I did 2 quick miles yesterday.... kinda tired so I am gonna rest my legs for a couple of days...

Peace out.

Dang. My legs are sore.... alot of miles.... prolly too quick.... my will outdid my flesh.... My knees are already shot and I have to be mindful about them..... last night when I was lying in bed, they were both throbbing.... so, no walking today..... rest and aspirin, instead...

Hopefully I can get back to it tomorrow.

Went out last night and did a fairly quick and easy 6 miles..... I can tell that I am getting my legs back...but I had to double time it to get back to my car before dark and as a result I have a slight pull in my right hamstring... a leftover from when I tore that muscle hiking a few years ago.... Probably will take today off to rest it.... but who knows... if it feels better tonight, I might give it a whirl.

Lots of bunnies out last night on the trail.

This was a morning walk, but I prefer the evening walks.... I did 5 miles there and back total.... this is the section of the hike and bike trail that I have done the most... the trailhead is 5 minutes from the Hollow and the trail passes a lovely little park about 2 miles up.... it has a beautiful little spring that's ice cold year round and it's great to cool your feet in on scorching summer days.... there are bathrooms and a water fountain there too so it's a good place for a pit stop.... The whole place is filled with sweet smelling pines and is generally a very peaceful spot.... but on this day there was some huge church event or something because the picnic areas were full of people. There were mobs of wild children running around and through small groups of disinterested men huddling together with their cigarettes... It was amusing.... further up this way is a spring fed pond where invaribly their are rows of turtles sunning themselves on logs and I always pause to watch them get annoyed by my presence and slip into the water.... they float there with their heads sticking out of the water, patiently waiting for me to move on... of course, I usually double back another mile up the trail so we repeat the whole scene as I come back by.

I had great energy and I really could have done a few more miles but I showed some restraint as I am so injury prone...

My total mileage for the last 4 hikes is about 21 miles.... I am happy with that, as this is warm up time for the heavy mileage coming up late in the Summer.

Those that have read my stuff on this blog or elsewhere know about the mountain that rises up behind town here... I have always loved to drive up to the top.... it's my special place where I can go to think and enjoy the view and of the valley and the surrounding mountains.... It's a very steep drive by car and a grueling hike to the top on foot. I have done this hike of 6.2 miles, roundtrip, several times and it is very difficult no matter how good in shape I am in....

On Friday, I parked my car at the post office and did the 1 mile to the base of the mountain as the usual warm up. I walk up a lovely shaded street that typifies everything a small sounthern town street should be.... lovely well kept homes with lawns and gardens tended with love and care... folks are friendly and will always wave and say hi and I will comment on how nice their yard looks... it's after this first pleasant mile that things pick up... the road hits the base of the mountain and begins a steep ascent that brings on the huffing and puffing and the burning in the legs in short order.

It's an unmerciful grade for a good long stretch and that section is the toughest part..... luckily if I can soldier through that part I am rewarded by a level section that winds back through a hollow that is cool and wet with little brooks and small waterfalls.... this is a section where I have seen lots of deer and wild turkey through the years and this trip gave me a turkey sighting but no deer.... then the road begins to go up again at a less steep grade than before but at a longer stretch..... the reward for getting through this section is the incredible view from the 2 little parking areas near the peak... that's the thing.... you cant get to the very top because there is a gate with a fence slung with razor wire to keep folks from mucking about on the radio towers and the fire tower..... but today the gate was open, beckoning me to go to the higher places I normally cant get to.... I looked for posted signs and amazingly there werent any... so I went through the gate and on up..... the view here was even more incredible than the parking area..... there is an observatory there that was put there in the last few months and they had cleared out the trees giving me a view back off to the East that I had never seen before.... It was an incredibly clear day as well and I could see mountains 40 and 50 miles off in the distance that normally cant be seen in the humid haze of the Spring and Summer. I had the place to myself and most of the hike to myself as well... I soaked up the quiet and the view with a zen like tranquility...

The hike back down is a breeze... just one foot in front of the other and gravity does the rest...

A GREAT hike!