Mon 21 Dec 2009
Drove out to Big Bend. The people I was with aren't as hardcore hikers as I am, so we'll take it easy this trip.
Did the Window Trail (5.2 mi round trip, 985 ft elevation gain) with my KSOs. I did not expect the beating my feet got in those shoes. By the end of the trail, I could hardly hobble back to the trailhead. Resolved to go in Feiyues and my thickest hiking soxen for the rest of the trip.
Diet was crap.
Saw some javelinas and wild turkeys! And some mule deer and white tail deer, but those aren't as exciting.
Tue 22 Dec 2009
Easy day. Did the Hot Springs Trail (1 mi) and the Boquillas Canyon Trail (1.4 mi). Diet sucked again, but I'm getting lots of sleep.
Wed 23 Dec 2009
Did the Lost Mine Trail (4.8 mi, 1,090 ft). It gets pretty hard to breathe up at 6,850 ft above sea level! Managed to get some shots of a western scrub-jay. My diet seems to consist only of sausage, chicken, tortillas, and citrus fruits.
It snowed up in the Chisos basin. Very pretty.
Thu 24 Dec 2009
Hiked the Grapevine Hills Trail (2 mi, 240 ft). Identified a ground squirrel hole and a desert tortoise hole on the way. Science!
My companions were exhausted already, but I still had some wanderlust, so I set out for the Laguna Meadows Trail as they napped. Ended up running out of daylight, and not wanting to be a solo hiker at dusk in mountain lion country, I switched gears and ended up doing the Basin Loop (1.8 mi, 350 ft) instead. Had a tiiiny bit of daylight left at the end, so I took my camera on the scenic Window View Loop (1/4 mi) and got some shots of the amber sunset on the cold stone.
Fri 25 Dec 2009
Got back from Big Bend. Saw some foxen and like a gajillion stars on the way back. Decided to start back up on training.
EDT block 1: 43 ring push ups + 29 knees to elbows (+3/+3)
EDT block 2: 14 PPPUs + 51 inverted rows (baseline/+4)
I really had to push through the end of these blocks. Feeling I'd graduated from PPPU negatives, I've switched them to full PPPUs. I'm still a little uncertain on the form, though.
