I got up at the 5:30 alarm, but stayed in bed for a while. It was good to spend some time like that. Not thinking about anything in particular, but not sleeping either. Kind of meditating.
I had yogurt and granola for breakfast and made a brown rice green tea and a ginger tea to take with me to the trailhead. Even though the morning was foggy, I still wanted to go for a hike. I figured I wouldn’t make it to a peak, but it would be nice to get out into the woods.
The drive out to the Hitt Mountain Trailhead was uneventful. At one of the crossroads, there was a white truck stopped kind of in the middle of the junction. I thought it was weird, but I was able to go around them easily so I did. I went slow because it was pretty foggy up there. I was driving through the clouds, and the trailhead was pretty well socked in when I got there.
It was right around freezing when I got out of the car. I kept my down jacket on and did my warm-ups. Then I put on my pack and started my tracking app and my timer. I use MapMyRun for tracking, and it’s usually pretty reliable, though sometimes it seems like it’s not counting the distance the same as it has in the past.
I marveled as I hiked at how I have changed over the years. I would never have imagined as a teenager that I would voluntarily go hiking in freezing weather. For fun, no less! But it was fun. The smell of pine in the air. The crisp coldness of it all. The hard work that had me shedding the down jacket.
I wondered if any of the stream crossings would stop me, but then I ran into the first one. It was flowing, but nothing like the spring spate that I remembered. I crossed it easily, though I did take care not to slip on the wet leaves.
When I got up to the section where the trail and a road intersect, I heard a vehicle approaching. I looked back to see a side by side approaching, but they stopped before they got close to me. I kept on hiking and was at the next non-motorized section before I heard them again. That’s around where I started to see snow. Not a lot of it; just little sprinkles mostly.
The next stream crossing was also easy to cross, and coincided with my first break. That meant I was doing about the same pace that I had the last time I was up there since I remembered taking the break at this crossing.
Pretty much every stream, including the spring, was still flowing. There is plenty of water along that trail. I was hauling my own, but it’s good to know. The sun tried to push through the clouds now and then, but as I got higher, it stopped trying. Where I remembered a gorgeous view of the valley below there was only a gray mist and rime covered grasses.
The higher I got, the colder it got. I thought about turning back early a couple times, but pushed on anyway. I had decided to hike for two 50 minute segments and, by gum, I was going to stick with the plan unless I encountered truly unsafe conditions. Now, I did compromise on one thing. Usually, I take my break wherever I happen to be when the timer goes off, but I was heading directly into wind and cloud, on a section of road that should have given me a view of the Sturgill Peak Lookout, but instead offered nothing but gray. When that alarm went off I turned myself around and headed to a large tree that was near the desiccated body of a cow (not too near). I took shelter by its trunk for my second break.
It was during that break that I realized I was underdressed for the conditions at this elevation. I should have brought warmer headgear and heavier gloves. I did have some over-gloves that I should have put on but I forgot about them until I was already warmed up again. After sitting, eating, and drinking, my hands were way too cold. I pulled the sleeves of my down jacket (which used to be Ambrose’s, so the sleeves were plenty long on me) down past my fingers to try and warm up, but it didn’t help much. The freezing fog had made them cold and damp.
I headed down at a fast pace, trying to warm my body up enough that it would spare some heat for my poor fingers. I refused to take any more pictures until my hands were no longer cold, so I didn’t take another until the sun came out enough to give me a shadow. I took 100 minutes to go up, and only about 70 to go down. That speed was aided by the fact that I started to hear the call of nature about half a mile from the pit toilet at the trailhead.
My app, for whatever reason, misbehaved on me today. It did not record my travels at all accurately. When I looked at it at my turnaround point, I discovered that I had somehow burned more calories than my body contains. Perhaps more calories than all the bodies in the world? According to it, I should have been burned to nothingness, having traveled no distance, but taking 18 hours to do it…
There was more traffic on the drive out than there had been on the drive in, but no one was driving crazy, and I didn’t encounter anyone on the narrower parts of the road.
I showered when I got home. My body was still rather cold, especially my legs even though I’d been wearing long underwear under my pants. I had ramen with vegetables and an egg for lunch. The egg really made the dish, though the stir-fry mix vegetables also contributed.
I did some shopping in the late afternoon. I’m planning on making a pie on Tuesday to take to my friend’s house on Wednesday, so I needed to buy a crust. I considered making a crust, but I’ve never done that before and I didn’t feel like experimenting at this time. The process seems simple enough, and perhaps I will do it some time, but not this time.
A headache developed before I went shopping and has been growing ever since. I don’t know why I’m getting all these headaches lately, though I suspect it’s because of my right eye. I’m pretty sure over-exposure to bright light is bringing on migraines, so I’ve been keeping my curtain in my office shut. But most days I’ve been getting headaches that come on later in the day and go away overnight. I really hope I’m able to get new glasses in January.
I’ve been focusing on my left shoulder position, especially while hiking. I think I’m making progress in breaking the bad habits I’d developed. The changes in position on that shoulder are passing pain down the chain, to my arm and my back and my legs, which is a sign that something’s happening. It’s not pleasant, but the end result will be better for my whole body.
I’m planning to do the limited eating window tomorrow, and to get some writing done. I want to finish my trip write-ups and get started on my November story for Pulphouse. If the headache is still here in the morning, then I’ll just have to take some medication for it. I think I’ll sleep in a bit.
