a buff, so I didn’t have anything covering my ears for warmth and they were complaining about it. I doggedly made my way to the peak and took an early break up there. Usually, there’s a spot that’s less windy, but I couldn’t find it this time.
I carry a bandana on my pack. It’s sometimes used as a pee rag, sometimes to wipe my face, and today it was folded up and wrapped around my head to provide my ears a little bit of warmth. I had a Kula Cloth with me for pee, so the bandana was clean today. I also dug my gloves out of my pack and put them on before heading down. I could count on exertion heat to help keep my hands warm on the climb up, but on the way down, the gloves turned out to be just what I needed.
On the descent, my body felt just fine. I had been a little bit worried that my back might act up once I started downhill, but it actually felt much better. I learned at CrossFit, “motion is lotion,” and I have found that to be true for me more often than not. In years past, I might have shied away from this kind of activity when my back hurt, but I think it turned out to be good medicine.
I took just one break on the way down, at the junction close to the two mile mark. Ambrose and I would meet here most hikes and then meet at the car. When I checked my phone’s “this day” photos, I found that Ambrose and I had hiked this exact trail one year ago today. And we’d stopped at that junction, long enough for me to take his photo. Camping last weekend was good medicine for my grief, and every time I hike, I heal just a little bit more.
I made it back down to the car and rushed over to the Brownlee Campground to use the pit toilet. There were some people and dogs at the campsite nearest the toilet, and I was grateful that they had the dogs on leads because those dogs did not like me showing up near their campsite, barking constantly until I left.
As I drove home, I could feel a headache coming on. I thought about waiting to medicate it until tomorrow, in case it went away overnight, but the last few months I’ve been getting these headaches around the first day of my period. I thought about what Ambrose would tell me if I could ask his advice. Why wait if I could make it go away tonight? So, I took the migraine medication when I got home. I’m going to have to get more of that stuff; I’m down to the last two pills.
A nice hot shower seemed to erase the last of the back ache. It’s a little tender still, but I can move. After I ate dinner, I did my Move U exercises, working through Shoulders & Arms level 2, week 4, day 4, with no back issues.
Now it’s time for bed, and I am ready for it.
These photos are from last night, after I posted yesterday’s blog:
It was really windy last night:
These are my photos from today’s hike:
