I Really Need a Pepsi

I started this blog in the beginning of the year (2011) as a self encouragement to get my ass out of the house and to hike. I wanted to use it as self-encouragement to hike some of the places I had been reading about.

From January to April that’s exactly what I did. I hiked Daisy Mountain from New River to Anthem and hiked to Indian Mesa. In March, I went on my first hike with the Anthem Hiking Club.

Well, now for a dose of honesty. Sometime in late April, I ran out of my high blood pressure meds. It was a few days before I got in to see the doctor. My doctor’s appointment did not go well. In fact, my blood pressure was “a bit” high and they would not let me leave until it got back under control (with meds). I learned two things that day:

1. Never run out of meds.
2. I really need to get myself under control.

So, in the beginning of May I swore off all soda and started counting calories. I would not classify this as a diet as much as just watching how much goes into this 43 year old body.

The first week of the diet was hell. Coming down from soda addiction was torture. I had a constant headache, a short fuse and was shaky a lot. If you have ever been addicted to anything, I feel for you. However, the first few weeks were also great. I was working out every other morning and the pounds were falling off. I was reading a lot about weight loss and lifestyle change and realized I needed a goal. Looking at my progress and at the calendar, I made the goal of losing 25 pounds by July 15th. Totally doable!!!

Well … In mid May I broke my toe and was reduced to little exercise. After that healed, in mid-June my weight loss plateaued. I was no longer dropping weight like it was a hot tamale. July 15th came and I missed my goal. I “only” lost 20 pounds in 2 ½ months. Believe me, I’m not sad about that at all. Looking back, I think I should have been more realistic about my ability to work out every day.

I have read a lot about weight loss, plateaus and how to over come them. I have adjusted my calorie intake and my exercise and am back to consistent weight loss. The new normal for me is trying to loss 1 ½ pounds per week. With daily weight fluctuations, this is incredibly hard to measure.

I have set a few goals for the rest of 2011. The big goal is to continue working out and counting calories. I have set a weight loss goal, although that is not my main focus.

I also need to continue to NOT drink soda … although caffeine continues to call me like a heroin dealer…. “drink me, drink me!”. I have set little goals too. Things like “buy a heart monitor” and “buy smaller underwear” are in there.

I would like to share with you one big goal. I have committed to trying to finish the Phoenix Summit Challenge in early November. The Phoenix Summit Challenge is an opportunity for outdoor enthusiasts of all abilities to climb multiple summits throughout the Phoenix desert preserve system.

This Year’s Climbs:

1. On South Mountain, Holbert Trail to Dobbins Lookout and back.
2. On South Mountain, Ranger Trail to National Trail and back.
3. Piestewa Summit Trail, up and back. Back to Hopi Ramada.
4. Cross the entrance road, past Mohave Ramada, and up Trail 200 to the summit and back.
5. Hike up to Lookout Mountain summit and back
6. From NMVC, take Trail 100, the Christiansen Trail, to Trail 101 (formerly Trail 100A). Trail 101 connects with the road to the top of North Mountain. Hike to the summit, then back down the road and to Trail 101, to Trail 100.
7. Reconnect with Trail 100 to Trail 306, to the top of Shaw Butte, climbing clockwise. From the top, return on the road, then past the dam and back to NMVC, completing the event there.

From time to time on this blog I want to expand beyond my hikes and try to make sense of some things that have bugged me for a long time. Read it or not – That’s your choice!

2011 7-14 Mission Peak - Fremont, California

Length: 5.75 miles

Duration:1 Hours 47 minutes

Vertical Up:1969 feet

My track log at EveryTrail




In all the years I have been coming to the Silicon Valley, Mission Peak has always loomed in the distance, begging to be climbed. I’ve seen it with snow on the top, lush green grass and dead brown grass. The summit is usually covered by the low clouds that are so typical here. Over the 20+ years traveling up here, I’ve only managed one attempt to hike this hill. This was back in my inactive days and I failed miserably.

I was up in San Jose on business this week and knew I was going to hike this hill. I even got my boss interested. We decided to go for the hike on a Thursday after work. Well, this meant we got to the parking lot at 7 PM. To our surprise the place was packed. After loosing a prime parking spot to an aggressive driver going the wrong way (must have been from Massachusetts) we followed the long line of cars down the hill a bit and parked on a residential street.

I’ve read a few logs about this hike (like this one) so I knew what to expect. The hike is 6-7 miles round trip and should take 4-5 hours. Since we were starting late, we were sure making the summit was not possible. Now for the hike…

This hike starts out by descending just a bit before beginning a steep initial assent. The first ½- ¾ mile assent was tough on me. I had been up since 4 AM and the combination of an early wake up, full days work and now this hill was really affecting my pace. My boss was very cool and kept encouraging me to keep going (“we’ll rest at this flat section in about 5 minutes’). After ½ hour of hiking, huffing and puffing, I made it to the rest point.

After that the trail is pretty consistent grade up, it follows the terrain of the hill, slowly meandering to the top. The rest did me good and I was able to set a good pace (for me) as we continued up. We passed many people and cows on our way up. It’s a tough hike.









As it approached 8:15, we decided it was too cold for us thin blooded Arizonans and too late to continue. We had no idea how close or far to the summit we were.

So we headed down and made it back to the car in 45 minutes. As it turns out, we only had ½ mile to the summit when we turned around. We probably could have made it if we weren’t so dang cold. It’s winter here!





Total distance of the hike was just under 6 miles and we climbed 1800 feet. Not too shabby for a Thursday evening. Next time, I’m leaving earlier and making it to the top!

2011 7-9 Sandy's Canyon to Fisher Point

Length: 8.4 miles

Duration:3 Hours 3 minutes

Vertical Up:3176 feet

My track log at EveryTrail




Today’s hike was another hike with the Anthem Hiking club. After a 2 ½ hour drive up to Flagstaff with a van full of people (12 of us) we pulled into the Canyon Vista Campground just south of Flagstaff. This is where the trailhead is located. It was nice to see the folks in the campground roughing it in their 60 foot motor home with their DirecTV dish set up. Is that really camping? There is day parking in the back of the campground. After a quick bathroom break, we got set up to hike.





From the trailhead, you get a great view of the San Francisco Peaks and the cliffs of Walnut Canyon. The trail starts out flat and after about ¾ of a mile you start a descent down into Sandy’s Canyon. The first thing I noticed on this portion of the hike was that I was able to keep up with the hikers that used to fly past me. Inside I was feeling victorious that the last two months of workouts are paying off.




The hike flattens out for a 1 ½ mile flat hike through Sandy’s Canyon. The cool breeze, fresh air and smell of the Ponderosa Pines were overwhelming though the canyon. I was really enjoining myself.



The hike through the canyon crosses paths with The Arizona Trail. As you approach Fisher Point, you take a left turn and begin the ascent up to the top of Fisher Point. This is where I realized that we were at 6500 feet. As the altitude began to take its toll on me I began to drop back from the front group of hikers. The ascent up to Fisher Point is about a mile long and 700 feet up. Interesting contrast on this trail between a properly managed (thinned) forest on one side of the trail vs. a untouched forest on the other. It really shows the need for forest management. I can only imagine what a fire would do to this place.



At the top of Fisher Point we took time out to eat a snack and explore around a bit. Of course the group had to point out where one of the members slipped and fell (almost off the cliff) a few years back. The typical jokes and ribbing were dispensed.


After finishing up our snack, we hauled ass down from Fisher Point. We were really moving, almost jogging down the path. Back down at the bottom we voted to continue deeper into the canyon to look at a couple of caves near by. The first cave was a shallow cave in the side of Fisher Point. It was real interesting to talk to a guy in the club about the rock. This rock was actually a sandy beach 80 million years ago.





Hiking deeper into the canyon (though batches of Poison Oak) we came up on the second cave. This cave was actually a split in the mountain. It was about 150 feet in the side of a mountain and as high as 100 feet in some points. It was also 20 degrees cooler in there. These pictures really do not do it justice as we were walking in pitch black. Of course one of the more jovial members of the group took the opportunity to scare the bejesus out of us with some well-timed animal noises. If I am judging how scared he made me on a scale of 1-10, I would give him a 27.







After a bit of a break enjoying the cool temperatures in the cave, we began the hike back. Again, it was very enjoyable to hike on flat land and take in the smells of the forest.



I must say I really enjoyed this hike and really needed a break from a stressful work week. There are some really cool people in the group and the van ride home was full of stories and joking around. I can’t wait for my next hike with the Anthem Hiking Club.