3 Hikes in 3 Weekends

To start off my post for the week, I will echo Sean's sentiments from below. No more IHOP. Tonight is the best my legs have felt in the evening of one of our hikes. It is also the worst that the rest of my body has felt, as my head has been throbbing and I haven't wanted to get off the couch much this afternoon. So, apparently after hiking 6 miles and 1200 feet of vertical gain, a brunch of fat cooked in fat doesn't sit well with us. Luckily, there are no bad breakfast places on the Wonderland Trail.

For a touch more about how I feel. I am definitely feeling better on the trail. No longer do long stretches of switchbacks frighten me, and today I was able to power up the last bit of our hike without really stopping. Over the next few weeks it will be nice to try some new trails and stretch the legs out a little more, with weight and speed.

I also want to say a little about why I am doing this, as Sean and Joe have both put out some of their reasons. So, the first reason is that I simply am unsure where my 20's went. It's not that I am unhappy with where things have gone, as I am actually shockingly surprised at how well things have turned out for me considering the strange paths that my post college years took me. But I find myself staring down a much more consistent life than I am used to.

Between 20-29 I graduated from WSU and Seattle Pacific, moved to Seattle, travelled to Spain, somehow found a teaching job in Kirkland while tasting Port in Portugal, met my now wife, and eventually found myself teaching in the suburbs of Seattle. Not to mention years working in a seafood restaurant and time spent working as a graduate assistant.

Now, with a stable job and income, a wife and a cat, and a new home purchase, I can reasonably see some aspects of my future. And I can also see how easily I could find myself working, grading, watching sports, and working on my house. Time passes quickly this way.

This is a step to make sure that as life picks up speed, I continue to do things I enjoy with people that make it all fun. Of course, ten or eleven days of walking with anyone might make me rethink that whole concept of people I enjoy. But if I am going to do this with anyone, I can think of no better partners than these two fine gentlemen.