Hike #1 was grueling. It was harder than I thought. I huffed and puffed like a lifelong smoker even though I’ve never smoked in my life. But I kept a strong pace and tried my hardest not to stop to photograph every blooming wildflower, but time was not on my side. Sweaty, tired and satisfied with the trek up Echo Mountain, I turned around soon after sunset. There’s one thing to be hot and tired during the day, but on a trail alone at night? Stumbling the additional half mile to the Echo Mountain peak wasn’t worth risking my safety.
The turn around point. I am holding a card with the number one on it. Maybe I will make this a theme of the 100 hikes? We'll see.
What I learned on the hike:
- I’m indeed out of shape. This project is going to be an uphill battle (no pun intended) but I’m up for the challenge.
- I hike downhill a lot better and longer than I hike uphill. Some may think this is obvious thanks to the power of gravity, but hiking downhill uses different muscles than hiking uphill and many find it to be tough.
- Hiking with music has its positives and negatives. I enjoy music that motivates me to hike, but I miss out on the sounds of nature. I’ll have to think about how to solve this in the future.
- Although I broke two cardinal rules of hiking (Thou Shall Not Hike Alone and Thou Shall Not Hike At Night), I really enjoy hiking alone at night. It’s cooler, quieter, and a lot of wildlife comes out to look for food (soon to be blogged about at my other site, bugshutterbug.com.)
Hike #1 Trip Stats:
- Date of hike: May 5th, 2009
- Location: Sam Merrill Trail - Altadena, California
- Duration: 2 hours, 11 minutes
- Length: 4 miles
- Average speed: 1.8 mph
- Altitude at start: 1, 754 feet
- Altitude max: 2,828 feet
This map was made with the data my GPS captured on the hike.
For a more detailed trip report map, check this out.
The beginning of the hike. My goal for this hike is the peak to the left, which is Echo Mountain (3,207 ft)
I had to stop and photograph the wildflowers. It's how I'm programmed!
A wooly darkling beetle crossing the path. I'll be blogging about the bugs I see on my hikes over at my other site, bugshutterbug.com
A view of San Gabriel Valley from the trail.
#1 by Peter Genovese on May 6, 2009 - 1:51 am
Great start, mah man!
#2 by Beetles in the Bush on May 6, 2009 - 7:09 am
Good luck on your quest, I'll be pulling for you. It was several years ago that I looked in the mirror and said, “Ted, you're turning into a fat, middle-aged dad!” Actually, I had done that on many occasions, but something about that day stuck, and a year later I was 35 lbs lighter and taking 4th place in my very first bike race.
Sorry, I don't have any SoCal hikes to recommend, but if you ever make it to the heartland we've got the Ozark Trail – I've got 250 miles of it done so far.
regards–ted
#3 by GoldmanCafe on May 6, 2009 - 7:44 am
Congrats on a great start!
#4 by Kolby on May 6, 2009 - 9:51 am
Hey Ted! Thanks for the support.
I'll be blogging on bugshutterbug.com soon on the many bugs I found on the way down the mountain, including my first ironclad beetle!
#5 by Kolby on May 6, 2009 - 9:52 am
thanks!
#6 by Cameron on May 6, 2009 - 10:21 am
1 down! Nicely done with getting the site up so quickly AND jumping right into your first hike. That's a good amount of vertical feet for a first hike!
#7 by Jonathan on May 6, 2009 - 11:02 am
This reminds a lot of the “Where the hell is Matt?” site (http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/)! I really like it… you should come up with something recognizable, something unique… Maybe you could do a cartwheel at the top of every hike and capture it on video for us!
Nice site, Kolby–you continue to impress me not only with your dedication to your goals, but also with the cool websites you're doing!
#8 by Kolby on May 6, 2009 - 11:50 am
Thanks, C2! Yeah, it's a little embarrassing to see myself so sweaty and breathing hard after just a quarter of a mile, but it does start climbing pretty quickly. I think it's a 1,400-foot climb in just 2 1/2 miles. But I'm sure you know that, Mr. Mountain Bike Man.
#9 by Kolby on May 6, 2009 - 11:53 am
cartwheels? hahahaha! Yeah, that's exactly what I have the desire to do on a narrow path while I'm tired. I'm afraid any videos of that will help the police know where to start their search and rescue.
But seriously, thanks for the comments and the compliments, Jonathan.
#10 by Beetles in the Bush on May 6, 2009 - 2:09 pm
Good luck on your quest, I'll be pulling for you. It was several years ago that I looked in the mirror and said, “Ted, you're turning into a fat, middle-aged dad!” Actually, I had done that on many occasions, but something about that day stuck, and a year later I was 35 lbs lighter and taking 4th place in my very first bike race.
Sorry, I don't have any SoCal hikes to recommend, but if you ever make it to the heartland we've got the Ozark Trail – I've got 250 miles of it done so far.
regards–ted
#11 by GoldmanCafe on May 6, 2009 - 2:44 pm
Congrats on a great start!
#12 by Kolby on May 6, 2009 - 4:51 pm
Hey Ted! Thanks for the support.
I'll be blogging on bugshutterbug.com soon on the many bugs I found on the way down the mountain, including my first ironclad beetle!
#13 by Kolby on May 6, 2009 - 4:52 pm
thanks!
#14 by Cameron on May 6, 2009 - 5:21 pm
1 down! Nicely done with getting the site up so quickly AND jumping right into your first hike. That's a good amount of vertical feet for a first hike!
#15 by Jonathan on May 6, 2009 - 6:02 pm
This reminds a lot of the “Where the hell is Matt?” site (http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/)! I really like it… you should come up with something recognizable, something unique… Maybe you could do a cartwheel at the top of every hike and capture it on video for us!
Nice site, Kolby–you continue to impress me not only with your dedication to your goals, but also with the cool websites you're doing!
#16 by Kolby on May 6, 2009 - 6:50 pm
Thanks, C2! Yeah, it's a little embarrassing to see myself so sweaty and breathing hard after just a quarter of a mile, but it does start climbing pretty quickly. I think it's a 1,400-foot climb in just 2 1/2 miles. But I'm sure you know that, Mr. Mountain Bike Man.
#17 by Kolby on May 6, 2009 - 6:53 pm
cartwheels? hahahaha! Yeah, that's exactly what I have the desire to do on a narrow path while I'm tired. I'm afraid any videos of that will help the police know where to start their search and rescue.
But seriously, thanks for the comments and the compliments, Jonathan.
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