New Goals

Today, Jen and I hiked Iron Mountain, found it lacking, and then hiked part of Mount Woodson. Part of me wanted to die the entire time, the rest of me wondered where the hill I remembered was. While hiking, we discussed my lack of weight loss currently. Then, we set goals. Well, I set goals some goals for me, Jen set some goals for me, and then she told me she would be very mad at me if I didn't reach the goals we set in the time allotted.

As I need accountability, I am posting the goals here. Hopefully, I will also be blogging about my progress.

Without further ado, here are the goals and rewards:

1. If I lose 20 pounds by January 1, 2013, we will (hopefully) be taking a snowboarding trip to Tahoe.
2. If I am on track by February 1, we will be booking our camping spot for a Half Dome trip this upcoming summer.
3. As long as I have lost 50 pounds by July 2013, we will be hiking Half Dome.

Here's to goals. :)

March New Food: UTC Kebab Cafe

We were hoping to eat Afghan food for March, but the month closed before we were prepared. Instead of potentially delectable Afghan food, we ended up in the UTC food court looking at fairly Americanized Doner Kebab courtesy of Kebab Cafe. Technically, I've eaten Doner Kebab before. However, I was in Germany, a teenager, and a vegetarian. This Doner Kebab was nothing like what I remember. I remember a saucy, cabbagey goodness.  Don't get me wrong, this was good, but it was more like Greek Gyros in a slightly different bread. And, the cabbage was suspiciously missing. Oh, and there was the fact that this Doner had meat in it. That fact is how I justified Doner Kebab as a new food. The gyro flavored Doner made me doubt the validity of this month's new food. However, a scarcity of remaining days in March made me accept Jen's assertion that Doner counts. The final verdict: worth eating as long as you avoid the dirt-flavored hummus.

And.... we are having a hard time finding foods that I have not eaten. It turns out, I've been and adventurous eater for years now. We are revising the B.L.L. to include eating at new, local restaurants or eating a new food once a month.

Snowboarding: Snow Valley

Logan tossed a sippy cup of milk on the floor, it rolled under the seat, and was forgotten. Sealed tight, the milk could have been there for a month. Then, it rolled back out from under the seat, a sunny day built pressure inside of the cup, and KABAM--putrid milk explosion in the Jeep a few days before a planned three hour drive to the mountains. Scott swore to me the smell was out. He scrubbed, and scrubbed, and was confident the Jeep was safe. Here's the thing, though: I have a habit of sticking poor Matt into moldy smelling cars. Just Matt. Not sure why. So, when Matt climbed into putrid milk car, we should have known the smell was going to come back with a vengeance. Within five minutes, the smell attacked, and we drove from San Diego to Snow Valley with the windows down. Unfortunately, Jen, who needed the window open the most, was stuck on the side of the Jeep with the broken window. Somehow, we arrived at Snow Valley in one piece.

When we stepped out of the car, we were hit by a wall of heat. It was unusually warm and we quickly realized we would be snowboarding sans jackets. The snow was slushy, but my heel-side turns were looking nice right out of the gate. Then... in typical fashion, I forgot to get off of the lift. I just didn't stand up in time and when I realized I was about to ride back down the hill, I flung myself off the lift and onto the ground. Obviously, I was prepared to jump! Snow Valley has a great beginner area for practicing jumps, and we headed over to that side of the lower mountain. 

So.... when we wrote "land a jump on a snowboard" on the B.L.L. list, we didn't specify what constitutes landing a jump. That, my friends, is good news for me. After several attempts, I managed to throw myself into the air, getting a lot of height, but consistently "landing" my jumps on my back and sliding down the hill on my butt. Jen, on the other hand, managed this little beauty before we left for the day.

Scott's day ended early when another boarder took him out on the hill. The guy hit a jump without checking the bottom, saw another guy under the jump at the last minute, flung himself to the left to avoid the guy on the ground, and hit Scott squarely in the back of the knees. As if in slow motion, Scott crumpled backwards onto the snow. I've never seen a takedown quite like this one on the mountain. Scott, sporting black and blue legs, decided to hang in the Jeep for the rest of the day. That, unfortunately, seems to be a developing trend in our adventures.

After a while on the practice hill, I wanted to head up higher and work on linking my turns. I love that instructor in Minnesota because I am officially able to board well on both my heels and my toes, can now link my turns, and rarely fall unless I intend to. Snowboarding is so much easier when you can use both edges of the board. 

Oh, and on the way home I got stuck in the stinky seat. After nearly vomiting for three hours, you better believe I found a way to get rid of that smell as soon as we got home. 

Badasses Don't Carry Umbrellas... (Up Mt. Woodson)

[This entry was written in my journal, mid-class. The dates are now far from correct, but I am leaving the entry as it was originally written]

Jen and I are San Diego born and bred. I'm sure that when we travel we carry a scent, something that identifies us as belonging to this border city. When it rains for more than an hour, we get cabin fever. When it snows.... well, that doesn't happen often so it isn't worth exploring. Or, is it?

Winter came to town two weekends ago, and we panicked. Then, the weather forecasters predicted snow down to 1000 feet. We cheered. 1000 feet meant Cowles Mountain or Mt. Woodson could see snow flurries. My sister and I spent a while planning how we could trick mother nature and be on top of one of these peaks when this mythical snowfall happened. After a few ideas (anyone up for a midnight hike?) we gave up on that effort and went to sleep.

The next morning arrived, and with it came a rain fueled lake in my backyard. My sister's brilliance dawned with the slow-moving Saturday morning sun when she suggested we brave the elements (yes, a rainstorm counts as the elements when you are a San Diego native) and hike Mt. Woodson in the rain. Well, Mt. Woodson is paved. I'll give her that. I promptly called her an idiot, to which she retorted, "not idiots, badasses!" Notice, I insult her, she assumes I'm still coming along for the ride. Point taken dear sister, I'll hike that beast as long as we follow a few key rules:
1. Dress Appropriately
2. Don't Hug the Poles on Top of the Mountain (Lightening and the possibility of electrocution terrify me)
3. Don't climb on the Potato Chip/Leaf Rock in the Middle of 40 MPH Winds

Always a firm believer in writing things down to make sure I adhere to them, we jotted these rules down (permanent marker on plastic so they would survive the storm) and took off.

RULE 1: DRESS APPROPRIATELY

CHECK OUT THOSE SKI PANTS!

Immediately, Jen broke the first rule. She wore skiing pants. Notice the simple syntax of that sentence? In the middle of a blog full of overused commas splices and abundant modifiers, simple syntax draws attention to the statement itself. Notice how ludicrous that statement is? Jen wore skiing pants to hike up Mt. Woodson. In Ramona. Really, Jen? After mercilessly mocking her fashion choices, I promised to deem her "Queen of the Mountain" if those pants became appropriate.

Then, we saw these people. They were also breaking rule #1. Badasses most definitely do not carry umbrellas up Mt. Woodson. Badasses dance in the rain. Or, they wear ski pants. But umbrellas? No way!

I, however, was dressed appropriately. Once a Girl Scout, always prepared! I was dressed in layers. After a couple of minutes, the layers came off and the sun came out. We followed the paved road, meandering up and around the mountain. As we neared the top, we stumbled into mist. The mist soon gave way to rain, and our sweaters went back on.

A few minutes later, I watched a piece of hail bounce off my hand. Jen shrieked in pain as an angry hail ball attempted to impale her. I have this theory: San Diego rain is friendly. It might flood our streets and claim our cars on occasion, but the generally gentle plop of globes of water just makes me happy. Snow is the same way. Fluttering flurries drift downward. Drift is a gentle word. Fluttering makes me think of dancing. Snow, like rain, is friendly. Hail, on the other hand, is full of mal intent. It calculates its trajectory and aims to inflict the most harm possible. If its first victim is not damaged, it recalculates its trajectory until it finds an easy target. Jen was the easy target that day.

RULE #2: DO NOT HUG THE POLES ON TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN

My sister, ever the clever one, felt as if a hail storm was the perfect time to break the second rule. A couple of minutes after she made me worry about electrocution, our luck changed and the snow joined us. Fifteen minutes ago I was wearing a tank top. Now, I was layering on jackets to keep out the snow, yes, the snow. In RAMONA! We danced, we swore, and we broke our last rule...

RULE #3: DO NOT CLIMB ON THE POTATO CHIP/LEAF ROCK IN THE MIDDLE OF 40 MPH WINDS

Isn't that rock awesome? I may have cried before I climbed onto it, but eventually I made it there. Oh, and I had to call Jen "Queen of the Mountain" because those darned ski pants came in handy.

Wait, did you all process the fact that it snowed on us at the top of Mt. Woodson? Fifteen minutes after I was wearing a tanktop? That, my friends, is a once in a lifetime event.

JEN DANCING IN THE SNOW

Oh, and on the way back down we encountered more umbrellas. Their carriers mocked our bedraggled, damp clothes, saying "wouldn't an umbrella be handy?" We responded in unison: "Basasses don't carry umbrellas!"

Survival Mode

I have officially been in survival mode for the last few months. Student teaching started and blogging stopped. Oh wait, not just blogging, living, breathing, eating real food, seeing the sun.... yeah, that all stopped when student teaching started up again. Instead of breathing I've been gasping, little bubbles of life escaping as I drown in the experience of being terrible at something. Instead of living, I've barely been existing. So on, and so forth. Somehow, in the midst of this, I have attempted a jump on a snowboard, hiked in a freak San Diego snowstorm, tried a few new foods, and made some changes to the B.L.L. (hey, we've all got to evolve when life throws us curveballs, just because I've memorialized the B.L.L. in blog form does not mean it is set in stone!). Now that I am on Spring Break and I've officially bagged my final T.P.A., expect an update a day until Student Teaching resumes its vice like grip on my life on April 25th.

Check back tomorrow for the once-in-a-lifetime (unless global warming continues!) event of hiking Mt. Woodson in the snow.

Cowles Mountain via Golfcrest Drive

If you live in East County or anywhere near it, you and your ninety-year-old grandmother have probably hiked this one a dozen times. It doesn't warrant much of a post, but we did it, here are the photos, lets put this one to bed. Jen and I wanted a quick workout after work/school this week so we headed to Cowles Mountain. With sunset approaching and an icy arctic wind urging us on, we chose the short Golfcrest Drive trail. This one is fairly straight forward: straight up for 1.5 miles until you hit the highest point in the city of San Diego, straight down for 1.5 miles until you find your car. If you are like Jen and I, you discuss how to best drag in injured friend out of the ocean and tourniquet their bleeding legs with your own swimsuit. This, of course, will be necessary after a shark sees their bright yellow swim-cap and decides to eat their legs (thank you classmates and Mythbusters for my newfound fear of yellow swim-caps). If you are not like us, find your own topic of conversation!

THE FREEWAY YOU BARELY SEE: MY MORNING COMMUTE TO TAKE LOGAN TO DAYCARE

WORST PICTURE EVER

Interesting Addendum: 

The day we hiked this, the news projected snow down to 2000 feet this weekend. We were joking about snow in Alpine, and the supposition that snow on Cowles Mountain would represent the appocalypse followed. Yesterday, Jen sent me an article that suggested the top of Cowles Mountain might get snow today. If it does, I'll be there. 

Lawson Peak: Hiking Fail #1

          During my adolescence, Sunday hikes were an institution. We trekked this whole county over. Hiking wasn’t just a weekend affair, though. My mom once woke my sister and I up early enough to climb a mountain and watch the sunrise, scuttle back down it, and make it to class on time. (If you taught my first period that day, I probably slept. Sorry!) Even with all of that hiking under our belts, Jen and I don’t think we have hiked in this area. The novelty of finding a new hike lent some excitement to this expedition. Unfortunately, the excitement didn’t last long.

Dear Mr. Schad, You are Starting to Irritate me…

            Schad describes the hike as difficult for four-wheel drive vehicles but relatively easy for hikers. By which, he must mean that your 4x4 might flip over, or, like the guys we encountered, you might break an axle. If, however, you are on foot, you probably won’t break anything. If what Schad meant was you have a better chance of surviving the walk than the drive, then yes, I agree. That, however, does not classify this as a “relatively easy” endeavor to me.

The Short of It…

·      The hike is less that 5 miles, but took us just over 5 hours to complete (with Logan in tow).

·       After class on Monday, more than twenty-four hours after finishing the hike, I spent twelve hours sleeping off my hiking hangover. Carrying a toddler up this path meant compressed shoulders, aching muscles, and a killer headache.

·      This hike is not at all appropriate for toddlers but older kids should enjoy the final ascent. If bribing your kid with the promise of bouldering and a cave will prompt them to climb, non-stop, for over two miles, bring them along. If not, leave them at home!

The Long of It…

            Lawson Peak is 4.5 roundtrip miles of an uphill battle. Yes, uphill both ways, in the snow, even if you are in Jamul. In 2.25 miles you gain 1600 feet in elevation. To put this in perspective:

Cowles Mountain: 1.5 miles to top, 950 foot elevation gain

Iron Mountain: 3.1 or 4.7 miles to the top, 1050 foot elevation gain

El Cap (San Diego): Roughly 5.5 miles in (depending on route) with an elevation gain of 2000 feet. However, this one is actually uphill both ways, so across 11 miles you gain 4000 feet!

Grand Canyon: Rim-to-rim total of nearly 21 miles, elevation gain of up to 5850 feet depending on which rim you start with.

            Apparently we were not prepared for this particular battle because four of us climbed up (including Logan), but only three came down (including Logan). Scott, for his own reasons, decided to turn back around ½ mile in. The poor guy sat in the car for the next four hours. His descent left Jen and I to carry Logan (not something my shoulders recommend) up what was remaining of the 1600 feet elevation gain. In the end, we made it to within ¼ mile of the summit and turned back. The final ascent is through brush and over some awesome looking boulders. Though it looked invigorating, lugging the forty-pound bag of flour my reticent toddler had become up this last ¼ mile seemed ill advised. Supposedly, a boulder cave requiring some strength and a flashlight to make it through crowns Lawson Peak. Jen and I look forward to bagging this peak, boulder cave and all, on our next attempt.

Stay tuned for Lawson Peak: Hiking Win #1, to follow ASAP