I know you are all sitting on the edge of your seats wondering if Julie ever finished her deep clean of her house so she could open her chakras to new and amazing things in her life.
Well...um...not so much. Sorry. I'm not going to change apparently. But!! I've not given up. One drawer at a time, just one at a time...
An update on my tendonitis: I can say that after two weeks of meeting with the chiropractor, I actually have hope. I'm going in twice a week for lower leg work. They massage the back of my legs, the front of my legs and my feet. All this is extremely wonderful - sometimes a "good pain" wonderful, but nothing too bad. Then they get to working on the adhesions on my achilles and I want. to. throw. up.
...but I don't - I take the pain and bite back swear words. I know it's going to help eventually and so it's worth it.
I also do 30 minutes of stretches and mobility exercises twice a day. I KNOW this is helping me by leaps and bounds. I'm being consistent and believe this will be the key.
After last weekends debacle of an hour of stumbling around Powell Butte in massive pain (I wore my boots - BIG mistake), I was kind of not sure whether or not to even bother attempting a hike this weekend, but I found a hike not too far away - maybe 10 miles or so before Government Camp on Hwy 26 - Wildwood Recreation Area. I've been wanting to check it out for a possibility for my organized Kids Hikes next year. I was a little perturbed that it's in the Mt Hood Forest but that I couldn't use my forest pass and would have to pay a $5 fee, but when I got there, there was a sign up at the parking booth that today is National Public Lands Day and no fee was required!! Hooray!
AND...This place is a WINNER!! What a find for the kids!
I messed around for about an hour on the Wetland Trail and the Cascade Streamwatch Trail and because my ankles felt pretty good, I decided to try a hike up Boulder Ridge Trail towards Huckleberry Mountain.
As most of you know, when I hike alone I freak myself out A LOT! The start of this hike was not looking favorable for my anxiety when I was met with this sign at the trailhead...
I know there are always bears and cougars out in the forest, but I'm able to forget about them unless someone posts a sign...and then my mind will only stay on one course - that I'm bear lunch. To top it off, I watched Dateline last night and I figured if the bears did not get me, then a crazy pervert would. I had already decided that I would only hike in a little ways because I didn't want to do any damage to my ankles. My trail notes said that if I would just climb a series of switchbacks for two miles, I would have a good view of Mt. Hood. Very shortly into the hike I did get a pretty little view of the top...
...but I kept going in hopes of seeing more of it. About a mile and a half in I was so worked up about bears and creeps that I had my heart rate through the roof. It really wouldn't have been an issue if there were other people up there, but I WAS ALL ALONE, not another person to be found. Eventually I fell right into an extraordinarily extensive spider web that covered the entire path and immediately was able to eliminate creeps from my imaginary problems since no one could have been past that spot without destroying it before me. BUT...then Ki
started acting sketchy and I almost turned around right then and there. I finally decided that what would be would be, but that I was at least going to get up to the 2 mile point to see Hood...which I did...
...And then Ki and I RAN LIKE A BAT OUTTA HELL THE ENTIRE WAY DOWN THE HILL to safety. Phew...
composed myself, ate my tuna sandwich and drove home.
Good Hike as usual!
5 comments:
Ok, for a minute I thought you did that hike completely alone WITHOUT Ki! CRAZY GIRL... You are such a riot. I am right there with you - while in Banff I was sure I was going to be eaten by a bear...and of course all of my lovely facebook friends INCLUDING MY MOTHER taunted me. Not funny...I feel your pain and anxiety!
So how was that downhill run? Aren't you glad that you've been having massage...can you imagine it this was BEFORE massage? LOL
What beautiful sights! But yea, I would have been freaking out too thinking about what could be lurking in the woods.
The run was so awesome. My ankles feel best going downhill right now so I just flew!! It felt good to move like that!!
It's not the bear that really frighten me, it's the big cats! We don't have many around here and that is the problem. If you stumble upon one it's probably because he was stalking you! Luckily I have had many encounters with bear and usually feel like I know how to handle them. I have never seen a cat bigger than a bob and I don't want too.
I'm glad you didn't let it stop you. More glad that you stayed safe!
Oh that gave me chills "if you stumble upon one it's probably because he was stalking you!"
YIKES!
I feel like most of the time I'm not a very imaginative person, but come to me in the woods by myself and you've never met anyone who can make up better horror stories in her head :D
Post a Comment