Happy Campers

Stan and I just got back from a 3-day backpacking trip to Sand Point at Lake Ozette on the Olympic Peninsula.  We hiked that lower black dotted line from Ozette to Sand Point on the coast.   We seem to have just missed the good summer weather and had a pretty rainy time.  I'm glad we went, but now I am ready to retire from backpacking.

We had done this trip before, and when I looked for the photos I was amazed to find it was in 2008 - seven years ago!  I was hoping to show the difference between my 2008 photo and this year when I am 15 pounds lighter and feeling a lot stronger.  Oh well, my weight loss is covered up with 4 layers of clothing, including cargo shorts under my waterproof pants.  Below is the comparison.  (Note the blue jar in the background above - that is a bear-proof canister, required of all campers in the area.  We had to keep all our food and food-related garbage locked in the canister whenever we weren't actually cooking.)

2008

The hike is three miles through the woods, over dirt trail and a boardwalk that spans marshy areas.  You can't tell in the photos, but it rained the entire time we walked both in and out.  On the middle day, it was dry, warm and even a bit sunny at times.  On that day we walked along the beach for awhile, then over the 3 miles to the car to swap out garbage for more food and water, and back the 3 miles to the campsite.  Just a small day pack on that day, so it was easier going and a pleasant walk.

We had a lovely campsite just off the beach - perfect except that the "restroom", and I use the term loosely, was about 1/8 mile away.  That was an extra quarter mile through the woods for every trip, of which I made many!  Stan went with me the first few times until I felt safe enough going by myself.  Believe me, the weather was so bad I figured the bears and other wildlife were probably curled up in their dens!

Our ponchos get MVP as far as outdoor attire goes!  I found two of these folded in little packets with our camping supplies and I threw them in, never planning to actually use them.  They were great!  By the time we got to the campsite the first day two-thirds of my planned layer-able clothing was soaked.  The poncho kept my remaining sweater dry and made a little tent of warm air around me.  Wool hat and wool socks kept me warm.

For food we bought ready-to-eat camping meals at REI for dinners, had meat and cheese rollups (for me) and meat and cheese sandwiches (for Stan) for lunch, and Stan cooked nice breakfasts.  I was surprised to find neither of us was as hungry as I had thought we would be, and we wound up bringing food home.

Coffee first in morning!

My token veggies

Yummy camp dinner

Stan is a great camp cook, even with a very minimal amount of equipment.  Here he is cooking breakfast, 7 years ago and today.

2008

2015

Walking along single file we didn't talk much and I had plenty of time to think.  Often I thought of the refugees in the news, and how they have to get along without state-of-the-art camping equipment and a car conveniently parked with extra food and water.  Even worse, they don't have the security of knowing they're going home in two days, back to their regular life.  It must be terribly scary and sad.

I also thought about my own life, and realized I don't have to go backpacking again if I don't want to.  I wanted to do it this summer because Stan has many happy memories with his kids at Lake Ozette and it meant a lot to him to do it one more time.  I actually felt pretty strong carrying my pack and walked the distance without a problem.  (We weighed our packs when we got home - 23 lbs. for mine and 30-something for Stan's, without the sleeping pads and canteens.)  The bad part was at night.  It's a bit lonely to be awake and unable to sleep when one's companion is snoozing away, and for me, knowing I would have to leave the tent once or twice per night was a bummer.  It felt like a relief to me to know I would not be sleeping out there on the ground again.

Carrying that thought one step further, I realized I don't have to do anything I don't want to, or prove anything to myself or anyone else.  I have been thinking of taking a long walk - to my friend Mary's house in Tacoma for starters - which would require walking 19 miles per day to make it in two days.  I have a route all mapped out with a Comfort Inn at the halfway point, and all the Starbucks noted, but I'm not really sure I can walk that far.  I think I would feel satisfied after doing it, but I'm not sure it would be fun.  I love to read about people hiking the Pacific Crest Trail or the Appalachian Trail or the Camino Real in Spain, but perhaps I don't have to do those things myself.  Perhaps I will just enjoy taking shorter walks for exercise and to enjoy the nice weather. 

On the note of having to leave the tent in the night, have you heard of GoGirl??  This is a device that lets a woman pee standing up - great invention!  I used it at night in the woods with pretty good, not perfect, results.

Finally, I sure am glad to be home, and I'm grateful I live in this time and place of comfort and convenience!

Wet and tired, just one mile to go

What a handsome hiker!  (Photo taken on the dry day)

We deserved this lovely rainbow

We sat on a log at our campsite and watched the sun set - very peaceful

Staying on Track on a Camping Trip

Last week Stan and I spent two nights at the White River campground on Mount Rainier.  I must admit, I am not the most gung-ho camper in the world.  My goal isn't so much to enjoy the time, as it is to survive until we get back home.  That said, I love hiking around the loop from Sunrise, on Mount Rainier, to Frozen Lake and back.  It is a bit less than 4 miles, and very beautiful, all in the shadow of Mount Rainier.

This year, both Stan and I were busy right up until the last minute, and neither of us got in gear with packing until the day before we planned to go.  (Note to self:  Never leave planning and packing until the day before we go!)  We realized we didn't have extra butane fuel for the camp stoves, and we spent most of the day before driving around looking for the right kind.  Found them at MacLendon's - go there ahead of time next year!  Other than that, we did pretty well, except for warm jackets and hats.  It was at least 90° the day we left, and packing the car in the blazing sun we both forgot to take something warm for the nights on the mountain.

Here's our home away from home.

We've hiked at Sunrise several years, always in August.  A few times we've hit the wildflowers just right, but this year they were pretty much gone and dried out by the time we made it.  It was still incredibly beautiful - mountain scenery under a very blue sky.

We were surprised to find Frozen Lake had no snow at all.  We don't know whether this is normal some years, or a sign of global warming.  There was also less snow than usual on the mountain itself.

Frozen Lake - 2015

Frozen Lake - 2014

You can see bare spots, even at the very top

In the past when I have gone hiking, I have found going down very painful in my knees.  This time I remembered the advice of my physical therapist, Anne Morgan, and kept my core and my gluteus medius strongly clenched.  It worked great!  No knee pain!  Our "glutes"  (maximus, medius and minimus) are our strongest muscles and apparently when put to use appropriately they can protect our hip and knee joints.  So far, I have mostly been using mine as a cushion  : (

Our camping menu is pretty traditional - we take the same food every time.  I wanted to continue my good habits and my getting-back-on-track plans, but without interfering with Stan's camp cooking.  I decided to keep the same menu, but to make sure I had a vegetable and/or fruit with every meal.  I didn't want the hassle of cooking something like broccoli each meal, and I was packing at the last minute, but I tossed in what I had - a large package of heirloom cherry tomatoes from Whole Foods, blueberries, a couple of apples and a peach.  Here are my meals:

Breakfast - blueberry pancake, sausage and apple

Lunch - roast beef, ham and cheese roll-ups, tomatoes and peach slices

First night's dinner - franks, beans, sauerkraut and tomatoes.  Oh yeah, and wine.

2nd night's dinner - Stan uses packaged mix and adds mushrooms and sour cream

Stan gave me this big portion, but must admit I ate it all

I also made some trail mix:  pecans, raisins and chocolate chips.  A bit high-caloric, but pretty much healthy ingredients.  It tasted great on our hike!

In spite of being a bit chilly, and having to brave the dark walk to the "facilities" in the middle of the night, I enjoyed our three days.  It was nice to be out in nature and to talk with Stan without the distraction of TV, phones and the stock market.

Physical Therapy Really Works

A year ago I finally stopped ignoring the pain and stiffness in my hips and signed up for physical therapy.  At that point I was lifting my leg into the car with my hand, walking up stairs putting both feet on each stair,  and sometimes at the end of the day, climbing upstairs to bed on all fours.   When I stood up from my chair or the car, I unconsciously waited a few seconds for the stab of pain to stop before limping on my way.   Anne Morgan, of Olympic Physical Therapy, watched me do a few movements and said the problem was my core, that is, my pelvic floor, abdominal and butt muscles, or rather lack thereof.

Anne had me start with some exercises that seemed so simple I was sure they would do no good, until I tried to do 20 repetitions in good form.  We progressed to harder ones fast, and soon got to some that I couldn't do at all without pain.  It was also a real pain to go up to Bellevue once or twice a week for my 7:45 AM appointment, but I'm so glad I kept at it.  Now, a year later, I'm not very faithful with the actual exercises, but I find myself tightening my core and butt muscles automatically during my everyday life, and the pain is gone.

(These are not the most flattering pictures of me - how I have humbled myself for this blog!  Just keep in mind how good I feel now compared to my "before" self - that is the message I'm trying to convey.)

First Anne introduced me to the foam roll.  I lie on my back just relaxing for a while, then move my arms while keeping my pelvic floor and abdominals tight.

On my back on the floor, I march, lifting my feet off the floor one at a time, using my core muscles not my neck and back.

Then "clam shells", not difficult, but I had to work up to 25 on each side.  I focus on using my gluteus medius, not my hip or leg muscles.  Gluteus medius is the muscle right under the back pocket of your jeans.

When I could do the clam shells without pain, I started doing leg raises with my upper leg straight.  Much harder, and at one point I overdid, and caused a lot of extra pain on the right side, which is my worst side to begin with.  It took a long time to work up to 20 on each side, and the occasional 25.

The next exercise shocked me because it looks so simple and I couldn't do it.  Step up on a step and over, then back.  Even on a very small step, the stepping back part caused pain, especially on my right side.  I practiced this for months, adding height, and I can still feel just the tiniest bit of weakness on that side.  No pain though  : )

My granddaughter and videographer, Mira, helped me demonstrate:

I'm still working on the final exercise.  It's my hope to go back for a follow up with Anne and show her that I can do it. 

I knew Mira would be able to do this exercise easily!

A Workout at the Gym

Stan and I are lucky to have a beautiful Family Y near our house, and we joined soon after it opened.  When I was working we went once a week during my lunch hour on Fridays, when I worked from home.  Now that we're both retired we have a "date" for Wednesdays and Fridays in the early afternoon.

We start out by warming up - Stan on the treadmill and me on the elliptical machine.  I figure since I walk so much out on the street, it's probably better for my joints to avoid the treadmill.  Notice how nice and uncrowded the gym is when you're retired and can go in the middle of the afternoon!

The elliptical machine is kind of boring.  I can walk for an hour outside without noticing the time, but indoors on the machine, ten minutes seems quite long.  I amuse myself by looking out the window down into the swimming pool, and thinking how nice and cool the water would feel right now. 

Then it's time to get to the hard work.  All the weight lifting books I've read (several, most recently The Paleo Coach by Jason Seib) say lifting free weights is more effective than using the weight machines, because you have to balance yourself and the weights, and you use many muscles instead of just the ones isolated on the machines.  So, a few weeks ago I got out some weights and followed instructions in a little booklet that came with Stan's weight bench to lie on my back on the bench at home, and I did the exercises, no problem.  Then I tried to get back up - oops!  Not possible!  I had to half roll - half fall off sideways - ouch!  So, I'm back on the machines, at least until I get stronger, and maybe lighter would help, too.

The Y provides exercise logs, which I faithfully fill out each time.  I mark an up-arrow when I can do the exercise 12 reps without straining too much, and the next time I know to set the weight up higher.  You can see I don't get to every machine every time.  Guess I should take time to do them all, even if Stan is finished ahead of me.  (If you are wondering about my middle initial, Pam Q Birch - that is because the file of B's is huge and it was taking a long time to sift through and find my card each time.  In the Q's there are only two or three.)

This is a new item that Stan has been watching closely and wanting to try.  It's a climbing wall on big rollers that keeps rolling around as you climb.  You should see some of the young kids zip up like it's nothing.  Stan did a good job for his first time!

Time Out for Golf

Our favorite little golf course re-opened March first and Stan couldn't wait to get out there.  It's a very short "pitch and putt"-type nine-hole course in Bellevue that we discovered last year.  It's hardly ever crowded during the week, except for some high school kids who come out for PE.  (I wish we had learned to play golf in PE when I was in high school!)  On a few occasions we've even had it all to ourselves, as we practically did last week.

When we pay our Senior fee ($11 each), we can go around as many times as we want.  We can even go off for lunch and come back later in the day.  I noted on my Fitbit that one time around only resulted in half my daily goal of 10,000 steps, so we'll need to play 18 holes whenever we can.

Last year I bought new clubs.  My old ones were 17 years old, and I was pretty sure some new technology would improve my game.  Then I wound up going to physical therapy and chiropractic, and the chiropractor said no golf until September, so the clubs are still nearly brand new.  I was excited to get them out this year and I think I am hitting better, though they are not an instant cure-all.  Aren't they pretty??

Stan hadn't golfed until I urged him to try it, and our friends, Melanie's in-laws Sharon and Bill, arranged for a group golf lesson for the family.  It was fun and Stan got hooked!  I had to explain to him that when someone shows you a new activity, it's bad form to show her up right away.  I only beat him once or twice all last year.  This year will be different!  But he did beat me our first time out : (

When Stan saw the photos of our first time out, he remarked we had dressed like gardeners, not golfers, so we tried to do better today!

Stan makes a long putt

Darn, he beat me again today

The orange ball is easier to find when I'm off in the rough

A great way to get outdoors and get some exercise!