Eat Drink Run Woman

As I look around my fair city and surrounding area, I’m baffled how I managed to take such a long break from exercise. We have hundreds of miles of trails for running, hiking and biking (both road and mountain); mountains galore for downhill and cross-country skiing; myriad waterways for kayaking; a plethora of lakes for swimming and diving; both natural and man-made rock walls for climbing — you name it — Seattle teems with opportunities.

Prior to moving here my fitness activities were somewhat limited. I enjoyed biking and swimming, but nothing too strenuous. I hiked regularly while living in Juneau, Alaska, but my trips were always short day trips (although given the mountainous terrain, they were far from easy). Once in Seattle I started running, but again, it was fairly limited (it tapered off after I ran a half marathon in the early 90s). I then got into mountain biking, but gave that up after a couple of years.

My darling has always been physically fit (we met through mountain biking), so in the beginning of our relationship we were quite active. He loves being out in the middle of nowhere, so when he suggested a hike, I jumped at the chance. However, given it had been years since I strapped on hiking boots, we decided to take a day hike closer to home. The Granite Mountain trail seemed perfect: it’s 4 miles long with a 3,800 elevation gain. It not only offers spectacular views, the trailhead is less than an hour from Seattle.

I was rather fit at the time (I’m not too sure of the year — but I believe it was 9 or 10 years ago), so the climb didn’t bother me. However, about an hour in I started feeling blisters on my heels. Unfortunately I carried no moleskin with me; I just soldiered on. A half hour later (slightly more than halfway up) I couldn’t bear it any longer; my heels were burning in pain. Although disappointed, we decided it best to turn around.

The next time we tried the trail — not sure if it was the same summer or the next — we brought a friend along. But we got started late and she had to get back to town by early evening. We made it to approximately the same spot as the first time and decided we better head back. We were jinxed!

Fast forward to the present.
Because I’ve convinced my darling to join me on my crazy marathon adventure, I wanted to pay him back somehow. He’s been working at a frenetic pace, so he was craving an overnight hike where we’d camp under the stars: no cell phones, no traffic, no city noise whatsoever. Because I’m the camping/hiking novice, the trip was his to plan. Problem is, he’s NOT a planner.

Friday comes and we were still deciding where to go (we planned on leaving the next day). To me that seemed like a recipe for disaster; we’re always hearing about hikers who get lost due to poor planning. In the end we decided perhaps a day hike would be more reasonable. Not only would it not require I go out and buy more gear (although you know how I LOVE that!), it would also mean my darling could get caught up on a few projects. After researching a few options, we decided it was time I finally conquered Granite Mountain.

The forecast called for overcast skies; although that would impede the views from the summit, it would keep us cool. However, as we headed out of Seattle on I-90 it totally cleared into a bright blue sky. After stopping at the ranger station for our day pass we arrived at the trailhead a little after 11 a.m. The parking lot was already full, but fortunately we found a spot not too far away. Loaded with our Nalgene bottles of water and Clif Bars, we were off (we also packed a gourmet picnic lunch of baguette, genoa salami, cambozola cheese, arugula and basil).

The first part of the trail is in the shade of the forest, but within a half hour I was peeling off my long-sleeved shirt. There are few flat spots, so I practiced my “rest step” to keep my legs somewhat fresh. While the route offers incredible views, the downside is you can hear the traffic on I-90 for most of the way (we kept telling ourselves it was the sound of a rushing stream!). Just as we were getting to the spot where we’ve had to turn around in the past I could feel the tell-tale burn of a blister. Goshdarnitall! I had tried to preempt it by putting moleskin on both heels, but to no avail. Fortunately I had more with me, so I soon stopped to refresh it.

About an hour and a half in we spotted the fire lookout; however, it was obvious we had a lot farther to hike before we reached it. Although most of the snow was melted, a few snowbanks remained; I grabbed a handful of snow and rubbed it all over my sweaty arms, face and the back of my neck to cool me down.

When we got within less than a half hour from the summit I saw a couple of hikers scrambling over the boulder field just underneath the lookout. “Uh oh,” I thought. “I didn’t sign up for this.” By now my legs were starting to tire, plus I was really hungry. Although I didn’t want to admit defeat, I truly wasn’t looking forward to traversing over those boulders. But then we saw that the trail continued on to the right; hooray! It required hiking over a few boulders, but nothing like the boulder field.

A few minutes later, and I was standing underneath the lookout. HALLELUJAH! The breeze cooled us down as we dove into our picnic lunch. We were surrounded by mountain peaks (and even got a peek-a-boo glimpse of Mt. Rainier; the pictures on my Lumix just don’t do it justice), plus we could see several alpine lakes (the area we were in is called the Alpine Lake Region). After sufficient nourishment we started our hike down.

While hiking up can be a tough go, hiking down is often worse. My already tired legs started feeling like rubber within half an hour. And while I no longer had to worry about chafing my heels, I was faced with a worse problem: my second to last little toes on each foot were getting squashed (I think this was just the second time I had worn those boots). Once we were out of the boulders I was able to plant my foot so as not to aggravate them, but I could tell they were really bruised. Oh well, that’s the price to pay. We made it back to our truck a little less than six hours after we started, diving into the remaining pastries from our breakfast.

It’s now three days later, and I think I can FINALLY walk up and down stairs without grimacing!