Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Chalise Creek

Well, I have completed my 3 mountains that I set as a goal to climb this year.  That is not going to stop me from doing more though.  I am looking forward to the hike again next week with the group here in town.  I have really enjoyed these hikes and getting to know new people.


Yesterday, there were 17 of us on the hike, so lots of people I have never met before.  We hiked up Chalise Creek, near the Bugaboos.   It was a good 12 km hike with 630 m elevation gain. The first half was quite moderate, and my most favorite part of the trail because of the scenery.  We hiked in for about 2 hours along the creek, with rushing falls, fragrant meadows, green fuzzy moss, beautiful wild flowers, and the scent of the forest.....oh so sweet.  It was amazing. The group moves at a fairly good pace, and I could have stopped so many times to just take it all in.  I stayed up near the front of the line on the way up, but on the way down I stayed at the back so I could take it slow and take time to look at the scenery.

 The second part of the hike took us up a lot of elevation gain in the hour or more.  It slowed everyone down, yet we didn't stop, but rather just kept up a steady pace.  We went through this beautiful open forest of tamarack.  That lovely shade of green everywhere we looked took my breath away.  Across the valley we caught a good look at the Bugaboo spires.  The view at the top was of local ridges and a lake below.  It filled my soul with gratitude for being there.  Any day out in the mountains is wonderful.  We didn't stay long at the top as 3 of the group had turned back near the start of the hike, and most felt obligated to get back down to them.
The last part going up was steep which meant going down was to be rough on my knees.  I have noticed this summer however, that I haven't had any issues with my knees.  It could be due to the Keto lifestyle that I have been following.  High protein and fat, and low carbs.  It has done wonders for my hip, taking away all of the pain I used to have, so no reason why it wouldn't help my knees as well.  So going down at the start, was all good.  Great workout for the legs.  About half hour into the descent, I started to get pain in my hip flexor.  The pain gradually got worse.  I remembered a black belt class when Sifu Brinker taught us to move our energy through our body.  I started to try this.  I would breath in, then on the exhale, visualize my energy moving down to my hip flexor.  It actually worked.  As long as I stayed focused on it, it did me wonders.  But hiking down a mountain requires you keep your focus on the ground and where you place your feet, so my focus on my energy would come and go. I made it down without too much trouble, or anyone else even knowing what I had done.  I am not really certain exactly what I did, but I remember being at a fairly steep switch back, and loosing my footing a bit when I came around the bend, so I ran down a few steps to stop myself from slipping.   That is the only thing that sticks out in my mind as being out of the ordinary.

 Today it is still sore, but not much I can do.  I can't sit around all day.  It's when I step forward with my left leg and my right leg is fully extended behind me, that I feel the discomfort.  It has less than a week to get better as I plan on attending the hike next Tues.  May be my last one of the summer.  :( 

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