Spring Break Woes

I had big plans for spring break.  Yep, I did.  Sounds like a story's coming on, doesn't it? 

Well, first of all, I had plans to spend 4 days in Yosemite camping/hiking/enjoying nature and being away from the city.  A few weeks ago, while trying to make our reservations, they informed us that because of the excessive snowfall, Yosemite wouldn't really be open yet.  So, scratch those plans.

Plan B - To get in some real hiking training to prepare for Peru.  Our goal was to spend 4 days in a row hiking the road that goes between Kyle and Lee Canyon - 10 miles each day.  It's the most elevation gain we could find around here as well as highest altitude practice that's not covered in snow.  So, on Saturday, we headed out on day 1. 

We decided to hike from Kyle up to the North Loop Trailhead, about 5 miles STRAIGHT UP.  Stopping to rest 3.3 miles up at Robber's Roost, and pushing on to the top was a good exercise trail for sure.  The sun had come out, and even though it was only about 60-65 degrees, the sun was stronger than anticipated.  At the top, I decided to go ahead and walk back DOWN the 5 miles and meet Carolyn and Linda at her cabin - they'd leave my car at the bottom (we had parked it at the top).  So, I grabbed my little iPod shuffle and started down.  About 3 songs into my decent, the batteries died.  Drat!  So for the next 1.5 hours, I walked in silence, getting completely sunburned on my neck, lower face, and arms.  I got smart somewhere near mile 2 and pulled my long sleeves down.  I also had to ration out my water, because I had forgotten to take their extra water.  I felt pretty darn proud reaching the bottom (the last 1/2 hour was the longest...I thought it would never end!) and made it to the cabin in record time.  Linda had made a very tasty lasagna and salad, which we enjoyed along with relaxing/recouperating at her cabin for a couple of hours.  Upon getting home, I realized how badly my neck/face/arms were sunburned and began the search for some really good aloe vera!   THAT became problem #1.  Now, problem #2 was this:  I developed early on a blister on my right heel, and after bandaging it up around mile 2 going up, I thought it would be ok.  Well, not so much.  It was pretty gross when I got home and had to do some real medical first aid on it.  Because of those 2 souveniers I brought home, it made for a long, restless night's "sleep" and a miserable next day (Sunday - rest day from hiking).  I didn't sleep Sunday night either - my sunburn was quite uncomfortable, especially each time I kincked my neck one way or the other. 

Monday morning, I decided to use some moleskin around the blister and wear a very lightweight hoodie to cover everything except my nose to cover the sunburn as we headed out for day 2.  I also switched to tennis shoes instead of my newer hiking boots, because the 'rubbing place' in the boots was too much for my heel at that point.  We were great - kept up a really good pace and actually cut off a 1/2 hour from our Saturday time reaching the top.  My bravery on Saturday was contagious as they decided to make the hike back down with me this time.  We booked it and made it back to the cabin for lunch in record time.  This time, I bruised up my 2nd toe right on/under the nail pretty badly - same foot as the monster blister - and was so irritated about it.  Now I was wondering if I should do the next 2 days of hiking or let both issues (besides the sunburn) heal up more so I don't postpone my usual workouts.  Aaarrgghhhh.   So in the 2 days, I did 20 miles and backed out of day 3 and 4 (which they ended up only doing the 5 miles up part each time).  They're 10 miles ahead of me.  I'm hoping to convince Loralie or someone to go back and do it with me as soon as my feet are ready..maybe in a few days.

So instead of hiking on Tuesday, I went to the temple for several hours.  It was a nice day to spend without any impending plans or schedules to keep.  My toe throbs every so often and the blister is beginning to think about scabbing over (it's bigger than the size of a quarter), but my muscles are not too sore and I'm glad for that.  We have to keep training trying to gain 4000 elevation in one day (that's going to be our most challenging day of the 4 days on the Inca Trail) and keeping up our endurance for doing it day after day for this hike in Peru in June.  I think we're doing pretty darn well for a bunch of overweight old ladies!!!!!!
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