3rd Training Hike - Mt. Hamilton Loop March 7th, 2010

This is getting almost unreal - great weather, sunny with scattered clouds, yet again - three weekends in a row!!! I thought this was the Northwest but we'd take all we could take!!


This time, we gathered once again to hike Mt. Hamilton loop this time. The trail started out near Beacon Rock, another picturesque site along the Columbia River Gorge on Washington side, gradually northward for few miles until a couple of series of somewhat steep switch backs took us to the top of Mt. Hamilton concluding the 2000' vertical gain. From there, we'd take the path going around and down the back side of Mt. Hamilton rejoining the lower part of the trail we went up on earlier. All together the hike was about 9 miles but many of us thought it went quicker than we had thought.

I think there were few reasons why it seemed that way. For one thing, there were so many stunning sites along the trail that had gorgeous water fall views and expansive panorama of the Columbia Gorge, letting us take our minds off the strenuousness from time to time. Also, for me, hiking with the intermediate group rather than the fast group helped me tremendously to enjoy the hike better as it didn't feel like I was in a triathlon tryout.






Nevertheless, I felt like my heart was going to pop out of my rib cage for the first 10 to 20 minutes or so until the first gear check break. Then it would get a lot easier all of sudden. In fact, I am starting to think this might be my new normal pattern. My pack weight came in at about 23 lbs this time which felt very comfortable. Note to myself - I need to add back few more pounds though. These are training hikes after all. I'd also like to think that my effort to ride my bicycle to run errands, etc. for at least an hour or so each day for the week before contributed to making some of the difference.

I also have to credit Bob, our Training Hike Leader, who was very conscious about keeping the tab on how the group was doing and judiciously stopped the group for breaks not only as our chances to catch our breaths but also as opportunities for us to practice the basic skills like taking on and off our packs, temperature control through adding or removing layers, keeping our level of hydration in check, taking small calorie intakes through out the hike, and not sitting around too long, which all might sound simple but would be important when our big days came. During one of the breaks, Eva, another Training Hike Leader hiking in our group, gave us very helpful insights on energy boosting products available on the market and also on how to use our trecking poles.


I am starting to better shape my non-hike training stuff to fit my daily schedule. So far, I have come up with plans for two of the three parts, aerobic/anaerobic training, flexibility/core strength/balance training (also injury prevention), and strength training at least to start with.


As I mentioned earlier, I started using my bicycle to go everywhere as much as possible. This has saved me from having to set aside an hour or so every day just to do aerobic/anaerobic stuff by replacing some of the time I would otherwise spend in my car. The only minor draw back, I have come to be reminded, has been that the traffic law is somewhat optional in nature to some drivers and I'd best not get flattened if at all possible. On the very first day when I took out my bicycle out for a trial run, I narrowly escaped getting T-boned by a Fast-n-Furious who sped through a stop sign with a phone buried in his ear.


Regardless of the Reach The Summit program, yoga has become an important part of my daily life in the recent months. Yoga has really helped me develop my better flexibility, core strength, and balance that are important in preventing injuries, which is as important as getting fit - it would really s#$k if I had to abort my climb after all this. In fact, it got to the point where, if I did't get to do yoga for few days, I would almost feel like I hadn't washed my hair or something for a couple of days. Bicycling a half an hour each way to and from the yoga studio has also been an added bonus. (Who thought that would ever be considered a "bonus"?)


The part I need to weave into my program is the strength training. I am toying with the idea of checking out a climbing gym as a part of it. Based on my past history, I know that I wouldn't last very long if the activities were repetitive and boring so I need to do things that are actually fun and challenging at the same time. I think trying out sport climbing would fit that category well. It would also be something new for me to do since most of my past climbing experiences were in alpine settings when I was very young. (More about this later in my series, "Making of An Outdoor Geek".) Besides, it would be something similar to what we will be doing this summer. Can anybody give me a good input on sport climbing?


As always, getting to the top was a satisfying moment for all of us accomplishing another small step towards reaching our ultimate summits. The wind was surprisingly calm and we actually had to take off the layers we had just put on not too long before. We savored the moment in this amazing weather as we chewed our lunches. 15 minutes or so later, the "endurance" group was arriving and it was time for us to start descending after our kodak moments. It's funny that it seemed like it took longer to go down than to go up - looking at the map, that might have been actually the case, in distance at least.



We congratulated ourselves afterwards at a bar/restaurant type near our meetup point with the highest caloric looking sandwiches we could find on our menus and generous pours of the locally brewed beverages for good measures.