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My Excellent Adventure
By Administrator | July 28, 2007
One of the nice things about living along the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada is that we have all kinds of fun trails to meander along. This morning, I thought I’d take a stroll along one of those nice trails, but I ended up going a little further than I originally planned.
Our neighborhood sits at the base of C-Hill (so named for the C at the top) and I’ve thought for awhile that I should work my way to the top some day. Today turned out to be that day.
The photo above was taken at the beginning of my stroll. My intention had been to take a walk along the more gentle slopes that can be found to the west, or behind, C-Hill. Somehow I took a wrong turn and found myself halfway to the top before I realized what I was doing. The photo below shows Carson City (and more hills) spreading out to the east as I neared the halfway point of my climb.
Looking to the north (photo below) shows more of Carson City and Slide Mountain to the left of the frame.
At this point in the climb, I was still enjoying myself and I should’ve known enough to head back down…especially when I found out just how steep the path would become. Still, as mentioned before, I am stubborn and don’t like to give up before I’ve finished something. This has led me into trouble before and today was no exception. I reached the top of the hill to find myself in the same predicament faced by many a child who climbed the monkey bars on the playground; I was scared to climb down.
Obviously, I did manage to make the trip back or I wouldn’t be sitting at my computer right now. Not too far down the slope, my leg muscles started shaking and I knew that I wouldn’t be able to continue if I stopped to rest. I couldn’t do anything but keep going - though I did take one unintentional “sit-down” when my foot slipped out from under me. Surprisingly, I don’t think I bruised or sprained anything even though I hit pretty hard and the lower left side of my back landed against a good-sized rock in the trail.
Now I won’t feel the need to climb the hill again any time soon. Maybe in a year or so, when I’m in better shape, I might try again. I’ll start earlier in the day or go earlier/later in the year so I don’t get quite so overheated again. I think the worst part of the whole climb was the fact that there’s no shade anywhere on the hill.
Lesson learned.
Topics: Health/Wellness, The Road to 50 |
