Am I Out?

I’ve grown weary with the piled-on injuries status, and a little worried too. I mean, is this how it’s going to always be now, am I out?

With the mountains turning green and starting to bloom in December in my state, I’ve also been growing rather anxious watching spring from the sidelines. This is how I’ve been talking to myself as the weeks turned into months: “Calm down Lauren, you’ve seen spring in the mountains many, many times – in fact, you are blessed with mountain springtime experiences, don’t be so selfish! You are extremely blessed with what you have already been given!!!”

This past Saturday (3/19) I finally got out to walk on some dirt – a short hike really, and I didn’t want to do it. I had to force myself out the door. And then I drove 5 minutes to the closest trails. I just wanted to test out my physical abilities.

The worst of my physical pains is my left arm. Thankfully, though I need my arm to run, I don’t need it so much to hike. Removing the pack can be a pain – a minor inconvenience!  What I really wanted to do is put a few miles in on hilly terrain. I wanted to see if my torn calf had indeed fully healed. I can say after my first experiment, I believe it has healed. 

The hike was a beautiful 4 miles just before some rain came in that night. Lots of mountain bikers were out, a few e-bikes as well. On the way in, I had a nice long conversation with another hiker about coyotes, fishing and bears. In the end, it was good to get out and I felt relieved.

Experiment 1 is complete. Step 2 is to get out again to make doubly make sure the calf is good.

Some pics from Experiment 1:

Maple Springs Rd.

Last Saturday (11/20), I got out early for Maple Springs Rd. Well, I woke early, but didn’t get out terribly early (about 7 am). I love Maple Springs Rd., though I don’t choose it often (especially during summer). It’s a slow drive to get to this particular switchback up Old Saddleback. Like most the other switchbacks, it leads to The Main Divide (the truck trail that runs along the ridge). The speed limit through Silverado is 25 mph, making the drive just under 90 minutes from my front door to my not-so-secret parking space where the asphalt ends.  I was thrilled to find the spot open to park at the end of the one-lane asphalt road. I thought for sure that I’d need to get out a heck of a lot earlier to get this awesome parking place. I felt lucky.

The time was perfect now that it is fall and the weather’s cooled own. If my records prove correct, my last trip up Maple Springs Rd. was January 27, 2021. Not even a year ago but it seems so distant. Feels surreal.

Being that Maple Springs Rd. is one of the only roads that lead to The Main Divide that is open to vehicles right now (Bedford Rd. being the other that I know of) it was quite busy with motor traffic. I’m okay with that. There were times when trucks or motorcycles rumbled by and there were times when I didn’t know there was another person on the mountain:

About 9 miles with some decent elevation – still haven’t uploaded my watch. I need to do that.

2 Steps Forward 1 Step Back (But sometimes 5 steps back, so it’s gonna take a while)

So, I’ve got everything at home and at my job dialed in. I’ve been cleaning and organizing. The garden looks great. I’m on top of the banking, taxes and everything financial. I have a system with my lectures and have them posted every Friday. I’ve got all my paperwork complete. I’ve even been reading and writing (long loves that I’ve neglected for some time). This side of the coin looks good. And I do feel good about it.

But that’s just half of the story.

Yep, there’s always the other side of the coin. . . now more than a month into summer and I’ve done little to advance my on-going mental/spiritual and physical goals. I take a few steps forward, then it’s always a couple steps back. This of course, is the story of my life. It’s difficult to stay grounded in all three aspects (that is mind, spirit, physical). When it gets like this, I fast, and that helps to focus and ground me. I’m always better when I supplement with a fast. And I’m always better when I get out and hike or run or walk or whatever, just wander. These things, I realize may sound odd, but they give me faith in God and keep me grounded. Oh, and as a side benefit these things also keep me physically fit and relatively trim without even trying (or it feels that way anyway since it’s not the goal).

But alas my clothing fits a bit tight lately.

My last hike was June 29, and that’s been my only hike this summer. It was the Big Loop @ Aliso/Wood Cyns, Aliso Viejo/Laguna Beach, Ca of course, my stomping grounds  (12 miles!), so there’s that. I got a lot out of it, in all three aspects.

It’s been long enough to know it’s time to turn it around and take a few steps forward again.

From my first hike of the summer ~ June 29. The Big Loop

A crawdad!

Wood Canyon:

I almost forgot to show the deer!

My Own Sweet Time

2/26/21: I decided to celebrate my newfound strength from refueling after coming off an extended fast. I could think of no better way to celebrate than to hike a big loop in my local trails going up Mentally Sensitive. This trail, which derives it’s name from an old sign that used to read “Environmentally Sensitive”, is the toughest trail to climb up in the entire wilderness areas of Aliso and Wood Canyons. It’s tough, yes, but not too tough. It is tough enough though, that I rarely climb up nowadays.

Looking Back While Climbing Mentally Sensitive:

I took my own sweet time climbing Mentally Sensitive. Good thing it took me so long, otherwise I might have missed the bobcat at the top. Imagine my excitement! I fumbled around for my camera for so long, I thought for sure I missed him. But I did not. I zoomed in with my cheap little camera and caught a decent shot of him right above a Laguna Beach neighborhood. What an exhilarating way to end the climb.

On a whim, I changed up my big loop and had lunch in one of my secret places (nuts, cranberries, beef stick). I didn’t think that the climb in would affect me much. And it didn’t much during the hike (because as I mentioned, I took my own sweet time). What I recall most about this loop was how I felt afterwards back at home. I was dead-dog-tired, that’s how I felt. I felt it even the next day (in my glutes!).

Don’t recall much more, as it now feels so long ago. I would really like to get out of my local hills and travel to other trails, but I just don’t have the time. But I am grateful that my local hills are so wonderful – even in the midst of all this population, I have this beauty. And it’s free. What a gift!

Ccccold on a Tuesday

I started this past week strong by getting in a hike early on, Tuesday 1/26, in between storms. I chose Black Star Canyon, just after sunrise. And it was ccccold (that’s my literary attempt at conveying the fact that my teeth chattered). I was prepared with almost enough warmth. My only problem was that I couldn’t warm my chin and mouth while trekking through the shaded and wet canyon floor, even though I had cinched the hood of my over shirt so that only my eyes poked through. How cold was it? I don’t know exactly how cold – the rain puddles were frozen over with a thin layer of ice at the base of the canyon, so I’m guessing that it was of course freezing at one point, but probably about 40 F when I arrived. Two and a half miles in the climb begins, and so I was able to warm up enough to take off the beanie and hood. The climb is constant after that. It’s constant until you reach the outcropping on the right, the site of the historic Indian village. When I say warmed up going up that mountain, I don’t mean that I was warm – I mean that I was warmer, or rather, less ccccold. And so, the gloves remained, and I don’t think that I took off another layer the entire lovely trip. (For the record, I had four layers on up top: sports bra, tech shirt, cold weather long sleeved sports shirt, and wind/rain breaker with hood plus & beanie and gloves).

Being that Tuesday was a work day, I didn’t have all the time in the world, so I made this hike relatively quick, just up about 5 miles to the Indian Village. The fairytale spot (no, not really fairytale,  more like nature’s church)  was empty of course being a Tuesday, so I sat down at my seat on that giant rock across from Baker’s Cross for quite some time before heading back. In all, I put in about 11 miles with 1,600’ of elevation gain. On a Tuesday!

Church Social Distancing Style

The world’s gone crazy. It has, hasn’t it? I mean hasn’t it? Confusion and chaos has run amuck. And it looks like my generation got caught asleep at the wheel (What generation is that? Well, I’m 55, so that generation). No matter what side you’re on in this global argument (yes, this is a global discussion, to put it mildly, not an American only discussion), it’s all occurred on our watch. Perhaps you don’t know what I’m speaking about. Many people know exactly what I’m talking about. But at the same time, I don’t think my own children know what I’m talking about. They don’t see it. (Boomer!) 

So, what does a trail wandering American girl do in times like this? We’re still technically in a lockdown here in California. Take out food only, yet all of the restaurants are open with outdoor dining. The beaches are crowded, as are the stores and malls. We’re mostly all home, but that doesn’t mean we know our neighbors and local grocery store workers more. We’re all masked, and we don’t talk to each other, because it’s too difficult to hear from behind the masks and plastic barriers. On a nice note, you can tell the people who are smiling beneath their masks. You can see it in their eyes. So, I keep trying to smile at people behind my mask, hoping too that it shows in my eyes. And so, I ask once again, what does a girl like me do in a time like this? There really is only one thing to do and that is what I always do, what I’ve always done. Wander. I strap on some shoes, put on my pack and set out for the trails. Nowadays though, I do my wanderings with the specific intent of seeking the face of God.  

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Black Star Canyon up to the historic “Indian” village site, Sunday, January 10, 2021, 12.4 miles, 1,657’ of elevation gain.

Take me to Church, Social Distancing Style