I'm Still Here

Not that anyone would be missing my posts yet, (Only family knows about this blog right now) but I haven't actually died. December has happened and at the Scout Office, that means "Humbug". Our end-of-the-year-charade sucks all the joy out of life; it's the month where we turn our high and holy principles into an ego-driven paper-chase to secure the next career move for the region staff. If you think that sounds cynical, you should know I have one of the more charitable attitudes towards year-end membership among my colleagues.

I haven't been completely inactive in the getting in shape department though. I've been to the gym more days than I've been on the trail, but I did get out yesterday and took a few snaps of the results of the latest snow and apparently, wind storm. The snow was blown into odd shapes and then frozen into the sculpted shapes you can (maybe) see in the hillside photo. I seemed to be the first to travel this stretch of the Shoreline Trail since the weather event since I was making first tracks on the bench portion of the trail until I got to the area of the "rest bench"; the goal of my hikes on busy days. There, there were footprints from folks who started around Strongs Canyon or the Fitness Trail above the university and make a little loop of the high and low segments of the Shoreline Trail.

The snow was crusty, and in places I could even stand on the top, but in most places I cracked through the crust. I get lots more exercise in the snow than I do in the dirt. All the better to work off the effects of all the crap people bring into the office this time of the year and that I'm obliged to sample.

Finally, driven to the gym

It's been some time since I posted to this thing. Life's been frantic. I have had to choose to exercise or blog about it. My last hike was on Thanksgiving day. I went up the Indian Trail with my daughter and my son-in-law. (Married to a different daughter.) It was dark before we got back to the car, but a nice hike with a great sunset at the end. My daughter does heroic things at the gym and takes a pilates class that would kick a running back's butt, but she doesn't hike and it was gratifying to see her panting along behind me. So much for stupid pleasures.

The weather has been nasty this week and so I've been back to the gym. It's boring compared to a walk in the woods, but it beats having snow fill your ears while you exercise. I listen to audio books with my ipod while on the treadmill, but in the weight room I can't because I'm not clever enough to count reps and keep track of the story. I spend an hour or so, shower and go back to work or home, whatever the case may be. Perhaps the weather will improve. It'll be nice to walk in the snow. The bare trees and dead grass were getting dreary.

Short Week

This week has been frantic because for work, it's only three days long. I'll get my six days of exercise in though. Monday was supposed to be stormy. I had planned on going to the gym but when I got through in the afternoon the weather was still fine. I took a hike up the Wheeler Creek Trail that begins at the base of Pineview Dam. If I have time I like to walk up the old Art Nord Drive until it intersects with the canyon that Wheeler Creek comes down. Then up that canyon to Refrigerator Canyon. Then my route turns left and intersects the bike trail that comes down from the resort and parallels the old Snow Basin Highway until it hooks up with the Art Nord trail at the trail head in Snow Basin. (The Snow Basin, not the ski resort.). Then I follow the trail down to the starting point. It's about four and a half miles and gains and loses 1200 feet or so.

It's mid-November and the terrain is a bit drear. The only leaves left on the trees are brown, just waiting for one more blow to come down. The creek tumbles down the canyon but its bed runs through totally dead vegetation. There's not much in the way of evergreen along this path except for the fir trees on the North and East slopes. I saw several deer though, including a big four-point buck. It's antlers were huge for only having four tines to a side. I took a picture but he had already decided he wasn't interested in me and so all you can make out is his white rear. You'd see nothing if I shrunk it to fit this blog.

Yesterday I went up the Indian Trail. Starting at the 22nd street trail head, I hike up until I get into the cliffs that overlook Warm Water Canyon. The last few hundred feet are off the official trail but there's a good path through the cliff bands that leads to an overlook of Ogden Canyon. It takes me about a half hour to go this far. It's a little less than a mile and a half and gains about 800 feet. It's a dramatic trail. You end up in the cliffs above the narrows of the canyon. The trail is well-maintained but if there's any snow or ice on it, it can't be negotiated safely without an ice axe in a couple of spots at the top of steep gullies that plunge down to the road. If you ever got sliding or tumbling in one of these couloirs, you'd be a mess to get ready for the funeral.

Tomorrow is Turkey Day. I promise to be semi-good and to get some exercise after dinner. On Friday or Saturday I'll probably drive to Star Valley in Wyoming. We have a tradition of going out on the Bridger Forest and killing our own Christmas Trees. They sell the permits in Afton. After driving there and back including meals on the road--we can't seem to get excited about packing all our meals--it's the most expensive $5.00 Christmas Tree you'll ever see. But they're guaranteed fresh, and it's a tradition. Good exercise too.

To The Top Again

In my last post I mentioned a hike up Taylor Canyon. Four and a half months ago I hiked on that trail to the top of Malan Height and the next day I couldn't sit for more than a few minutes at a time. That began a months-long debacle with my lower back that was about as scary a health issue I've ever personally experienced.

The hike had nothing to do with the infection in my spine, but during the weeks of being a near--actually I was a genuine invalid--just not permanently so, I wondered sometimes if I'd ever again have the simple pleasure of hiking to the top of Malan Height. Well, yesterday I finished my chores and drove to the top of 27th St. in Ogden with the intent to hike at least to the overlook on the Malan Basin Trail. Well, it was a nice day, and when I got to the overlook I felt good and had some daylight left so I continued. Before I knew it I was at the top. What an incredible rush! When I was released from the care of Dr. Winters, the neurosurgeon who took care of me, he told me I could do what I felt I could do physically, but not to be discouraged if it took six months or longer to really get to feeling like I was on the mend. So even though the Malan Height hike is just a 2 1/2 hour exercise hike, I felt like I had accomplished a lot.

It's two miles one way to the top and you'll put 2000 ft underneath you in the process. Good exercise and a great view for a reward.

I decided to go for a little variety today. Instead of driving to the Beus trail head I went to the top of 27th st. in Ogden and walked up Taylor Canyon. This is probably the trail I'm most familiar with. I used to come up here almost exclusively because when I first started hiking the trails above town for exercise, this one was by far the best maintained and longest of them all. It still gets more traffic than the other canyons.

I only had an hour, but today I would have gone farther if I could. Once you switchback out of the bottom of the canyon the trail climbs steeply to an overlook about 1000 feet above the end of the road. It takes me about 45 minutes to get to this point. It's really steep. In places the trail is nearly knee-deep from the erosion. It's a knee-buster on the way back down too, but the view is great, and the hike gives you a feeling of having gotten somewhere for the effort. Another 40-45 minutes (for a fat guy) gets you to the top of Malan's Peak, or Malan's Height to be more precise. It looks like a peak from town but it's actually the buttress end of a long ridge coming down from Mt. Ogden. That's a great hike. Marvellous views from the top both across the valley and up to Mount Ogden and up and down the range. The trail continues into Malan's Basin which is a great "cool and shady" on a hot summer day.

My favorite hike around here if I have half a day is to hike up Waterfall Canyon and then scramble up through the notch in the cliff just south of the waterfall. From there you pick your way up the draw until you can't go farther without getting into the scrub oak. Then you climb along the edge of the cliffs to the divide between Waterfall Canyon and the lower portions of Malan's Basin where the creek cuts through the rocks then plunges over the cliff forming the waterfall the canyon is named for. You stay well above the waterfall though, and pick your way across the top of a little cirque basin and over the edge into a deep forest of fir trees then down to the creek. From there you can follow a poor trail up into the basin, meeting up with the Malan's Basin Trail (Taylor Canyon) near the site of the old hotel that the Malans once operated up here.

Of course then you hike out of the basin, over Malan Peak and back down Taylor Canyon. Now you can finish the loop on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. It's a great hike. Lots of exercise, a 125-foot waterfall, off-trail class 3 scrambling, a shady basin, superlative views from the peak and a well-made, if steep, trail back to the car.

Nothing like that today though. 30 minutes up and then 30 down was all for me. Meetings to go to. People to see.

Walk in the Dark

I should have gone to the gym today. I didn't have a chance to exercise until after 4:00. But I went up the canyon instead. It was dusk by the time I got back to the car. It was dusk before I started hiking back down the canyon. Even so, I passed lots of people hiking up the canyon as I was going down. Two guys were running up. I think when I get to 200 lbs, I'm going to run up the canyon too. There was a man coming up with two little dogs and three people with two big dogs. I guess these were doing what I was doing; taking a walk in the woods in the dark, against the day--not to distant now--when to do so will require wading through the snow.

There was ice along the shore of the creek, and on branches that hang over it in places where there is water spray from the little cascades. I pulled the sleeves of my jacket down over my hands because it was so chilly. I'll need to put some light gloves in the car.

The day was almost done as you can see from the photo. Day went down like the year is going down. Another six weeks and it'll be New Years.

I'll still be hiking.

The Committee Expands

Today's exercise was another walk on the Shoreline Trail. It has been drizzling lightly all day and I got sprinkled a couple of times on the hike. I much prefer that to drowning in my own sweat when it's 100 degrees outside. As you can see, the view across the valley was mixed; mostly low, dark clouds but with enough sun poking through the holes to light up parts of the scene, especially over the lake. It was hard to capture the mood of the afternoon with my little camera, and shrinking the photo to fit the website won't help. You know the type of afternoon; sullen, with shafts of light that make parts of the valley floor shine silvery against the otherwise dark landscape. It was an altogether satisfying way to spend an hour.

The bench in the photo was probably put there by a scout working on his Eagle rank. Fifteen minutes spent on that bench can bring you the solution to lots of the world's problems. Today I didn't sit down. I was in a hurry to get to a meeting, and besides, the rain had dampened it to the point of being uninviting.

Our high adventure committee expanded this evening. We met with the Camp Loll committee chairman, Kim Bott. He brought lots of great ideas to the table. Foremost of these in my opinion, was an enthusiasm to create a "journey" for units preparing to participate in the treks. He even mentioned, prominently, the need to become physically fit in order to enjoy the adventures.

A week into my "fitness journey", I've lost 2 lbs. I still have a few to go.

Today I helped with the council Venturing committee's rock climbing activity at Preston Valley in Logan Canyon. We had a little over a dozen of our roughly 7000 Venturers at this activity. The rock spire is named the Preston Valley Pinnacle. It was a climb of about 40 feet from the ledge you can see the boys on. The climb is impressive because once you get to the top you are looking down about 150 feet to the base of the rock on the other side and over twice that to the bottom of the canyon.Thanks to David Deakin for making this activity possible by leading the pitch and setting the top anchor and then encouraging the climbers while Jason Eborn and myself take credit by belaying the climbers.

Yesterday was one of the busiest days of the year for us at the Scout Office. Auction day. It's the culmination of two to three months of pretty intense work. Most of us are out procuring items to be auctioned. Some have assignments for the "show" itself. Still, I managed to take an hour in the afternoon for me. I took a hike on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. It was a hazy day but the view from the mountainside was better than the one from Washington Blvd. I have to maintain the integrity to treat myself with care in spite of a hectic schedule. I know from personal experience that overall, I can accomplish much more when I get in my exercise and other personal care things done than when I neglect myself and the most important relationships in my life in favor of saving the world through my career. the Photo is taken above about 40th st. looking back towards Farmington.

Back to the gym today. It would have been a great day for a hike, but I needed to restart my weight training. I haven't done lower body resistance training since by back got buggered. I did a verrrry light workout.
The first time I did resistance training outside of school was when I got the book Body for Life by Bill Phillips. I'm a semi-believer in what he says. I won't summarize. The book's worth the read. Anyway he advocates all-out resistance exercises as in 4 sets with increasing weight and decreasing reps, followed by two sets with low weight but high reps until your muscles are shot. It's a good system for building strength and mass. Just don't start right in and do it your first day. I did it and was in pain the next day. On the second day I couldn't move. Take a month or six weeks and build up to this kind of self-abuse. I hope he mentions this in any second editions.
So today I just did a couple of sets for each muscle group until I felt that glow that comes before the actual burn. This way, when I do get back to all-out workouts, my muscles will be in a recovering mode and I won't debilitate myself.
Followed the weight training with a half hour of treadmill and audio book. Boring. But I did my duty to myself.

Escape from the gym

I got my hike done today. After all the blather yesterday about the wonders of a health club membership one would think that I would run right back to the gym today. It's not that I dislike my club, it's just that the TVs there can't compete with the little creek up Beus Canyon, the spring in Taylor Canyon, the views accross the lake from the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. I could go on. I took this picture today of Beus Creek today. It won't really tell you the whole story of the canyon though. You can't hear the trickle of the water or smell the oak leaves turning into soil. I'd rather hike than eat.

When I hike this time of year I like to go at lunch time. I leave the office in So. Ogden and within 5-10 minutes, I'm on the trail. I hike up (!) for 30 minutes. Then I come down. Because the trails are kind of steep (!), I can return in 20 minutes or so. I eat my lunch in the car while driving back to the office. The whole process takes about an hour. I realize most folks don't have this kind of middle-of-the-day flexibility. Some parks or businesses have walking tracks outside. My wife works at McKay-Dee Hospital and they have one. Hill AF Base has a big one. And in Roy, where I live, there are several in the parks. There are also river parkways and the old D&RG railroad line is being converted to a trail. These are perhaps not as rustic and pleasant as the foothill and canyon trails, but they beat an elliptical machine all to pieces. I think so anyway. And many are lighted in the evening and so can be safely used at night; especially if you go in a crowd.

I have a membership to a health club and I like it. But it would be a shame to get my money's worth most of the time.

My Odyssey Begins--A Little Inauspiciously

Today was a typical day at work. First on the agenda was a breakfast meeting. Today’s the day I go live on this new blog and so it was easy to make good choices at the buffet. The sausage, biscuits and gravy, and syrupy waffles called to me but I answered by having a few scrambled eggs, country-style hashbrowns, (they looked less fatty than the shredded ones that looked tastier), and a couple of strips of bacon. Yes I know bacon is not diet food, but the thin strips are not as deadly as my favorite: link sausage, and there was no ham.
I spent the rest of the day driving around the valley meeting contacts. I ate lunch on the road. In my case, this means literally eating while I drive down the highway. I realize that it’s a habit more serious than cholesterol, but time’s always short. Since eating in the car means fast food, I made the best choice I could; soft bean burritos from Taco Maker. They are about 275 calories, about 30% of those coming from fat and they’re full of fiber and complex carbohydrates. Not the best lunch but better than a Big Mac and Fries.
Oh, for the record: I weighed in at 257 lbs. this morning. Just thought you'd like to know.
I intended to go for a hike in one of the canyons above Ogden, but by the time I got time to do it, it was nearly dark. So I went to the gym for the first time since about May.
I’m not that big of a slacker actually. In the spring it’s hard for a Boy Scout to choose the gym over a hike in the woods for exercise. And in early July I began a real health-disaster. I have a bad back and it flairs up from time to time. On the first Sunday in July I left church early because I couldn’t sit still. By the end of the next day I couldn’t sit at all. To make a long story short, it turns out I had a bacterial infection in my spine. It involved three disks and the surrounding muscles. I spent 3 days in the hospital and a month on some really evil I.V. antibiotics. It was September before I could put in a full day at work and they weren’t quality days until the middle of October. So that’s why I gave the Ogden Athletic Club $40 a month for five months without darkening the doorway. Anyway, it wasn’t as pleasant as a hike, but with my ipod playing an audio book, it was tolerable and after just one visit, it feels like I never stopped going. A gym is a nice option for days with nasty weather or when I get wrapped up in work etc. Since it’s open weekdays from 4:30 to 11:00, it’s hard not to be able to get in a workout if you want one. If you can afford it, a gym membership is a great asset for getting in shape.
I could say more but this is a long post and so I’ll revisit health clubs another time.
Biggest thing if you’re going to get in shape…start. Don’t wait for a perfect time like a new month or the end of the holidays or even the start of the week. Just start. You can make it perfect as you go.