crossfit and biking

That climb over the hill killed me! I really must be old, because all week this week I was a total bum. On Monday and Tuesday my calves were sooo tight and in such pain, Wednesday I went climbing - I did get up a couple 9's and a 10, though it wasn't pretty. And then for the rest of the week I was all "I'm going to do crossfit." But Thursday I just couldn't make myself, Friday I went for drinks instead, and Saturday I went to yoga. So, last week I went zero times. But, I went today and tomorrow I'm freezing my membership for the month of August! (Plus July 31) So, I'm sort of counting it as part of last week. A couple friends are visiting from out of town this week, and then I have all my prep for vacation - one last bike ride no doubt, and some more yoga and climbing hopefully.

Today I did both crossfit and a bike ride!  A shorter bike ride, but whatever.

We started with strict presses, 4 sets of 5, which is a lot of lifts in a row. I did 2 sets of 45 and 2 of 50. In between the 2 nd and 3rd I ran to the bathroom, and it turned out that there was a guy cleaning. He was pretty freaked out when he realized that I was in there peeing. It was actually kind of funny.  I mean, I was in a stall.

WOD: 10 min AMRAP
15 deadlifts (I lifted 75 pounds)
90 jumps of the jump rope
I did 4 full rounds plus 8 additional lifts

Then we did a second WOD that was biking. 6 minutes as much as possible, alternating with a partner. This woman with 10 feet long legs asked me to be her partner. Sigh. I just don't like partner WODS, She was very nice, but I could barely reach the pedals, and she was standing up to ride to get full momentum. Whatever.

Later I decided that I would try that bike ride I had done a month ago that was 17.2 miles where I was all annoyed with ridewithgps. I don't know why I thought that would be a good idea, I think because it starts and ends at an ice cream place. I was a little more successful in one way- I found the missing turn from last time and went down Estabrook, and it was totally awesome. It was a dirt path and sort of mountain biking, but a gentle downhill with not too many things in the way. Really fun! I hope Tanzania is like that. On the con side, once again my period started while riding. WTF? It's a cursed route.  I got to mile 10 which is the end of the bike path and was sitting and eating a power bar and I wasn't feeling so great, and then I figure out what the issue was. So, I took a short cut back to the car. I think I wound up going only about 13-14 miles, but totally legit.

I wrote 45 letters of recommendation this year for medical/dental students. I finished on Friday and it was such a relief, I felt a weight lifting. I'm so excited for my trip! (and a little nervous - I hope everything goes OK).

Lincoln, Little Haystack and Lafayette

I'm officially 50! To celebrate I decided to literally go over the hill and do a hike!  I was a little nervous because it looked a little like rain earlier in the week, but by Friday the weather forecast was showing nice weather and today it couldn't have been nicer!  Which, sadly, meant that everyone on the planet was out on that mountain. Holy cow, it was like a highway!  Of course, after hiking it, I know why, this is one I would definitely do again, but on a week day.

Last night I went out with a friend to this participatory art thing on the greenway. It was fun, but then the best part was there was outdoor tango nearby, and that was so fun to watch. It was such a mixed crowd, some really good dancers, really awesome shoes, all ages, tangoing for hours. We got food from a food truck and watched for a while, and then went to this beer garden that was right across the street. The beer was fine. We were just hanging out an talking and then suddenly the street was full of naked people on bikes. It was Boston Naked Bike Ride, and there were about 200 people in various stages of dress riding by. I haven't seen that many naked men since the year I played hockey :)

Today I got up at 6 am and out the door at about 6:40. I got to the parking lot at 8:50 ish and started around 9:15. I was proud of myself for that one! The hike is 8.9 miles and there are two 5000 footers on it, so I wanted to leave a lot of time for hiking before dark. Plus, there are 3 peaks and a hut with bread and soup, so I wanted to be able to eat :)  I was really nervous in the parking lot, I think because Hale had been so hard, and it's so much easier a mountain. This has two massive mountains:

As I started the trail was crazy busy, it was annoying!  The hike itself was really pretty, with several waterfalls, some stream crossings and a slab of rock that I didn't go to because I was too lazy. I got to a point where I was a so hungry I needed to eat something, even though I wasn't at a view, so I stopped at the slab spot. There was this chick that I was chatting with eating trail mix. Soon these two total stoners came along and asked her if she wanted any of their "bud" trail mix. Wow. They were so stoned. Later I decided to stop to pee before I got above the tree line. I was waiting for them to go by so I could take care of business, and stoner #1 was all "what's she doing over there?" and stoner #2 was all "I don't know." Oh, kids!

It took me about 3 hours to get to the top of Little Haystack. It's three miles, so about a mile an hour. I was slowing down a lot to let noisy people pass me. And because it was so hard. Once I got above tree line on Little Haystack I was like "way better than Hale!" Awesome views in all directions! So nice. I ate a peanut butter and banana sandwich on homemade bread and sat for like a half hour. Then, there was a ridgeline!  It was an awesome ridgeline, the "knife's edge" of the whites, but not scary - could be if it was windy. The views on both sides were so good. While I was walking I say someone had one of those glider planes and was flying around. It was a serene hiking moment.

I was sitting on Lincoln (which is the official 4000+ footer that I bagged today, since I've already done Lafayette) eating, and this guy came and set his pack down near me. He's a through hiker. They're so impressive. He looked really clean for a through hiker, but in good shape. He's raising money for a homeless shelter in Maryland. He gave me his fundraising card and I'm totally going to donate. I was trying to take a selfie and he asked if I wanted him to take a pic for me, which he did:

I think this is going to be a new favorite of mine :)  

After I got to Lafayette and sat and enjoyed the view for like a half hour, I went down to the hut and had some bread, bad lemonade, and really delicious blondies. The blondies were so good I got a second one. After all that sugar, I had a lot more energy for the 3 miles down. I was headed down and this family of 3 super cute asian girls and their father came flying down. The dad was all "those blondies sure gave you girls a lot of energy."  Poor mom came rushing a little bit after. She was breathing hard going down.

The hike down from Lafayette was 4 miles from the top, 1.1 to the hut and then 2.9 from the hut down. To the hut it was basically a rock pile, but not too bad. From the hut the first mile was steep and a little hard. But after that it was quite civilized. It still took me 2.5 hours to get from the hut down, but I stopped to take the picture above, let some people pass me, and of course, I'm not that fast. By the end my feet and knees were killing me. I took my boots off at the river and stuck my feet in for as long as I could, but the water was so cold that that was a pretty short time. All and all, a very successful hike and birthday!

Second time this week and it's Wed!

It's Wednesday and I'm done with my crossfits for the week! Yay!  I'm super excited about it, more time for yoga, biking and hiking. I'm a little worried that it's going to rain on Sunday on my plans to hike Lafayette. The weather keeps going back and forth. I would be sad if it rained on my hike over the hill. I would figure something out, though.

Today I was going to go climbing with a friend, but then she changed her mind last minute. I had brought my crossfit gear just in case, but I wasn't sure if I would make it in time. But then I decided, WTF, it's a gym. They should just let me in if I'm a couple minutes late. And I was a couple minutes late and missed a little warm up, but it was fine.

Today was  a partner workout. Of course, everyone else there lifts waaaay more than me, and we were supposed to share barbells. I wound up partnerless. Which was fine with me.  I don't really like partner workouts.

We started with this weird clean and jerk thing where each partner took turns doing as many as they could. So, the barbell was always being lifted, but the athletes got a break between turns. Coach was like, you can just watch the other girls and stop when they stop and pace yourself according to them. I was like, I'll just stop when I want to stop, see how long I was lifting, and rest for that long so my imaginary partner can lift. It's not rocket science.  Anyhow, the weightlifting was rocket science:
Minutes 0-5 lift 55 pounds - I did 20
Minutes 5-9 lift 60 pounds - I did 10
Minutes 9-16 lift 65 pounds - I did 15
Total 45 lifts

That's not exactly how it was supposed to go, but that's what I did, and I'm just fine with it.

The WOD was a partner one too. I did the same thing, I timed me and rested a little shorter interval after my turn than it took me.

WOD: 15 min AMRAP
7 DB hang squat cleans (I lifted 15 pounders for total of 30 pounds)
70 jumps on the jump rope
I did 7 rounds

For some reason I thought it was 12 minutes. You can imagine how I felt when minute 12 came and Coach was like "3 minutes to go!"

I seem to have calmed down about work. I'm not sure when that happened, but I'm definitely more chill. My boss was there yesterday and she was back to normal more or less, no talk about leaving or me being director or changes. Except that I heard her talking in the office next door to the faculty member there. I was trying so hard to eavesdrop, it was almost comical. I wanted to put a glass up to the wall to listen.

75 pound push jerks!

It's Sunday and I've already done one crossfit! It was a pretty easy looking one today, plus I'm going climbing on Wednesday, plus it's my birthday next weekend and I don't think I will want to go to crossfit then, so it was a good idea to go.  I got there a couple minutes late because I had to stop for gas, and when I arrived there was an endurance class, or the class before me or something running and doing burpees, and I went up to the coach and was all "is there a 10:00 class?"  Ya, that was it. So, I wound up running 200 meters and doing 10 burpees, but it could have been much worse if I was on time and had a clue.

We did push jerks to start. I have to confess that my push jerks are pretty similar to my push presses from earlier in the week, so I was happy to get up to 75 pounds for 4 rounds of 3. The first round I did 65 pounds.

WOD: 6 rounds
5 clean and jerk (I lifted 55 pounds)
10 toes to bar (I did knees in the general direction of chest)
my time: 10 min

I'm still so stressed about work. I keep reminding myself that all this change at work is a growth experience, and that there could be good things that come of it. We could get more staff, there could be a little more variety in what we do, I might not have to say the same exact thing over and over 500 times to freshmen. But I'm so happy with what I have going, and that's so rare. I should be pleased that I've had that for 4 years, and I am, I knew it probably would last forever. I just didn't realize that it would all come to a head the week of my 50th birthday (also a kind of stressful event.) Will work on healthy eating and yoga and being social.

Day 2 in a row!

Two days in a row for a second week! I saw today's workout and I knew I wanted to go - rowing and lifting, my kind of workout. We started with dumb bell strict presses, doing three rounds until we failed. Meh. I started with the 17.5 pounders and did 7 lifts with each, then realized that there were 15 pounders, and so did sets 2 and 3 with them.

Then we did push presses, 4 rounds of 3. I got up to 70 pounds on the last one. I was all hopeful that I could do 75 pounds before I started 70, but then I realized that there was no way. I could barely do 70, though I did!

WOD: 12 min AMRAP
250 meter row
5 squat clean (I lifted 55 pounds)
I did 1200 meters on the rower and 20 squat cleans, so 4 rounds plus rowing.

My boss had this horrible meeting today at work and it's totally stressing me out. Apparently enrollment management just realized that we exist and they want to highlight us. So, she met with some muckity-mucks to discuss what that would look like. I feel like it will mean that they want us to do more, but not give us more resources. And there will be politics, which I'm so bad at.  I made the mistake of saying that I didn't want her job, and she was all, "I'm not doing this forever you know." And she was serious. I think she feels like I will get my doctorate and then take over as director and she will go back to teaching and research. (Because at the end of the day when she left she said something like "I was hoping you would take on this role one day.") And then I will have to meet with the big muckity-mucks. Plus, I really like working with her! I thought we were just going to stay like this until we died at our desks one day. I have to stop forgetting that she's my boss and saying things like "I don't want your job." That's where I went wrong.  More yoga is in order for tomorrow.

More running

My butt and legs are still sore from the bike ride on Sunday, but once again I had to get to crossfit. It's Wednesday after all. I went to yoga yesterday, I wasn't in time for the regular flow class so I went to the beginner class. It was nice and zen and chill, helped me to stretch out the achy parts from biking. And, it was nice to feel like for something I really don't need to be in the beginner class!

Today, there was running at crossfit, about a mile of it. Killer. I was so last, like by 200 meters in the first stretch (when I looked at the clock when I got back in the gym, I had run a 10 min 30 sec mile, so my usual time). It was a long WOD, so the warm up was just blah blah, and there wasn't any lifting.

WOD:
535 meters running (one loop)
50 kettlebell swings (I used the smallest one)
100 jumps on the jump rope (or 50 doubles)
50 sit ups

400 meter run
40 kettlebell swings
80 jumps
40 sit ups

300 meter run
30 kettlebell swings
60 jumps
30 sit ups

200 meter run
20 kettlebell swings
40 jumps
20 sit ups

100 meter run
10 kettlebell swings
20 jumbs
10 sit ups
my time: 29:45

Everyone else in the class finished before I finished the 2's round. Then they all came over and cheered me on. I appreciate their encouragement and support and the fact that they aren't just like "wtf, why is she still so slow?" But it's so embarrassing.

In less than two weeks I'm going to be 50.  AARP already found me. They sent me a card and said that if I sent $15 they would send me a tote bag. Ummm, are you trying to keep me from sending money? I'm not walking around with an old people tote bag! I'm mentally preparing to climb over the hill. On the big day, gonna physically climb a hill, or three. I have Lincoln, Little Haystack and Lafayette on the agenda.

Half Century Bike Ride!

Today was my longest bike ride ever! It was a beautiful day out, not too humid or hot, sunny, with a slight breeze but nothing that would impact biking. I knew I had to get some more bike practice going, so I decided to try for the half century aka 50 miles. I found a route that's a double loop out of Concord for a total of 41.4 miles. I added my favorite part of the bike path, the dirt part from Bedford which is 4 miles each way for a total of 8 miles, and then figured out a little bit that was .3 miles that I could go down and back. Since it was a double loop, I could bail after the first loop if I needed to (first loop was longer and harder, 23 miles with more elevation gain. The second was 18 miles, still some elevation gain.)

For once I got off at a reasonable time. I got to the bike path at a little after 1 and stared biking around 1:20. There were so many people out, it was the most busy I'd seen the dirt path. Lots of people in spandex on my left. Some of them are so fast! I actually passed a woman in spandex at one point, I was so excited! And then she passed me later. Meh. Well, she had all that spandex. And a rode bike. The loop went on a lot of roads I've done before an like, it was definitely a good one. There were enough hills to make me work, and give me practice for the trip. It went through some conservation area that I've been through before, the park with ice cream. Once again I didn't stop, though I could have on my new not-diet plan (decided to wait for Concord, though).

One bad thing did happen, Part of the trip was on a bike path and I turned the wrong way on it! I went over 2.5 miles before I realized what I had done, so I had to turn and go back. So, that added about 5 miles to my trip. I had my phone with me so I could see where I went wrong on google maps, but I couldn't tell exactly how far I had gone out of my way. I thought it was between 5 and 6 miles, but it was hard to say. I went the correct way, and on with the rest of the route, and then to Concord and ice cream. Yum!

Because of the wrong turn I had to reassess. Loop 2 was 18 miles. I didn't really want to do an extra 5 miles. But I did really want to do a half century. Loop 2 also went past Walden Pond, and I don't think the shoulders on the roads over there are really that good, and with the weather I figured it would be crazy there. I decided that rather than doing loop 2 I would go back on the dirt path, do the 3 mile rail trail out and back, and then do 4 miles on the paved bike path out and back. There's a map at the end of the path, and that was to Lexington center and back. That seemed like a reasonable amount of riding, not too hilly, and like it would get me my half c. By the end of the ride, my butt was killing me! I have a gel seat, I gotta try it out. Tomorrow sitting's going to hurt. But, I did it! I came home, fed the cats, and took a bath that was as cold as the water gets. And then a warmer shower because I really smelled.

I wasn't totally convinced I did it until I mapped it out on map my run. But, according to that it was 50.3 miles, 1474 feet elevation gain. It took me forever, I don't have the time on that. And, I believe I will sleep well tonight!

Two days in a row!

Once again I left myself with two days in a row of crossfit to do. I wasn't feeling so great earlier this week, so that's the excuse. But it was little comfort. I really didn't want to go yesterday, it was painful all around, so painful apparently that I didn't even feel like blogging about it, gonna add it to todays. But, I went. There was a lot of rowing, which was the only salvation, but still not enough. After the warm-up we counted how many hand-stand push ups we could do in two minutes. Ummm, none. I did pushups with bands, about 20 of them. Blah.

Then we did front squats. The idea was to see what your 3 squat max was. I got up to 90 pounds, which actually I was pretty happy with. I did it for one sent of three, it was pretty heavy for me.

WOD: in 14 minutes
1000 meter row then AMRAP
5 pull ups
10 push ups
10 pistols with alternating legs
I used bands for everything and went through 3 rounds. I just wasn't feeling it. Then I skulked out without writing down my time or barely talking to anyone for the entire hour.  I did start with 10 minutes on the stationary bike, the air dyne one that has a fan that makes it harder to peddle, as a little biking practice.

Today the weather is crappy and I didn't want to go again, but I figured I should. I pay enough for the membership and I wasn't doing anything else. But I wasn't excited about it. For warm up we did a bunch of running that I was last at, about a half mile plus in total. Then we flipped tires! That part was actually fun. I flipped the lightest and second lightest!!

It was a long and painful WOD: 5 rounds
10 clean and jerk (I lifted 45 pounds)
14 burpee lateral jumps (I just did 10)
400 meter run
I did 3 rounds in about 26 minutes (I think) and I just couldn't do any more. I was feeling like a little bit of a wimp as I skulked out for the second day in a row without saying goodbye or writing my time down. Then I looked at my fact in the car mirror. Holy crap it was red and splotchy! I mean, I was clearly overheated. I turned on my AC and drank about a quart of water on the drive home. When I looked at my computer, it said that the temperature was 80 something degrees, but with humidity it felt like 94. No wonder I couldn't run and do burpee lateral jumps!  I felt a little better about ending after 3. I think it was a good call.

17.2 mile bike ride

Ride with gps is a bit of a bust, really. I did what looked like a really nice ride on the computer today - I could make it start (and end) at Kimball Farm Ice Cream, there was one big hill (which I confess I walked up. My legs are killing me!), and the rest was reasonably flatfish, which is to say some up and down, but nothing killer. The path went on two unpaved sections of the Minuteman bike path, for a total of 7 miles of dirt trail, and there was another section that went on a path through the woods by a pond.

Today must have been mosquito day. I was swamped almost the entire ride - maybe because it went past a lot of marshy areas?? Then at about mile 6 or so, the road I was supposed to take didn't exist. Fortunately I had my phone, but it sent me down a road with pretty much no shoulders that wasn't that fun. And the path through the woods was sooo filled with roots, there was no way to ride a hybrid bike through it, you would need a mountain bike. Which I discovered when I crashed very hard into a root and didn't fall over but came close. And, (way way TMI here, for any actual readers, you can skip this part) my girl parts got jostled around and it made my period start. Fortunately I had on my padded bike shorts, but that's not really what the padding is meant for.... (yes, laundry is already done.)  I pushed my bike for a good part of the way, cursing ride with gps and getting eaten by mosquitos. And, finally I got to a non-rooty part and was able to ride some more.

I stopped and had ice cream at Kimball's, raspberry chocolate chip. Their "kiddie" size is huge. I was super impressed with me because I only ate to a point where I could put a lid on it, and I brought the rest home and put it in the freezer. And that was totally cool. I like this whole nutritionist thing (and I was 1.2 pounds lighter after a week, on what was apparently the first day of my period!)

Mount Hale and The Slot on Cathedral Ledge North End

My plan for the long weekend was to head up to NH for some hiking, staying at my friend's place for Sunday night. I took today off because it's July 4 tomorrow, and this gave me a nice 4 day weekend, which I really needed. Last Friday I had to get my parking sticker renewed because although I did the on-line application 6 weeks ago it still hadn't been approved, and I really wanted my sticker!  It took them forever! While I was waiting, I came up with the brilliant idea to stop on the way up to my friends and hike Mt. Hale, which is really a silly hike, being 4.6 miles and having no view. I figured I could do that on Sunday and still have a nice Monday hike with a view. Ha! Just because a 4000 footer isn't 10 miles, doesn't make it easy. It's still a 4000 footer. I had a really hard time.

Since it was such a short hike, I started out late, leaving home at about 11. It took 3 hours to get there, and I started on the trail at 2:20. Right away it went up hill, which shouldn't have been a surprise, it was 2300 feet of elevation gain.  At .8 miles you have a brook crossing. I got to this point after 40 minutes, so I was doing OK at this point. It had been raining for about a week, and there had been a crazy rain storm the night before, so the water level at the first crossing was so high, and the water was moving so fast, I was scared! It was so sketchy, huge waterfall pretty soon after the crossing of the "if I get washed down into that I will be dead" sort. I took the picture below on the way down, after I crossed it the second time. I wound up taking my boots off and wading, the rocks were all wet and slick looking, so hopping seemed like a bad idea. The first crossing I decided half way across that I would have to take the boots off, which was super sketch because I was standing on a rock in the middle of all this, taking off my boots and socks and throwing them to the shore.

After the waterfall things got steeper and I got slower. I think it was crossfit, my calves were killing me and I was pooped. There was a second crossing that had a waterfall like this as well, but the fall after was even sooner after the crossing. Fortunately the rocks were better and I could get across, though it wasn't pretty.  There were four switchbacks, which are always a treat on a NH hike. And then more uphill, to the top which was just field with a pile of rocks and absolutely no view at all. And lots of bugs so it wasn't even nice to sit and eat for a few minutes. I had a power bar because I was pretty sure I needed more fuel, scowled at the top of the mountain, and headed down.

On the way down I had lots of Dark Trail Thoughts. I decided I was not climbing another 4000 footer tomorrow because Hale is one of the easier ones and it had nearly done me in. Therefore, I shouldn't go to my friends, I should just go home and sleep in my own bed and then spend the next two days on the couch and not talk to anyone and watch bad movies. I had one nice moment sitting by the rushing brook before taking off my boots. I knew I was close to finished, it was kind of nice there, and I decided I came all that way and a I should enjoy something from the hike. And then I crossed, took a few photos, and finished. 

In my car again I remembered that I made a strawberry rhubarb crisp for my friends, and if I didn't go there I would have to eat the whole thing. Plus, I could climb a smaller mountain that was maybe a little nicer, with a better view. And they have a new baby so it would be fun to see them and her. So, I let go of the trail thoughts and went, which of course I was glad I did.

This morning I was going to hike a smaller mountain, but they were going climbing and so I decided to go climbing with them instead. It was a really good choice! We took turns climbing, belaying and hanging with the baby. And, I did two climbs, one a 5.6 and one a 5.10b (the Slot)!  They wouldn't tell me what it was before I tried it, so I figured it was like a 5.10 - it was good that I didn't know, because it might have psyched me out. It was a crack climb without a ton of feet. I hadn't brought my climbing gear, so I had to borrow shoes and harness (super smelly, grungy shoes and a harness that was too small. Better not to think about those things). I really liked the borrowed shoes, though. They were LaSportives, the same kind AH wore to free solo El Cap. So, maybe they just have good karma? Anyhow, the feet didn't fit into the crack for most of the climb. There were a lot of spots without good footholds. I wasn't convinced that I would get even the first move, but I actually pretty much got all the way up! It took me forever, but whatever. After we had victory beer at the river. NH, live free or die, I do sometimes love that!

Lumberjack in a Boat

My IT band has been killing me lately, at least I think that's what it is, so I had an excuse to row today instead of running. Any time I have an excuse on that I'll take it, even if it means a little IT pain. Today was a benchmark WOD which I'd done before, the same day last year. It's named after a group of soldiers who were killed in Ft. Hood. Must have happened July 1. Sad. I was slower this year than last. But, in my defense, it's like 90 degrees and humid out. It's a good thing I didn't look before going or I probably would have stayed at home!

We started with a quick warm-up where I did run:
100 meter run
overhead squats
100 meter run
kettlebell swings
100 meter run
box jumps (I stepped)
100 meter run
kipping swings

WOD:
20 Deadlifts (I lifted 95 pounds)(I accidentally did 22)
400 meter row
20 kettle bell swings (I used the smallest)
400 meter row
20 overhead squats (I lifted 35 pounds)
400 meter row
20 burpees (I did 18 to make up for the extra 2 deadlifts)
400 meter row
20 pull ups (I used bands and the last 3 were really lame)
400 meter row
20 box jumps (I jumped for 10 and stepped for 10)
400 meter row
20 squat cleans (I lifted 35 pounds)
400 meter row
my time: 36:15

With the heat and all, it was so so hard!  I was sweating like a pig at the end, I'm pretty sure I was last to finish and I had to rest before I could put away all my equipment. The last set of rowing in particular I was like "this is a cool down."

It's a long weekend for July 4! I'm taking Monday off and am going to NH for Sunday and Monday. My plan is to hike Mt. Hale on Sunday and two 4000 footers on Monday, TBD. Hale is like the easiest, but it's a 2.5 hr drive to get to, and has no view from the top. It will add about 50 min of driving to go up that way, but I think it will be worth it, I've been trying to figure out when I will do it because it's not really worth a drive on its own, but it's big enough that just adding it to another hike seems daunting to me. It's a 4.4 mile total, in and back hike.  I'm thinking maybe the Wildcats for Monday.