Castle Peak Conquered!-316 Days Left

Today is a momentous day! At long last the "PEAK" has been conquered, not without difficulty however. After evaluating my hike today I realize that I probably could have done the whole peak a while ago, I've just needed to learn how my body "re-boots" itself. With enough breaks and careful pacing, even a moderately active person can do some very challenging up-hills.

My sister and I began our hike today at about 8:30 am. The total hike (warm up, hike and back) probably took us about 1.5 hours. We discovered that the last part of the hike, after the white "scar", is almost entirely climbing on all fours. Eryn said she released her inner monkey. the peak is continually deceiving too! Once we began climbing we reached a point that we THOUGHT was the top, only to discover that we had an entirely new slope to conquer. At that point however, we didn't think about heading down (we invested too much energy into finishing today).

The sky was overcast and so my picture doesn't capture the amazing view of the west valley from up there, but trust me: on a clear day I bet you could see almost clear accross!

I would like to know who placed the flag up at the top. According to our friend Jim Chrisman, the flag appeared some time around the 4th. Either way it was a nice addition to our accomplishment and photo opportunity.

Now that the peak has been breached I feel a bit more confident that my lofty goal can be reached. I met with a friend who hiked half dome recently to ask her advice. Some of the most important things that need to happen: I need to invest in some new hiking shoes (real hiking shoes) and perhaps some gloves!

As for next weeks hike, I think it's time to start going through my grand book of hikes! Malibu perhaps? More to come!

Sage Ranch-320 Days Left

7/7/10

After the 4th of July weekend was a great opportunity to kick off some serious summer hiking. I started feeling a little bored with castle peak so my sister and I decided to take our hike up to Sage Ranch, which is at the top of Woolsey Canyon in Chatsworth. Conveniently nestled in the hills between Simi Valley and Chatsworth, this trail has some great valley views, a camp ground (by reservation only), and happens to border the location of what has been called the 2nd worst nuclear waste spill next to chernobyl (wow!)

Radiation aside this is a great trail for hikers, bikers and.... horses? Yes, we did see a man on a horse coming around one of the turns which was COOL!

It's not a particularly difficult hike, mostly level with a few moderate inclines, but it is a fairly good distance and does give the opportunity to break a sweat.

As the picture shows, the trail is a full loop just over 1 mile. In all it took about one hour to complete, just enough for a substantial afternoon activity.

I would most definitely do this trail again on a clear day with a group of friends!

Urban Hiking- 322 Days Left

I am hesitant to call today a "hike", it was more like a haphazard walk around my neighborhood looking for a trail. After forgetting how to get to the Victory Trail head i ended up walking through some very nice neighborhoods in the hills surrounding my home. I did a good amount of walking (about 3 miles) and while it was relaxed, paved and only at a slight grade, i did work up a bit of a sweat and so i would say it was worth the while.

I found a really cool website today: www.mapmyhike.com It's a great resource for the digital age. Not only does it allow you to search for hiking trails and record your progress, but it allows you to map your hikes... like mine from today:

It's nice to see your trail laid out for you especially if it was a kind of last minute hike like mine was!

Well, I have kind of gotten off of my Saturday morning schedule (this weekend i was sick) but thankfully i've been able to fit in at least one hike a week weather it be Saturday or not.

I'm hoping i can get another hike/walk in this week and then (fingers crossed) i'll be back to my Saturday schedule this coming weekend.

Hike #5- 326 Days Left

Good Hiking Day! Jill and I took a hike on a trail at the top of Reseda Blvd. It was a vigorous hike to say the least, but it felt good! The trail follows some fire roads that run along the tops of the mountains. If it hadn't been so smoggy the trail would have offered some beautiful views!

This is a picutre of the "backbone trail". there are a number of trails that you can take through the mountains. We hiked #1 and took a right on to #2 making for about 3 miles each way. WOW!

This trail was nice because, while it did have some difficult up hill parts, it had plenty of level and down hill areas and it was very possible to finish. completing the trail definitely helped my confidence!

I should be hiking again in a few days to get back on our saturday hiking schedule. We will probably start back up on castle peak. Today added a nice variety to my hiking.