aging with grace

Over 50 ideas of how to get, be or stay healthy

55 and alive….

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Whoosh! I made it through the actual day of my birth with the help of my tribe who brilliantly gave me a surprise party. A big thank you to each of them-especially Kimber and Gwen for organizing it. It was awesome to get together with great company and catch up over tasty food washed down with yummy spirits. I finally realized I made the discovery somewhere between the age of 50 and 55, apparently closer to 55, that there is a dramatic difference (at least for me) to be able to lose weight and strength train. OK, I didn’t discover it, but it came to fruition for me during the last 5 years. Getting back into the shape that will allow me to hike 175 miles in July with a backpack and run, at least, a half marathon in August has been a challenge …. But I am getting there. And my perseverance is paying off.

A Beautiful reward of early morning trail running and hiking


Embracing the gray with grace can sometimes be easier said than done. And I haven’t really embraced the gray as I have effectively covered it up. But the other signs of the aging process continue to rear their ugly heads. At 55, I have accepted new truths that I have come to understand. With age, it seems to me, that going forward takes more effort than it had in the past. It seems harder for me to run the trails or lift the weights but sliding backwards is far easier. It takes almost no effort at all and reaps 3x the backward benefits of having to work exponentially harder to move forward the next time. I do not like this part of aging and have re-made a stronger commitment to myself to not let my “hand-to-mouth” condition get the best of me ever again. (I know…. easier said than done, but after this recent attempt to get back on top of my game, I am more motivated than ever!)

I happily said good bye to the extra pounds because running with extra weight is extra work and backpacking with it is just crazy talk. If grams equal ounces, and ounces equal pounds, and pounds equal pain…. why would I want to run or hike with extra pounds on me? I don’t. My goal has been to get in shape enough to make my adventures as easy as possible; therefore, much more enjoyable. So, I have attacked strength training and have started to increase my running time and distances. TA DA!!!! Today was the day for the pay off. I felt it. All my daily workouts came to my benefit today. It was easier to run up the trail and to pull/push on the weights. I have made progress and that makes me want to keep doing it to ward of the effects of not doing it at all.

One of my many favorite trails to run on

One of the many trails I love to hike and run


The weight lifting, and strength training has made what I love to do easier. Running up hills on trails became easier today because my legs are stronger. My cardio has improved from running up and down the basketball stadium stairs which makes the distance not so challenging on the trails. Thankfully, my neck and arms no longer become sore after I run because they too are stronger now. I have been wondering when it was all going to click. And four-long-months-later the reward has arrived. The bottom line is don’t ever give up. Any day is a good day to start in the right direction and just keep going until BOOM… all your efforts pay off.

Now I get it. The message is loud and clear. I am 55 and very much alive!!! Commitment and perseverance has a whole new meaning at this age. That I will embrace, to help keep me on the right track. I continue to be motivated, even more now since the benefits are propelling me forward with greater ease. Hopefully this idea will help to motivate and encourage anyone who gets frustrated in their attempt to regain the health they seek.
It is all possible, if you want it.

Hit the trails stronger and lighter!

-Kat

The dawn of double-nickels

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Age 50 didn’t daunt me as much as 55 is looming. Maybe because I was still grieving my late husband at 50, while trying to just get through day to day. Now, the perspective is wider as life has continued to move forward. At this junction, I feel far more alive! But living doesn’t mean living well. I’m within a week of 55. I clearly realize now, 55 isn’t nearly as old as I thought it was in my 20’s. 55 isn’t old at all. I had proudly said at the big 5-0 birthday that “50 was the new 30”. I believed it too, because I was the fittest I had been in years. What I didn’t know then, but I do now, is that at age 30 you start to lose muscle mass. Dang! We all know that “Aging is inevitable but aging well is not”(gethealthy.com). We have already touched on all the benefits exercise has in store for us in other blogs, but the bottom line is that exercise actually wards of the affects of aging. Exercise is the fountain of youth. The loss of muscle mass is the greatest contributor to the symptoms of aging. According to Muscle, Ligament and Tendon Journal the aging process is defined as “changes in the muscle mass and strength with decline of muscle strength after the 30th year of life.” Fortunately, muscle loss is reversible.
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I feel like the pieces are falling together better now, at almost 55, but they seem to be physically falling apart too. What’s up with that? Additional inflammatory issues, more degenerative disease, throw in more arthritis and have a happy birthday! Really? Yea…that’s not the gift I was wanting. But THAT won’t stop me. I have been working out like some crazy women. I watch calories, record everything, weight and strength train, stretch, run stadiums, hike, bike, don’t drink alcohol, but intake a lot of water, eat mostly a raw and vegan diet with a significant caloric deficit with TINY results. But results non-the less. I think it has to do with my age…. darn it. It’s been documented that “muscle loss nearly doubles after age 50.” (Humankinetics.com) Geezzzzz. That is motivation for me to keep it up with the strength training and keeping the cardio workouts too. If we can add even a small amount of heavy weight training, we’re combating against a lot of degenerative diseases caused by the aging process” according to Nikki Warren, founder and CEO of Kaia FIT, a women’s workout franchise with strength training and HIIT training as its core.

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strength training for all parts of your body is important-including your core


Happy Birthday to me. The best, most long-lasting gift I can give myself is strength and better health, bringing with it stamina and fortitude (and hopefully my slim clothes body back). We are our own best asset. With that idea, I take everything a bit more serious these days looking at the consequences while seeking results. But I still have a loud laugh that accompanies my sense of humor. I am happy and healthy. I live. I love and love to laugh. Every single moment counts. It’s a lifestyle choice to live longer. So, hit the gym and the trails. Just do it. Keep moving. Use it or loose it. I have adventures planned for my body, so I better take the very best care of it. Accept challenges. Break past your comfort zone. Expand. Live out loud and defy the aging process. Appreciate that you are ALIVE. The longer you live the more important strength and health become because the deck begins to stack against you. You can do it! Happy Birthday to everyone. Give yourself the best gift possible filled with love… be fit, be trim and be strong … for YOU. You are worth it!
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rise with the sun and stretch……its good for the body and soul


55 and alive. I’m looking forward to an outstanding year to come. I’ll celebrate and make it great. And I’ll keep hiking and working out too.

Cheers!

-Kat

Training for a thru-hike…..

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Riding a bike is great cross training for hiking

Well there is more to it than that: Being healthy and fit for a day hike is significantly different than being healthy and fit for a thru hike. Our body and minds need to be ready for the trail. Not to mention the detailed planning that goes into a thru hike adventure which we will discuss in another blog. But the training can start NOW! “The better the train, more the gain on the trail” ……says not just me. The idea of a week-long to a month long thru hike is romantic in my mind given that I will be out in the beautiful-middle-of-no-where-wilderness with all I’II need to survive on my back dependent on only myself-awe!!! That’s pure love. I don’t mean that selfishly I mean it supportively to the idea that self-reliance, self-confidence, basic survival skills and gaining the ambitious belief “I CAN DO IT!” is my means of attack for the encompassing objective in preparing and planning a thru hike. So, with members of my tribe we are working to increase our stamina, endurance, core strength and our confidence to be as successful as possible on our future journey on a section of the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) from Yosemite to Tahoe where will make memories that last a life time.

The tribe members joining this journey in July 2018 will be Gwen, myself, Gina, Katie and Brenda. My goal has been to hike the entire length of the Sierra-Nevada’s after completing the JMT (John Muir Trail) with Gwen in 2016. The JMT was Gwen’s pick; this section of the PCT is mine (we take turns picking our adventures). Gina and I hiked Guatemala together summer of 2017 and she fell in love with that part of the trip craving more adventures. Katie wants more time on the trail after her introduction of 2 days on the JMT (read: Gwen’s “Ignorance is bliss” blog). And Brenda is new to hiking and backpacking but very eager with several weekends and overnights under her belt. Gwen, Gina and I will start in Yosemite with Katie and Brenda joining use a week later at Sonora Pass to finish the second half of the 152-mile section ending in Meeks Bay. This is all very exciting to think about but physically challenging to complete.

I have made additional summer commitments beyond the 152-mile hike following the weekend after our completion. They include but aren’t limited to hiking with my son, Cole, from Yosemite Valley to Tuolumne Meadows including hiking Half Dome, and then the next week we are off to Alaska for salmon fishing and finishing with a half marathon in Anchorage. So, training can’t start soon enough for me. No one needs similar goals to find self-motivation to improve personnel fitness. Where ever you are and whatever your objectives are you can implement a training program to fit your needs or follow the one below. It is a simple comprehensive muscle building, core strengthening, endurance increasing workout plan. Take what you need and go for it!

Note: The section of the PCT we are doing has no elevation gains greater than 4000 feet. There are summits that will be challenging with our back packs weighing between 32-45 pounds.

Remember building all we need within us is a process over time….and we are what we eat. Eating healthy and drinking lots of water is important. Always have fun and respect your limits. Avoid injury by NOT doing too much too fast…. start somewhere but start slow if just beginning to train. A day of rest can do your body and mind wonders. To work out with tribe members is beneficial, motivational and keeps you accountable.

 

Training for a thru hike:

“The difference between a dream and a goal of a thru-hike: An action plan in place to gain momentum for the changes your body will need to achieve your dream while gaining the confidence you need to follow through.”   -BK

HINT: Make a commitment to the days per week for training and stick to it

Cardio and endurance is essential

-hiking steep and difficult trails for a minimum of 2 hours once a week (increase distance and time bi-weekly-gradually)

-challenging quick-paced cardio workout (running, treadmill, biking or stairs) with incline increasing over time for 1 hour a day

-engage in fitness class as an alternative for a shake-up to muscles 1 hour a week (swimming, abs of steel tape, Les Mils at a gym or boxing)

Core strength is imperative

-weight train 3 times weekly for a minimum of ½ and increase weight over time (do 2 to 3 sets of 15 repetitions of each exercise working arms, legs and core)

-yoga, TRK, good old calisthenics or swimming improves core strength (calisthenics: jumping jacks, wall sits, push up, abdominal crunches, chair set-ups, squats, side lunges, squat jacks, high knee shuffle, ski umps, chair tri-cep dips, plank, high knee running in place and mountain climbers to name a few that can be done in circuit form and done twice with 30 second rest between 1 minute of 13 exercises)

– stretching after a good hike or work out is the best time to stretch because you are warmed with blood flowing through your muscles. Basic stretching after each workout will decrease soreness and increase your range of motion

– Varying exercises with increase of time, incline, distance and weight improves stamina and overall benefits of training

Our tribe starts TODAY! We are starting with the stairs at McKale Center (@ U of Arizona their basketball stadium). We will run up and then down all of stairs for an hour -around and around we will go. We are trying to exercise be it hiking, walking, running or swimming 5 days a week with a long hike at least once a week. This Sunday we are doing Blackett’s in Sabino Canyon National Park which is a total of 8-miles, but the last leg of it is up 1.7 miles with a 1700-foot elevation gain. Tucson tends to have awesome winter weather making outdoor training easy and a multitude of diverse types of hiking trails to choose from. And the stadium stairs for not-so-good weather days. We will start adding weight to our backpacks and do a few shake-out overnights that will prepare our bodies to carry the weight of our packs on the 14-day journey.

Start today……. stick with it! You will only get better!

-Kat

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Looking in the direction I am headed… believing I CAN DO IT!

Benefits of Hiking and Beyond…

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John Muir once said, “In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks.”

Snack time an additional benefit of hiking

Snack time is an additional benefit of hiking!

Hiking is a fantastic way to “use it or lose it” and to gain mental health benefits from being outdoors in nature. I am a chronic pain, fibromyalgia patient who broke my neck and jacked my back almost 30 years ago in a car accident. I look normal and try to act normal, but I know I have become a master at masking my pain. Pain is pain period. Not feeling good or not feeling motivated are powerful physical and mental sensations that gain power and momentum all on their own if we let them. If I’m going to feel awful sitting in a chair why not feel awful breathing fresh air?  Fibromyalgia, chronic pain and hiking all sound awful in the same sentence for some…. but for others it “can” define us. But I refuse to allow that and I beleive….Just fake it until you make it sounds simple and it is.  I hike to feel better.

The noted benefits for outdoor walking or hiking continue to expand with research. Research shows that everybody can benefit with better overall health from hiking. Getting up and out can reduce your stress and increase your energy. The more you do the better you will feel. You must start moving and then keep it up to get the consistent benefits of a hiking. As with anything start slow and start planning unfamiliar places to explore. If you can hike at least 30 minutes a day-4 days a week you will start to see the benefits. Ultimately your goal should be to hike an hour a day-4 days a week. If you were to do more vigorous exercise such as running, backpacking with weight or hiking uphill you would need half the amount of time to obtain the health benefits. Utilizing hiking poles decreases stress on your knees by a said 30% and increases an upper body workout during your hike. They also help in balance for rough terrain and help going up or down hills. Poles help reduce hand swelling that may occur and increase your cardio workout.

Hikers are said to be happier. The mental health benefits are endless. Just being outdoors and observing Mother Natures beauty is stress reducing. Hiking alone can increase your self-confidence (but take solo hiker precautions-safety first). Or hiking with members of your tribe is a wonderful time to discuss issues, brain storm current ideas and continue to bond. It’s your choice to make a solo hike for a spiritual experience or being with friends as a social experience. Whatever works best for you is what you should do. And while you are just out there enjoying yourself be aware that the following benefits of hiking are working for you.

Hiking’s health benefits are as following:

Improved cardio-respiratory fitness

Improved muscular fitness

Lower risk of coronary heart disease and stroke

Lower blood pressure

Reduced risk of diabetes 2

Lower risk of colon or breast cancer

Lower risk of high cholesterol and triglycerides

Increased bone density or a slower rate of loss

Reduced depression

Better sleep

Weight control (hiking can burn 350 calories an hour or more)

Spending time outside increases attenti)on spans and creativity

Improves anti-oxidative capacity (helps to heal from cancer

With the above list of all the possible benefits hiking can provide to you and your over-all health, it can inspire you to engage in a healthier lifestyle. It certainly has done that for me. I absorb the beauty I hike in and never fail to be intrigued by the amazing perfection of Mother Nature. What happens to me when I hike makes be feel seduced by the fresh air and energized to see what lies around the corner. I can honestly feel painless at times. I would much rather help my health hiking then sitting in a chair and feeling bad. At least when I am sore after a hike I feel as if I earned the aches from walking the miles I just accomplished.

Bottom line……pain or no pain Hiking is good for your over all health….so let’s get out there and explore more!

-Kat

Ignorance is bliss…

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Katie sitting on the top of Half Dome

They say ignorance is bliss, and for our friend Katie, her first backpacking adventure really was a blissfully ignorant experience. But for Kat and I, her “hiking chaperones”, not so much. Last summer Kat and I hiked the John Muir Trail (JMT). For the 2 years building up to our hike, Katie watched us plan and prepare every detail  for  this super intense thru hike and as she took it all in, decided she wanted to have a taste of our adventure. She had never backpacked and wasn’t much of a hiker but what she had was great athletic ability as a swimmer and cyclist and a shared sense of wanting something fun and challenging outdoors; our hiking plans had definitely  piqued her interest. The plan was for Katie to tag along for the ride and join us for our first 2 acclimation nights at Curry Camp in Yosemite where we would officially start our thru hike. We then went one step further and told Katie she should start out with us on our JMT hike and camp with us our first night at Little Yosemite Valley. It was the perfect plan and Katie was stoked and so were we…this was an epic adventure and we were happy to share in the excitement.

Upon arriving at Yosemite, Kat and I watched as the euphoria of being in nature and especially of being in breathtakingly beautiful  Yosemite take  hold of Katie. Before our very eyes, we were watching a hiking newbie as she was  overcome and overwhelmed by something she had never witnessed or experienced…she was seeing things and feeling things that she never knew she was missing but quickly realizing she needed in her life. Her excitement reminded me of a 4-year-old seeing Disneyland for the first time…but even better because there’s not much left that excites a 50 year to this level!

We spent 2 days  acclimatizing and mentally preparing for a hike of a lifetime.  They say that the hardest part of the John Muir Trail is the first 4.3 miles hiking out of the Yosemite Valley. It’s an elevation gain of 2100′ feet and its carrying a 35 lb pack on your not yet developed “trail legs” that gets you and I would whole heartedly agree with that assessment. Its straight up steep, climbing overly tall granite steps . Having left at dawn, we arrived at Little Yosemite Valley early, made first nights camp and relaxed for a bit, swimming in the Merced River, kicking back on the banks of the river, especially enjoyable coming from the dry dusty desert. We were feeling proud of our first day on the trail. But  we couldn’t leave well enough alone and decided although we were beat from our hike up, we just needed to get in the presence of  Half Dome, Yosemite’s tallest granite peak. Bravely admitting it just wasn’t in the cards to climb up this scary beast on this trip (for me, I just knew I wouldn’t have the strength to make it up 600′ of straight up chains) but still, we wanted to get close to H.D. and see for ourselves this wondrous peak known both for its beauty and it’s adrenaline  inducing thrill of making it to the top without plummeting to one’s death. It’s intense and you have to be on your game, and I had no game left that first day. We set off from L.Y.V. at 3:00 in the afternoon and made our way up the trail with the general idea of going as far as the sub-dome and then we would turn around. But very soon after we started out, Katie, who hadn’t hiked with a 35lb pack on her back that day got another shot of her new-found euphoric energy at the thought of seeing Half Dome, started hiking faster than us, pulling ahead and as quickly as you can say , “never separate from your hiking group”, she was gone and out of sight from us. Oh-kee-dokie. Kat and I didn’t love that she’d done that, but like I said, Katie is athletic, she’s smart…but…she’s not a hiker…and it was getting a little late to summit Half Dome and the icing on the cake; ominous thunder heads were forming quickly in the not too far off horizon. Sudden and fast moving  storms are the #1 way people die on Half Dome; when lightning strikes on that wide open granite, the valleys biggest and highest lightning rod, people have no place to take shelter.  Kat and I picked up our pace thinking we would catch up to Katie but we didn’t. We continued on and as we were passing people coming down from H.D. we started asking if they had seen a petite blond in a bright blue jacket. They would all pause to think, but ultimately respond with a “no”. We kept hiking up the trail and thats when I started noticing little trails that went off the main trail. I was getting a stomach ache. We kept hiking and asking, always with the same answer, “no, we haven’t seen her.” Luckily dusk was a few hours away since it was summer but the clouds were creeping in closer and closer and we were getting panicky. Which wrong trail did Katie take? Will she know how to find her way back? Is she scared being all alone and lost? Does she have enough water? Will a bear eat her? Will her husband kill us when we have to break the news to him that we lost his wife? By this time I was on the verge of throwing up. My already wobbly legs were getting weaker and weaker as the minutes passed. Kat was handling this much different…she was swearing with clenched fists, ready to take Katie out (if we ever saw her again). We came upon our 10th group of hikers who we  just happened to have hiked with earlier in the day. We stopped and traded a few pleasantries about meeting on the trail again and then quickly changed the  subject and once again asked if they’d seen Katie who they knew from earlier in the day. This time we got a different answer…”yes, we saw her going up as we were coming down.” I’m sure all the other groups had been too deep into their own Half Dome hiking experience to notice Katie but our new trail friends probably stopped to say hello again and thats why they noticed her. At the news that Katie had been spotted, I nearly started crying with joy. Kat now was able to really let loose knowing she wouldn’t regret her words since Katie was actually  still alive.

Hearing that Katie was safe and now headed all the way up Half Dome, Kat and I knew there was nothing we could do, that she’d be a few hours. Knowing we still needed  to filter water, collect our camp water, make dinner and  re-pack our bear canisters and prep for the next full day of hiking, we headed back down to our camp site so that we weren’t doing these tasks in the dark. The clouds were still a worry but I trusted that if the threat grew eminent, a “real” hiker would kindly grab Katie by the hand and yank her down as fast as they could go…she wouldnt be left behind.

Dusk fell and no sign of Katie but very soon after full on nightfall,  2 headlamps walked towards our campsite, one being Katie and the other being her new hiking buddy who just happened to be a world traveling hiker, quite famous on Instagram. She met him on the way up, also picking up another solo hiker on the way. And according to Katie, she spent several hours in the company of two of the most interesting and intellectual people she had ever met.  Part of what made her new friends so interesting was their wanderlust for nature and hiking and their lack of materialism that backpacking reminds us so beautifully of.  It was another piece of the puzzle that Katie didn’t realize she was missing, but was happily discovering thru yet another chance meeting of  enlightened backpackers who were happy to share what those of us who love the backcountry know.

To say that Katie enjoyed her Half Dome climb would truly be the understatement of the century. You couldn’t wipe the grin off her face, her feet were barely touching the ground…the woman was high as a kite!!! I explained as kindly as I could that she literally broke every backpacking/hiking rule in the book while Kat unleashed  on her ( in a scary but  loving momma bear way)…how it effected us as her hiking partners and what she did was the ultimate in selfishness. But it didn’t matter. Katie was too drunk on nature and she could barely concentrate  on what we were saying. She was giddy with the joy that nature always delivers. She interupted our lectures several times to relive her Half Dome assent…she couldn’t believe that this type of experience was out there waiting for the taking! It was infectious and we loved experiencing Katies first taste of nature with her…it had been a long time since our own first step into nature that would forever change us and it was fun to experience it again through someone else’s eyes. Lecture over. It was pointless.

Day 2 we woke up, had coffee and breakfast, packed up and walked Katie to the fork in the trail. Kat and I would turn right and continue another 207 miles to the summit of Mt. Whitney, the tallest peak in the lower 48 and Katie would turn left, taking the 4.3 mile trail back to Yosemite Valley. The three  of us hugged and said our farewells, turned in opposite directions and set off…2 of us about to embarked on the most epic 211 mile of our life, one just completing the most epic hike of her life thus far, crushing Half Dome. And discovering her new found love of nature.

~Gwen

Who you meet on the trail…..

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The full moon was on the 4th of November 2017 and three of us set out for an overnight at Hutches Pools. We rode the tram (kinda cheating) up to the top from the parking area of Sabino Canyon. Off the tram we were with backpacks strapped on and then hiked in the rest of way. Gwen and I had first gone to Hutches Pools two years ago as our “shake-out trip” for the John Muir Trail. We had purchased all our gear for our 210-mile thru-hike, but we had yet to use it so Mother’s Day we hiked in as a gift to ourselves and spent the night. We were familiar with Sabino Canyon. Our favorite tough hike is Blackett’s which is 1.7 miles long situated off Phoneline Trail. In its short 1.7 miles to the end of Blackett’s the elevation gain is 1700’. That trail offers the most bang for the buck of a workout. Phoneline is just a nice, long trail with splendid views of the canyon where you can see folks walking the road, the tram traveling up and down it and the creek flowing in the monsoon season and after rainfall or snow-melt. Sabino Canyon’s most popular water hole trail is Seven Falls that meanders across the creek 7 times before climbing a few switch backs to get to the mid-section of the canyon wall and continue to hike up the canyon to the end where water run-off is spectacular if you time it right and it’s refreshing if nothing else. Until my first trip to Hutches Pools I thought Seven Falls was the greatest in the canyon, but you can’t camp there, and you can at Hutches. So off we went to seek a quiet bright night lit by the full moon.

The some of the trail to Hutches Pool is part of the Arizona Trail that leads north from the Mexican border reaching all the way to the Utah state line. The first time Gwen and I hiked it we ran into an ultra-light hiker who was standing near a ‘y’ in the trail. We asked him where he was going as we were passing by and he replied “Utah”. Wow! We thought he’d say Hutches Pools or back to Sabino Canyon, but nope…. he was in route to Utah. That was cool. I think that might have been our first experience with a thru-hiker on a trail. We were going to be thru-hikers come that July, but we needed to do an overnight first to test our gear so up the trail we continued. Hutches Pools offers a tranquil beauty of a fresh deep pool surrounded by rocks and the opening has a small sandy beach. For our first experience overnight in our new tents, quilts and backpacks at Hutches was perfect so revisiting it was a welcomed reprieve from the city as it is so close and yet so remote. The three of us were excited to spend a Saturday hanging in our hammocks prior to the full moon. A few other friends wanted a day hike, so they hiked in with us, ate their snacks with us and then headed back as we found comfort in our hammocks.

We rested a while and then decided to set up our tents. With fall in full swing dark comes early, around 630. That meant ‘back-packers midnight’. So, all three of same brand orange back packer’s tents were set up in camp that was a bit off the trail and a walk to the actual pools. Gwen and I had found a spot we liked and returned to the same one because we had a huge boulder as wind protection, it sat near a stream (not flowing in November) and we sat back off the trail so if there were to be other hikers at Hutches Pools they wouldn’t be coming through our camp. We had eaten our snacks and our lunch, walked up to the pools and took pictures, set our camp and as the sun was starting to set we made our diners. The feeling of being out in the middle of no-where with everything you need carried in our backs and no noise pollution of civilization set the mood for relaxation and enjoyment. Luckily, our group was the only pool visitors that day, other than the two distance runners who quickly ran to the pool, rested, and returned to the trail to run back to Sabino Canyon. The little paradise was all ours to enjoy.

We all made our dinner and ate with our sporks. We were chatting and listening with gaps of quietness in our conversation. Dinner was cleaned up quick and the sun had fully set. The moon had yet to completely rise so a cast of darkness was coming through the canyon. We settled back in our hammocks to await the moon rise but as time passed and the moon had yet to rise above the canyon walls we all decided we were too tired to wait and we should go to bed. As we were getting ready to bed down we brushed our teeth and situated our belongings I looked up and saw a headlamp come through the trees not where usual traffic would be off the trail. I was startled and realized my bear spray laid in my tent which was now between me and the person in the dark walking straight into our camp. My best response was to say “hello?” only to be answered by a tired and anxious males voice also saying “hello?”.

He stumbled into our camp with what appeared to be exhaustion and asked if he was at Hutches Pools. We said “yes”. I asked, “where did you hike in from?”

He responded, “from the top of the Catalinas up by Summerhaven ski resort.”

“What time did you start?”

He replied with a sigh of relief “8 a.m. this morning. Is there a spot for me to camp around here?”

We all answered at once “Yes”. And then decided it would be best to guide him to the pools in the dark with our headlamps and solar lanterns to make is easier to see and show him a spot near the water a distance from our camp. He was thankful for our attention and we all said good night as we left him taking his back pack off in the dark by himself.

The three of us chatted about him. Brenda was worried about him as he looked like an older gentleman all by himself, but Gwen and I both agreed he had probably been hiking and backpacking since he was a youth.

It was now back-packer’s midnight and we each crawled into our tents into our bedrolls that sat on top of our sleeping pads and we waited for sleep.

Of course, we all were fast asleep before the moon rose but as usual I had to get up to pee in the middle of the night, or I thought it was still night. When I rolled out of my tent and stood up I was amazed as to how bright the dark had become with the moon hanging high in the sky. It looked as bright as day. Wow. That was beautiful. I did my normal squat and crawled back into bed. I had to put my quilt over my eyes to make it dark enough to fall back asleep with the glow of the moon illuminating my tent.

Morning came, and we were breaking camp after our breakfast. The night hiker wondered back into our camp to say thank you for last night’s hospitality showing him a camp site. He was a soft-spoken man with an English accent. We started a conversation with him asking him details of his hike, his hiking history and eventually bid him farewell. As he walked farther from us and out of our sight we continued to discuss him and his story.

“David” had started on the Arizona Trail 5 weeks earlier at the Utah Stateline and needed to finish at the Mexican border within 10 days to catch his flight back home to Canada. He had in fact been hiking and back packing his whole life. He had started when he was about 10 in England, but he had lived in Canada for over 50 years. He was a young 70-year-old who last year had completed the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) in 6 months. He had also trekked the Appalachian Trail. He said he preferred long thru hikes and wasn’t aware of which hike would be his next one. He had been outfitted in an old exterior framed canvas backpack which seemed perfectly sufficient for him. Yikes…. I don’t think they even sell that equipment type anymore. I inquired about what his family thought about his thru hike and time away from home and he said he had no family.  He explained that he found a lot of the thru hikers he had come to meet through his travels also were solo which seemed to allow for their choices of how they spend their time…. on the trails…in the middle of nowhere often alone perfectly ok. We found it all very interesting.

What struck me about meeting him out there was that he was as much of interest as the beauty or the diversity of the landscape we had hiked through. The depth of character and wealth of information he offered I found intriguing. I’m often motivated by ‘wonder’ and I feel at peace in Mother Nature looking at all she offers me to ‘wonder’ about. Yet after speaking to David I reflected on the ‘wonder’ of the souls we meet while out on the trails……and what makes ‘those’ people be the ones you cross paths with? I don’t know … but what I do know is that there seems to be a ‘liked mind-ness’ out on the trails and to be able to share ‘that’ with strangers seems like an additional benefit to hiking.

Looking forward to meeting more hikers on the trails….

-Kat

Staying young while we age!

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Regardless of where you are in life we all want to be able to do as much as we can while looking and being as healthy as possible. So of course, I read all the trending ideas of how to have healthy this or that. Some I try and some I’d rather not. Some ideas make more sense than others. At my last visit to my OB/GYN she went into why having probiotics was so essential and gave me a recipe for homemade Kiefer. I tried it for a while, but warm dairy products sitting on my kitchen counter started to turn my stomach at sight…. let alone knowing I had to drink a half of cup a day. That was my motivation to move on to the next idea for natural probiotics. I began my search.

After a lot of “googling”, which sometimes I wonder if ‘that’ much information is good or bad. I kept seeing the benefits of fermented drinks, particularly kombucha. Kombucha can help maintain cholesterol levels, strengthen immune system, helps with arthritis and aids in maintaining cellular health. The cellular health part resonated with me because I have heard that some cultures that eat a lot of fermented foods maintain their youthful looks longer which appealed to my 54-year-old face. It also helps to detoxify the body, aids in digestion, boosts energy and helps fight inflammation. Those are all great reasons to at least try it, so I did!

I love kombucha but not the price of commercially sold kombucha. Pre-bottled, commercially sold kombucha’s even at Costco or Sam’s Club are pricey if you want to drink a bottle a day. The breakdown for an 8 bottle case is $2.00 a bottle. That is not bad, but it can be home-made a whole lot cheaper and I think even tastier. Flavors of homemade kombucha are endless and fun to experiment in making. So far, I have mastered pineapple with ground fresh ginger and turmeric root (I keep them in the freezer to keep them fresh & they are easier to shred on the cheese grater when frozen). Yummy and my newest addition is chai seeds for an added benefit of proteins and other important nutrients, antioxidants, fiber (which can make you feel full and help you lose weight) and they contain Omega-3 fatty acids.

To start making kombucha at home you need to start with a SCOBY which is an acronym for ‘symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast’. A starter SCOBY can be purchased on-line or ask around: your friends might be secretly making kombucha and might have a ‘baby’ from their mother SCOBY. Get a hold of one and start today. It takes a couple of weeks to ferment depending on the temperature in your house, the warmer it is the faster it ferments. You will need a large container that holds at least a gallon, cheese cloth and bottles to harvest your batch. Gather the ingredients listed below and you are on your way to saving money and feeling better while looking great too!

Ingredients:

1 kombucha SCOBY

1 gallon purified water*

4 green tea* *bags

4 black tea* *bags

1 cup turbinado (raw) sugar

*have extra water on hand when harvesting to dilute the flavor if needed after adding juices.

**must be caffeinated tea

Instructions:

Heat 4 cups of water to seep tea bags for at least ten minutes and add sugar to dissolve. After tea has seeped, remove tea bags and stir water to ensure all sugar is dissolved. Add the rest of the gallon of water to mixture and place in container.

Once the mixture has reached room temperature add the SCOBY (just like in making bread the SCOBY is yeast and can NOT get too hot). Place cheese cloth over the container and secure with a rubber band. Do not let it in direct sun light. I lightly spray the cheese cloth with vinegar daily to stop bacterial growth on the cloth.

The process takes anywhere from 10 to 21 days depending on temperature. After 7 to 10 days you may want to stick a straw down the side of the container and taste the mixture. If you like it than it is done, if you want more fermentation let it continue to sit and taste test every couple of days. Helpful hint: mark on your calander when you start your batch.

When it is just right take out the SCOBY and a cup of the mixture. Put it in a tightly sealed jar for your next batch and store in the refrigerator. The cold temperatures stop the fermenting process but keeps your SCOBY  fresh. If you want to flavor your kombucha this would be the time to do it. Add fresh juice to taste. Then bottle the contents and refrigerate if you like the taste. OR you want to ferment longer keep it on the counter in the continer with cheese cloth secured with rubber band. Taste it as the days go by to see if you like it.

Rumor has it that you can grow your own mother SCOBY on your kitchen counter in a glass jar containing plain kombucha. The jar needs to be covered with cheesecloth and let it sit for a week or so. Eventually a skin will form on the top of the mixture and that is SCOBY!!!

NOTE: I did not grow my own SCOBY  because I had a friend secretly making her own kombucha and when I told her I wanted to make it as well she gave me her SCOBY baby. SCOBY gets thicker and can be peeled off in layers…. those layers are babies to share (or toss).

Good luck and have fun! You are off to a healthier, younger looking YOU

-Kat

Hiking Angels Landing 

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Behind me is a view of part of the trail along THE “fin” that you must hike to get to the top EEEK!

Angels Landing
Zion National Park, Utah

I’m a thrill seeker. But if I had to categorize my thrill seeking, I would put it in the “thrill seeking chicken” category. I don’t do scary hikes confidently but rather with a fair amount of anxiety. Accomplishing something uncomfortable has its own reward and that reward is an epic reminder to myself that I am still strong both physically and mentally. And that I am still alive. And that’s why I push myself out of my comfort zone.

Last week I hiked Angels Landing in Zion National Park. The last time I hiked this trail, I was in my 40s with 3 other girlfriends plus 6 others in our group cheering us on from Scouts Landing. When we started up the trail, we had zero idea what we were hiking. We hadn’t  read  any blogs or watched any terrifying YouTube videos reliving someone elses experience . The only thing we had was 4 adventurous friends willing to egg each other on. We got to the top, crouched low to avoid being swept off the mountain by the horrific gale force winds that sometimes happen up there, snapped a picture, then beat it down in record time. It was scary and the winds doubled the scare.

This year I hiked it as a 54-year-old and I knew exactly what I was getting into. Angels Landing is a thin mountain ridge or “fin” that runs down the main canyon in Zion with an approximate elevation gain of 1500′. The trail starts easy, crossing the meandering Virgin River and then slowly starts to wind its way up the mountain ultimately reaching Walters Wiggles a super fun…said no one ever…set of 21 short but straight up switchbacks which leads you to a flat spot named Scouts Landing. The landing is beautiful and flat and perfect for a quick  rest and refuel before the last segment.  It’s also the spot to observe those brave souls on the ridge or to watch those hikers who understandably just can’t muster the courage and ultimately turn around. My hubby was my hiking partner this year and once we got to Scouts Lookout we both decided we wanted to get it over with, so we didn’t stop to do any refueling or any observing for fear we’d come to our senses and change our minds . Defeat was not an option because we came to Zion with the specific goal for my husband  to conquer his fear of heights.

Scouts Lookout to the top of Angels Landing is a gain of 500′ and about a half mile to the end of the trail following the fin. The trail has intermittent chains to both pull yourself up and keep yourself steady which I found to be very comforting knowing there was a 1500′ sheer on both sides of some areas where a 3′ wide rocky, slippery sandstone trail is all you have under your feet. There is a little scrambling but nothing major. Its slow and steady hiking with a good amount of “positive self talk” going on in your brain  but when you  reach the top, the thrill of conquering that mountain is unexplainably exhilarating and the views are absolutely mind-blowing!  At the top of Angels Landing you are literally looking down the middle of the entire canyon from above. The Virgin River is now just a thin shimmering ribbon winding its way thru the canyon floor 1500′ below, and the multiple layers of  minerals creating the colorful mountains of Zion are now at eye level which is such a different perspective  than looking up at a canyon!
Climbing Angels Landing again as a 50+ was an exhilarating, adrenaline fueled hike that will stay with me for many years to come. The thrill of that trail should be a definite bucket list goal…even if you are a thrill seeking chicken!

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And oh Yes! my husband did make it to the top, conquering his fear of heights!

~Gwen

 

Find your tribe or create it!

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We belong to a great group…or tribe….many of the members have been friends since their babies were infants and now few have kids left in the family nest. Whether we are all together on a day hike or just some of us can meet up, having someone to hold you accountable on the day you’d rather sleep-in but instead planned a crack-of-dawn hike early to beat he Arizona heat always keeps you moving.

Given that the great outdoors offers adventures near and far our tribe does regular day hikes on trails we know like the back of our hands. (We can do the whole trail or go for just the amount of time we have available that day). Or plan a weekend getaway to a place we have only seen in pictures and go to explore! Some of the group has even done international travel together on a journey to far away places in Europe.

A tribe of women can be tricky because we are not all made out of the same mold but a common like of the outdoors and the enjoyment of our spirits naturally being lifted usually makes for lots of laughter and easy flow conversation. Our common love of hiking is simple but the distance we like to go can sometimes be uncommon among us. We try to maintain flexibility with a buddy system so whereever we go if someone doesn’t want to go the whole way then we can break into groups. Everyone stays happy by doing the distance that is best for them.

Our group size waxes and wanes with regulars and guests here and there. Having a tribe provides comfort in knowing that we will always have a hiking buddy and a sounding board for whatever we might need to discuss “with the girls” to get clarity.  Given that not everyone is available everyday having as many as ten women in our group has made availability pretty good for a few of us to consistently match up our schedules.

A couple of us have cabins in the high country in the White Mountains of Arizona. It makes for a cool retreat with a variety of hiking trails when wanting to get out of the Sonoran Desert HOT summer temperatures sounds like a cool idea. This October, eight of us will be seeking aspen-Fall-leaf color while hiking the beautiful mountain trails together. I’m looking forward to exploring trails I’ve yet to see and to share the adventure with the tribe. I’m sure that there will be laughter and humming chatter bouncing off the trees as we walk about them.

Find your tribe….join a hiking club…enjoy what you love with others who feel the same!

Kat

PS. Pics of tribal toe tattoos! and some of the TRIBE .