Same Old Thing

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY THREE

With a couple of days left until my much needed vacation I was again limited in my choices of hikes. Since it wasn't TOO hot I went out this morning near my house in La Quinta. I've done this hike numerous times this year and I always seem to see something new but today it felt like the same old thing.

I headed up the trail with Kahlua and cranked up Blonde on Blonde on the iPod. By playing different tunes on a familiar hike you can at least change something about it.

I don't think even Viagra could help this palm tree at this point.

Another tree suffering from extreme neglect.

Despite the serious heat of summer there are plenty of footprints on these trails although I never see anyone out here. They probably go before I get out of bed.

Kahlua is going to love the cooler temperatures this fall.

Of all the times I've been up here I have never been straight up this trail so I am actually doing something new today and I am astonished that I haven't covered every square inch of this hillside yet. And yes, there is a trail here.

As much as I love this place it will be wonderful to be sending pictures from Tahoe next week. I am very much looking forward to it.

Counting Down

I've had a few people ask me why I haven't been hiking lately.  I'm resting up.  I figure if I am going to be hiking every single day for an entire year then I can take a week off.

The kids have been out of school so I took a week off work.  I painted the house and have played a lot of football.  My shoulder is sore; being QB all the time is rough on a guy.  It hasn't been much of a vacation for me but I've been preparing my mind.  

Woody Allen said that eighty percent of success is just showing up but in this case it's 100 percent.  If I miss a day, the challenge is over.   It's stressing me out.  

I'm going to have to plan my vacations and weekends around this endeavor.  I'm going to have to excuse myself from family gatherings, I'm going to have to take time out after work, or before.  I'm going to have to figure out where to hike every day so I don't get bored.

If you have a favorite hike in the Southern California area, send me a email.  I'm sure I'll be looking for new places.  

There have been a lot of people who, I'm sure, have hiked every day for a year.  However, most of them are either retired, outdoor professionals or hobos.  Being none of those I'm not sure if I can do it but it'll be fun to try.  

I've got one non-hiking day left to go and then the fun begins!

THIS feels like Christmas to me.

Someone out there has a voodoo doll with my name on it.  There is no other way to explain the excruciating pain I have been experiencing since I woke up this morning.  My whole neck feels like someone is squeezing it in a vise and jamming a knitting needle into it.  What a way to start a vacation.

This cannot happen; I have plans.  A huge storm hammered Southern California this week and dropped tons of snow throughout the mountains.  Like all native Southern Californians, I love snow.  I just don't want to live in it.  Snow, to us, means recreation.  We love skiing, snowboarding, sledding, snowmen, snowball fights and then going home, where it's warm.

With over three feet of new snow in the local mountains, I seriously considered going to Big Bear for some skiing.  One thing got in my way: kids.  I have to drop off kids at school by 9 and pick them up by 3.  So, by the time I drove to Big Bear, strapped on some boards and hit the slopes, I'd have time for one or two runs and then have to come back.  Oh well.

Plan two is snowshoeing at the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway.  The Tram is great because you can get up to 8500 feet in about ten minutes.  What a great thing to have in one's own backyard. You can go to the snow but not drive in the snow.

My pain in the neck is not going to keep me home so after I drop off the kids I head over to Starbucks for a triple latte and some Vicodin.  No, that's not a new drink there.  I brought the Vicodin.

I get to the Tram about ten minutes before the first car leaves and the mountains look incredible.  There is snow all around the parking lot and it's cold.  I hop on the first Tram and head up.

  The mountains are plastered with fresh snow.  My friends

  from the Midwest say it doesn't really feel like Christmas

  in Southern California.  This sure feels like Christmas to me.

   It is not really that cold up here.  The sun is shining and 

   it is hovering around freezing.  Perfect!

I put on my snowshoes and hit the trail.  OK, there is no trail so I make one.  The snow is deep and soft and with each step I sink in about 12-18 inches.  It is very slow going.  It's not that I'm overweight and out of shape but the conditions that are keeping me from moving at a faster clip, I tell myself.  Unfortunately, while the Vicodin has lessened the pain in my neck, it has not robbed me of any logical thought so I know better.  I'm fat, old and slow but who cares?  It's beautiful up here and I have a couple of hours before I have to pick up the kids.

  Here's the track I left behind as I make my way up the "trail".

  Hmmm.  Which trail to take here?
  The path has gotten a bit deeper since I left.

Since I've got to pick up kids, I have a very strict turn around time and so don't get to cover much ground.  But the ground I do cover is beautiful and I appreciate the beauty and peace of just a couple of hours walking in the wilderness.  And my neck doesn't hurt a bit.

I am not really much of a photographer but I have posted some   More pictures here.