Blue Hills Skyline Trail loop

For Halloween I was going to jam with a group of parkour ladies (that's what we parkour people do, we jam) but it snowed all day yesterday, and apparently we ladies don't jam the day after it snows? I was a little surprised, but they made the point that things would be wet and slippery, which I believe is true. We will jam next week. I thought about heading up to NH to hike instead, but it's getting dark earlier, Somerville is in the red zone again for COVID and I wasn't really psyched about the idea of a drive. Staying close to home seemed like a better idea. I decided for a change to do the Blue Hills, which was a really good choice!

I love that you can see the city from the hike, but also it does feel like you are away from things, and it's pretty woodsy and relaxing. I decided to go away from Great Blue Hill, and do a longer hike, and so I did a big figure 8 that went over 4 hills of various heights, crossed one busy street, was 8 miles long and had 1316 feet of elevation gain. There were some serious uphill spots, but since it was such a long hike, for the most part you don't really notice the hilliness except for the obvious areas, which were intense but not too long.

Because of the snow from yesterday and the leaves, it was really slippery and so a few times I slipped on some rocks, but managed to not fall. Also, at one point I was walking up a hill and a huge branch came crashing down right in front of me - like a foot in front of me. It was pretty sketch. There were some people coming in the other direction and they were even more freaked out than I was - they were like "holy shit" and I was like "wow"... If it had hit me I would probably be in the ER right now. I was really lucky. Halloween has been a bad day for me in the past, but maybe this is a sign that my luck has turned around!

After I went in to work last week on Thursday, I got an email from HR saying that I had potentially been exposed to COVID from one of the students I met with, and should work from home this week. My first though, of course, was "but I haven't voted!" Fortunately I feel completely fine. I thought about mailing in my vote, or early voting, but I just really like going on election day - it just seems like the right thing to do. I'm so nervous about this election. I hope people can get it together and think about what's right for our country, and that we can prevent outsiders from meddling. This next week is going to be a crazy one - I'm glad that I spent some time over the weekend chilling out.

More home crossfit + yoga

 I did a quick WOD today just to get in some exercise, which I followed with a 25 minute stretchy yoga class. I also walked a mile, so that counts as exercise as well.  When you combine it, it's real.

The WOD for two days ago was:

40 Kettle Bell Swings

30 Box Jumps

20 Shoulder to OverHead

30 Box Jumps

40 Kettle Bell Swings

I borrowed a kettle bell from my upstairs neighbor which was 35 pounds, and for the shoulder to overhead I used my 20 pound weight. For the box jumps, I used a tree stump in the park across the street - I would say it was about a foot high. It took me about 12 minutes and 20 seconds, with several long pauses in that time for me to breathe (totally allowed).

I was thinking about going for a run, but really didn't want to, and then realized that a WOD is probably just as good, and involves less running. After, I did a yoga with Adriene that was mostly stretching and felt really good.

Tomorrow I'm actually going into work! It will be my third day since March 13. I will go in one more time this semester, but I'm thinking I may not in the spring. I thought some of my coworkers might be there too, but they aren't. And, it's so hard getting up, showering, getting in the car.... How did I used to do that every day? And, how will I do it again??

Home Crossfit after Geriatric Parkour

I signed up for parkour too late this week, and my regular class was full so I had to do the geriatric one earlier in the day. I really like the seniors ( :) ) in the class, but it's earlier in the day, a half hour shorter, and it doesn't push me as much. Going to the class I was able to see that the other class (where I am consistency one of the slower, less balanced and less sure of myself people) has really helped me to improve a lot. Yay! After class I decided that I should get in some more exercise, and since I was already warmed up, I could just WOD.

I looked at my old gym, and their WOD from yesterday was:

3 rounds

14 SA Dumbell Snatch

300 m DB carry (35 pounds)

14 SA DB Hang clean and jerk

75 double unders

I did a little modifying - I lifted 20 pounds for the snatches and clean and jerks, and the first round I carried the 20 pounds around to the front of the building and back, which is may 200 meters? After that I decided just to do 75 single unders on the jumprope in place of the double unders and DB carry. I left the "hang" off hang clean and jerk when I wrote everything down, so I did regular clean and jerks. But I did the entire workout in about 34 minutes! And, I wanted to throw up a little at a couple points. I cant say that I particularly enjoyed it, but it wasn't that bad, it only took 34 minutes, and I do feel like I had a good workout. I really need to try to WOD more often and not be lazy!

Tomorrow there's a women's parkour workout that's a general thing, not a class, but just a bunch of women getting together to practice, and someone invited me to join up. Hopefully it will be fun!

Mt. Mansfield

                                         

Mt. Mansfield is definitely one of my favorite 4000 footers that I've done, 2 thumbs up, definitely recommend. As I drove to it, I wasn't completely sure. It rained all day the day before I hiked it, and the clouds were still clearing, the mountain looked beautiful, Vermont-like, but also a little intimidating. Don't let it scare you, it was a good one!

 I decided to do a loop hike - I got up and got there with plenty of time. So, I went up Halfway House trail, across the ridgeline on the Long Trail and then down the Sunset Ridge Trail. I was thinking about doing it the other way, but the Sunset Ridge is supposed to be the easiest way up (and therefore down) and Halfway House is steeper, and I was so glad I did Halfway House first. It was steep in a few places, with a slippery ladder, some rocky climbs, and a lot of switchbacking. I really liked the trail going up - it was full of little mossy glens and quiet spots where a moose or bear could (but at the moment happily wasn't) hang out. The trail was a little technical, a little challenging but not too difficult, and just really fun. When I got to the top where it intersected with the Long Trail I felt accomplished, and ate a cheese sandwich, some dried mango slices, and a banana. And then I got to walk about a mile of alpine ridgeline, which I just love so much! It was beautiful and the rocks were so interesting - they looked very scraped up by glaciers. 

The view from the top was really pretty with Lake Champlain, the Adirondacks, and the fall foliage. It was really windy also, and I was pretty hungry, so I sat to eat some more cheese sandwich and some nuts and enjoy the view in the other direction of VT and into NH. 

As I was sitting and enjoying my lunch I noticed it getting colder and colder, and the clouds getting lower and darker. Everyone on top of the mountain started looking up, and then looking at this band of clouds and rain that was flying towards us. And then we all started packing up and jetting off the top of the mountain. 

Looking at the storm, it seemed fast moving and thin, like it would pass over and move on. There was this one couple that was so close to the summit and they were like "is it exposed up there?" Sorry folks, yes, it is. And, here is what was coming towards us:

I walked as fast as I could to get lower down until I could see the weather coming upon me, and then I found a nice rock ledge to hide under while the storm passed overhead. There was actually hail! As well as rain. Thankfully it continued to move fast, and it was gone in less than 5 minutes, and the sun was back out. Most of the mountain became beautiful again, though I did notice clouds hanging around parts of it:

Sunset ridge trail down was so nice. I definitely recommend it. For a long way it was exposed rock and ridgeline. It was all wet, unfortunately, so it was a little slippery. It was still fun, but would have been super fun on a dry day! I really enjoyed going down it, though at a certain point it had a lot of big steps and I dinged my knee, which started to hurt. Anyhow, the rest of the way down was fine, and actually the first and last mile were basically an access road - a steep access road, and some trail. I got back to my car, changed my shoes, and was so lame - I drove about 100 feet to get closer to the bathrooms! Ha! Highly recommend this hike for sure - the sources online say it's the best 4000 footer in VT, and I believe it.

Camel's Hump while [gl]camping in VT

I really really wanted to take a week off from work, and to get away from home and go somewhere not too covid-y, but I also didn't want to feel like I was being to near people while away, so glamping in VT seemed to fit the bill. The plan was to go on Sunday and return on Saturday, with hiking, day triping to Burlington and Stowe, maybe some mountain biking, chilling out at the glamp with a fire, and relaxing. Well, some of that happened. But, it was also not as glam as I had hoped/expected in that there was meant to be a propane heater in the tent that would "take the edge off" the cold, which was really all I needed since I had my down sleeping bag and wasn't there all day, but it ran out of propane after about 5 hours. And the tent was on a hill so I kept sliding downhill and waking up in a corner of the bed. And, the lights inside didn't work. And the advertised hot tub was more of a "warm tub", as was the shower... So I left early and now I have a cold. But, Vermont was beautiful and I did two really nice hikes!

My Monday hike was Camel's Hump which has a really cool name and is one of the five 4000 footers of Vermont. I had looked at several routes up the mountain, but by the time I woke up, packed everything, figured out directions and stopped for food, I knew it would be noon by the time I got to the mountain. The most direct route and easy route is Burrows trail which is 2.4 miles out and back, and I decided I better just do that since I didn't have a ton of time and was feeling a little nervous due to being in VT - like that's somehow different from NH? IDK, but still it was a good idea. It's getting dark earlier and earlier, and I didn't want to be out there after sunset.

I was a little nervous about the number of people, since it was a long weekend, but pulling into the parking lot it wasn't that bad, and on the mountain there were plenty of people, but not mobs. The hike was pretty much uphill from the start, right to the top where it was so windy that I took a few pictures of the view, and then descended to a lower elevation to get out of the wind, eat some cheese sandwiches and admire the view for real. It was pretty awesome to look from the top because I could see across Lake Champlain all the way to NY and the mountains in the Adirondacks! Definitely a different view than I'm used to, and the foliage was gorgeous - probably just a tiny bit passed peak but beautiful and so much color. 

Before the trip I bought some new hiking shoes from REI, and some orthotics that have a special morton's extension that makes it so my big toes don't bend as much. They also have this bump in them that goes under the ball of my foot and is supposed to distribute the weight from the joint to the whole foot. I was a little nervous about the new set-up, but it was awesome!  My feet were so much less sore on the hike, and at the top I thought about how much my toe didn't hurt.

The way down was kind of wet, and therefore slow going. In fact, some of my downhill splits are slower than the uphill ones - or about the same. I think mile 3 it was counting the time that I was wondering around up top, blowing around in the wind (it was so windy, a couple times I thought I would get blown over!) I was pretty happy with the hike - definitely a good day!