Mary's Peak

I hiked Mary's Peak today after getting my oil changed on the Tacoma. I need to figure out what elevation i started at, but i made it to the top (4,095') and back to the truck in just under 4 hours. According to a map at the top, i covered 10.4 miles, but i have a funny feeling it was a little longer than that since one of the sections i hiked wasn't on that map. Going up felt surprisingly good; my left knee did well as long as i supported it on any steep sections - mainly where i had to take a step over a log / root. I had my sleeping bag, a second set of shoes, water and a couple other misc items in my backpack. Why a backpack for a 10 mile hike? Let me tell you ... i'm training to climb Mt. Hood.
A brief trip down memory lane - back in the day, right after graduating from NNC, a couple of the dudes that i knew and lived with - Vegas Josh (Josh Williams) and Oldschool (Ryan Barton)- got into mountain climbing. Not wanting to be left out, i went out and bought a whole bunch of climbing gear and invited myself along. They've dragged me up Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams (actually i did pretty good on my own on Adams) and they've gone on to climb a couple other peaks. I had to go on hiatus for a couple knee surgeries and never really thought i'd climb again, but fast-forward to last week, and Vegas Josh called and asked if i wanted to climb Hood this year.
I'm a little hesitant about my knee, but have decided that i'll do some hikes to see if i'm in good enough shape, and if my knees will hold out on me. Today was hike #1 on this quest and i'm feeling pretty good, except for the hike down. Going up felt really good; i only stopped once (more on that later) and for the most part, my knees felt fine, my pack felt good and i had plenty of water to keep me hydrated. The one downer was my boots. I bought some really nice Montrails a couple years ago, and for the most part they fit well and seem to offer the ankle support i need. But either i walk funny, or because they have a stiff sole (so you can wear crampons) after about 2 miles i start getting blisters. Thankfully i was prepared for this and brought along a second set of hiking shoes and those did me right. Problem comes when we're on the mountain and i can't wear low-top hiking boots while i've got a full pack on me. I'm gonna have to try a couple different things and see if i can find a way to get them to work better.
Coming down was a whole different matter. My knees, and particularly my right knee ached like the Dickens. I'm not sure if i tweeked it at some point and didn't notice, or if i'm going to have to go have it worked on, but as long as i was on even ground or a bit of an incline, it was fine, the minute i was heading downhill, it really hurt. I'm going to have to see if wearing a brace makes any difference, or if i did just tweek it and a couple day's rest will take care of business. Another thing to check is if i use two walking sticks coming down instead of just one if i'm able to take enough weight off to make it easier. One good sign is that walking around the house doesn't hurt, so i'm hopeful that it isn't anything really serious.
Perhaps not my best move, but an interesting one - i got back home around 4:14, and by 5:30 i was on my bike with Susie at Chip Ross Park heading up the Lower Horse Trail. I didn't make it to the top, but was able to go about 4/5ths of the way before i petered out and turned around. It was good to see that i was able to get some decent recovery in a fairly short time. Obviously hiking and biking use different muscle groups, but my aerobic level is what i'm worried about. And, my knees didn't hurt while riding!

Alright, more on this subject later - i think we're going to hike Iron Mountain this weekend.