Day Hike on Sheep Creek

The week before, I had been sick, so I got to sit by the river and bathe in the sounds of nature while Ambrose went on a day hike (and did all the driving). This week, I had managed to pass my sinus infection on to Ambrose, so it was my turn to do the driving and the hiking while he sat by the river. 

We got up nice and early on Saturday, and managed to leave only a little later than we had the weekend before. We made up a tiny bit of time by skipping the Warm Springs detour and just taking Broadway to 84 to 21 instead. But I wasn't in a hurry, especially once we got onto the dirt portion of the Middle Fork Road. Hurrying on that road is a good way to get in an accident! 

And I didn't really have a set schedule for this hike anyway. Just, get to the trailhead, set Ambrose up on the bank, hike out as far as I wanted, maybe the second crossing, come back and drive home. I guess that's quite a list of steps, but there were no times so I'll call it unscheduled ;)

I got us safely to the trailhead - didn't even scrape on the speed bumps in Twin Springs. The week prior, we'd had the trailhead campground to ourselves, but this week three of the four main spots were occupied. Ambrose kind of wanted to try another spot, but I was driving and I decided we could take the unoccupied spot. After all, there was no indication that the other groups were trying to claim it. 

We parked without complaint, and then I helped Ambrose set up his spot. He tried to take some pictures of me as I hiked off, but there were issues with the camera and none of them came out. 

I felt good as I hiked off with my day pack. I was using my Black Diamond pack, which is my go-to day pack. It's fairly small, so it helps rein in my inclination to overpack. And it's very comfortable, even though the hip belt is just webbing without any padding. 

The morning was cool, very good hiking weather. I wore a long underwear shirt under my hiking shirt, and I started to warm up quickly as I proceeded up the trail. The first section climbs a bit to stay above the road. And before long, I was joining up on the old trail. Ambrose had specifically mentioned that this climb up to the saddle was much less taxing than it had been in previous years. I was glad to find I felt the same way. 

Made it to Sheep Creek.

Time to hike high above the water.

Ambrose told me all the side streams were dry, and I, sadly, confirmed that. 

Also dry :(

So soon to the junction!

More dry trail, even up and down stream of where it crosses the trail.

Taking a break to look down at the water.

I haven't been out this way in a number of years - we usually take the junction. 

But today, I got all the way to the bridge. 

Bridge selfie! I decided to continue hiking for a while past the bridge.

While water may have been low, there was a profusion of wildflowers. 

What ho! There's water on this side of the creek!

And there's even some that's flowing over the trail. 

I almost turned back here, but ended up descending for a bit. I decided to turn back before I got to the crossing because I was ready. 

Hoofprints! I wasn't first on the trail this morning.

Heading back, I passed by two hikers heading in. 

Scarlet Gilia

I don't get tired of this view. 

I use a point and shoot camera, and I typically stick with the auto-focus. It doesn't always want to focus on flowers, especially the small ones. It likes to catch the grass behind instead. So, my trick is to put my hand behind the flower and then hit the auto-focus. Usually I move my hand and then snap it (see below for that version). 

I was glad of a cloudy day, since the waterless side of the trail can get mighty hot in the sun. The rocks on the trail reflect the heat right into your face. 

The road's in sight, I'm almost there. 

Closing in on my last steps. 

Back to the trailhead. 

According to the Gaia GPS track I recorded, I hiked 7.6 miles in 3 hours and 23 minutes. Not bad for a day's hike. 

Back to CrossFit

I had planned on increasing the number of CrossFit classes I was attending after my vaccination was fully effective, but I went to visit my family first. Unfortunately, I ended up bringing home a sinus infection and ended up delaying my return to CrossFit by a little over a week. 

But I got back on Monday, and returned on both Tuesday and Wednesday! My body aches just about everywhere, and it's lovely. 

I mean, painful, but also lovely. I like the feeling of having worked my muscles hard. Sure, some things become inconvenient, like raising my arms above shoulder height to reach for anything or climbing stairs or really anything to do with my legs... 

I am avoiding running, so far, at CrossFit, but that's mostly because I can run at home (and I do). I try to do things at CrossFit that I can't do at home, when I have the option. Like, whenever we do a choose-your-own tabata, I try to do something with handstand holds, since I don't have a lot of room for that at my home, or something with the pull up bar. This morning I alternated hangs with straight leg sit-ups (because the handstand wall was occupied). 

Getting up at 4:30 in the morning and then driving to CrossFit is not as easy as getting up at 4:30 in the morning and walking to CrossFit. It takes about the same amount of travel time, but the walk was just easier to get myself to do. The car has so many steps! Getting the keys, the wallet, dressing for a cold car, considering whether I will bug the neighbors by turning my headlights on while I'm still in the stall (they got blackout curtains for their parking lot facing window, but don't always use them), picking a radio station with a song that I like and/or tolerate, and then there's the driving part. Stoplights and turns and the half dozen or so other cars on the road at that hour. 

It could be worse, but I used to have it so much better. Just, exit the house, take a right, cross the street, and boom! Time to exercise! 

And, of course, the new location opened during the pandemic so I couldn't even transition smoothly from what I was doing to what I was going to do. But I like the way I feel the rest of the day when I do get up and work out like this, so I guess I'll keep on doing it. 

A Brief Foray

When I got back from my travels, I came down with a sinus infection. This was not entirely unexpected, since I had been living with cats for 6 full days, and I am quite allergic to them. I was pretty pleased to have been able to get through the visit with minimal allergy symptoms, but I was punished for petting the kitties when I got home. 

So, I've got a sinus infection, but Ambrose wants to go out and do our first day hike of the season out by Sheep Creek. I still want to get out into the woods, even if I wasn't up for a day hike, so I hauled out my camping chair for the Saturday trip. 

We woke up as early as if I were going to 5 am CrossFit, but rather than doing that (which I couldn't even do, because the first Saturday class is 7 am) we got ready to go out camping. Ambrose made breakfast, and I did my best to get out the door before my tardiness got annoying. I mostly succeeded! 

Though it was dark when we started out, by the time we got the dam the sun was high enough in the sky to provide light - though not quite above our horizon. 

Water levels are pretty low right now, but not the lowest I've ever seen - there's still a buoy or two touching the surface of the water.

As we drove on, we saw a good number of cars already camped out at the beaches and campsite along the road. Twin Springs looked to have some customers. Every time I go by there, I think about renting one of the cabins one of these days just so I can use those hot springs that I've never really gotten a good look at. 

Massive group of vehicles on the beach (mostly RVs and trucks).

The sun starting to creep above the horizon.

Before long, we arrived at the trailhead campsite. I chose the spot nearest the water; Ambrose parked the car. Then he was off to hike a couple miles, and I tried to find a way to stay warm. 

Walking to the trailhead to see Ambrose off warmed me up a bit, so I decided to avoid sitting for a while and just wander around the campsite. I should have brought a trash bag and picker tool, because there was just toilet paper everywhere. I thought I might look for morel mushrooms, just for kicks, because I didn't think there'd be any at this site. But when I wandered outside of the campground, I heard a gunshot, and I decided that my all black attire was not best suited for wandering in the woods if people were shooting. 

Back to the car! 

I dragged the old down blanket out of the car and put it on my camp chair so I could both sit on it and wrap it over myself. I was wearing fleece pants and a down jacket, but without moving around, it got really cold. And the down blanket also helped protect me from the wind. I spent most of the not quite 3 hours before Ambrose came back sitting on the chair, variously facing the sun or the water, and thinking. 

The time passed quickly for me. 

And then he was back, and we headed back home. 

One of my favorite signs - I think I like it even better with the 2 crossed out and replaced by a 4.

Not bad for the first foray of the season. Though I wish I'd been healthy enough to hike rather than sit, just being out in the woods, listening to the river and the wind, makes me happy. 

Running in Illinois

I recently visited the house where I grew up. For now, my dad is still living there, so I was able to spend some time in the old neighborhood. Although there was a brief time in high school when I tried to run around this area, for the most part, I didn't run when I lived there. 

But on this visit, I wanted to get a run in. And the weather actually cooperated, giving me a warm, but not too warm, sunny day to run. I picked a route that would give me a bit more than 2 miles and headed out in the humid air. 

Similarly to where I live in Boise, there are sporadic sidewalks in Winfield. I started out running in the street, but after a my second turn I came up to a busy road that did have sidewalks. I only ran by a few people while on the sidewalk and we were easily able to avoid each other. Since I'm fully vaccinated, I didn't take a mask on this run, but I did move aside for others or thank others for moving aside for me. 

Initially, my plan was to continue on streets the whole time, but when I came close to my planned turn at Beecher, I came upon a park that I hadn't thought about in years. I cut through the park and took a picture of the gazebo. I remember there being a lot of excitement when that was built. 

Then I ran past the school where I attended kindergarten through 8th grade. All the old playground equipment had been replaced. Makes sense, I suppose, since even when I was going there, the wood pieces had a tendency to splinter, and the metal ones were uncoated, leading to intense heat in the sun. It would have been nice to conquer the old monkey bars, but they actually got rid of those while I was still at that school, cutting them down after some little kid fell and hit their head. 

There was more sidewalk than I was expecting in this area, covering the street between the school and the park on East Street. I saw a mom and her kids coming out of that park and I smiled at them as I lumbered past. 

I wasn't feeling the best on this run. I had not slept well the prior night, and I hadn't slept nearly enough. But the air was very moist, and that was a nice change of pace. I checked the mail on my way back. The mail boxes on that street are all on one side - the side opposite of my childhood home, so it made sense to me to pick it up since I was already on that side of the street for running. 

Overall, it was a pretty good run though. I got some miles in and wasn't going too slow. If I had stayed there another day, I would probably have run more while I was out there.