Hiking Spy Rock

My shoulder's sore. My hip is clicking. I have a blister the size of my big toe on my little toe and a pulled groin muscle. Other than that, I'm ship shape and happy after a trailblazing 9 mile trek around Spy Rock in Franklin County, Arkansas. The loop around is about 6 miles, but Angel, her brother, and myself decided to add on a side trip up to Spy Rock which tacked on another 2 miles. On top of that, the last leg of the trail back to the car was too overgrown to traverse, so we had to track around onto a forest service road which added on another mile.

Our total ascent was just a bit shy of 1900 feet with an altitude change of over 1000 feet in a total of 5 hours. The numbers make me feel better about my ass being kicked so bad by this hike. I don't think I'll be getting on the treadmill until at least Wednesday.

The trail was pretty nice. Its not very well traveled and was in need of some clearing and maintenance but that was a small price to pay for not seeing another soul all afternoon. There was a storm that blew by the day before the hike which made a few of the little tributaries trickle, but there were no moving waterfalls, unfortunately. We may have to go back in the spring as there were several places that I'm sure will look very nice in the wet season.

We were able to add a few shots to our mushroom series. Check out a few of them below. Here's a link to all the decent shots of the day.

Here is also a map of where they were all taken.

Favorite Things: Nalgene

I have no idea how it's said, (nal-geen, nail-jean??) but I do know that I absolutely love these bottles. They're extra tough, dishwasher safe, widemouthed, and last forever. I've always despised the old squeeze type water bottles due to the fact that the water always ended up tasting like plastic and I never could drink from them without inhaling a bunch of air as well (I know... I'm "special").

These Nalgene bottles are made specifically so that plasticy taste is NOT leeched into your beverage. I dig the wide mouth variety because it's easier to add a bunch of ice for hot days and I just prefer to drink from them over the narrower variety.

Sam's Club has a pretty good deal on a Brita water pitcher packaged with two narrow mouth Nalgene bottles for about $25. If you're lucky, you may find the same deal I did on closeout from Sam's: a Brita on-tap water filter with an extra filter plus two wide mouth 32 oz. Nalgenes for $15. Awesome deal.

Hiking Lake Fort Smith

Angel and I decided to go for a hike today at the recently reopened Lake Fort Smith State Park. The weather was beautiful but the park was a little bit of a disappointment. I recall riding mountain bikes here when I was younger, but unfortunately, most of the trails I used to run with my dad were flooded by the expansion of the lake. The only trail that remains is the beginning leg of the Ozark Highland Trail. To be honest, my legs were aching before we even began from jogging on the new treadmill, but we set out anyway.

We only made it about 1.5 miles up the trail and back. It's a fairly rugged trail in some parts, but isn't too strenuous. I got some really cool pictures along the way. Angel kept pointing out mushrooms as we went so we amassed a great little series. I also got to play with a new technique that I've only tested before called Geotagging. Basically, you turn on a gps that has the capability to timestamp while you walk around and snap pictures with a digital camera that has the capability to timestamp jpegs. Put the two data logs together with a nifty little application and presto-bango, the GPS data is embedded in the picture file enabling programs like Google Earth, Picasa, and several other programs and services to plot the pictures on a map. Check out my example.

Here are a few of the mushroom series pictures. To see more, click here...

Day 1: Assembly & Asphyxia

Well, the treadmill has arrived. I went online to track the shipment of my beloved new treadmill this afternoon and discovered with glee that it was already in the local distribution warehouse. I called the warehouse to see if they could deliver it this evening, but alas, they would not be able to schedule a drop off until Monday. "That simply will not do," I said in a huff as I hung up the phone (in a huff), borrowed a suitable transport (also in a huff), drove to the warehouse (huffy as well), placed my order sheet and identification in the hands of a very nice warehouse worker lady (only slightly in a huff, but still in a huff, regardless), carted my prize out the door (huffing and puffing), wedged it into the back of my suitable transport (huffily cursing), and drove it home (no huffing there). The box weighed slightly under 17 tons, so I was barely able to haul it into the house. I had to take an end-over-end approach to bringing it in which was productive... and entertaining for my useless neighbors.

Once inside, I assembled the parts uneventfully and began to explore my new workout toy with the curiosity and vigor of a 12 year old with a Playboy.

I am severely out of shape.

One half mile at 4.5 mph was enough for me. In my defense, my workout began at 1 A.M. after a full day of work, and the assembly/delivery of said product. That is all in my defense. I also run like a friggin' Clydesdale, stomping and clomping my way around with an occassional shuffle and stumble. We'll see how it all goes tomorrow.

Sign of Apocalypse

I just ordered a treadmill, so I'm well on my way to becoming a lab rat. I did, however, get a great deal at $599 for a 2.25 horsepower motor and a 300 pound weight limit. The weight limit was important considering I've grown to become a quasi-fat-ass in the last three to four years.

In 2004, a year after I got hitched, I weighed in around 190, which is a weight at which I feel comfortable. I'm about 6'1 and still carry a lot of muscle mass built from soccer and karate way back in the day. I now weigh approximately 240 unpretty, James Gandolfini breathing pounds.

The wife and I were planning to go to Yosemite this October to take in all the sights, including Mono Lake. Unfortunately, in my present physical condition, I'd be more prone to take in all the fresh air, flat on my ass about a quarter of a mile up any trail. Thus, we have decided to delay our trip until 2009.

My goals in the meantime are thus: To weigh fewer than 200 pounds by the beginning of 2009. To be able to run/jog for at least 5 miles non-stop by 2009.

That second one is a hefty goal for me. I've never been much of a distance runner, even when I played soccer. I always seemed to be more accustomed to extended series of sprints rather than settling in for a long haul.

So we'll see how it goes. The wife and I have made a solemn pact to each other, as this is something of an anniversary gift to ourselves, to make sure that this path away from pudginess never be littered with hanging clothes. Repent!