random memes }

Saddleback (first try)

I am bit tired and sore today. Took the dog for a walk to work off some of the soreness (much to his delight). Met a couple at the park with two dogs. Let Tiger loose to run around as for some reason the park was empty (odd for a Sunday) aside from other people with dogs.

On Saturday I made my first attempt to climb Saddleback mountain. Just getting to the trailhead was a bit of an adventure. Bouncing down the dirt road leading to the trailhead in my old Honda Accord took the better part of an hour. Lacking a map I spent two hours doing a warm-up hike up Horse Thief trail (to just past the junction with Trabuco Creek trail) before figuring I wasn't on the right path. Oh well... :). Backtracked to the Holy Jim trailhead and started up again. Made it up to the Main Divide road before running out of water. Went up the road a bit before better judgement (and a few thousand gnats) convinced me to head back down. Up and back took a bit under 4 hours (and a total of 6 hours hiking for the day).

Weight is down to about 197-203 so I'm still headed in the right direction.