After Summer Restart

[magikwalt]

Jean and I used these last two months of summer to get a ton of family stuff out of the way. The great news is that we accomplished everything. The bad news it it cost us 2 months of no hiking/training.

We've hit Mesquite a couple times now and the 10lbs I gained back were painfully evident. I have added a spin bike to the home gym and intend to use it to supplement on my "too busy" days.

I hit my goal of going sub 6 hours before the heat came on so now I'm looking to go sub 5 hours. First thing to do is shed another 20lbs. I want to hike up with ZippetyDude, Andy or ss and maybe enjoy a little conversation with them before they need to move on.

Looking forward to see all of you on the trail again!

[Ellen]

Howdy Walt

It's great to see you on the forum again, I've missed your posts

Please don't get too fast -- otherwise I'll never be able to hike with you again.

About the only way I'll be able to talk with Andy, Z-dude, or SS is at one of your barbecues in Long Valley. I bake excellent whole wheat molasses bread.

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

[zippetydude]

Hey, sounds like everybody's ready to hit the trail again. Maybe another get together as well?

Walt, I'm looking forward to some more of that Q, and Ellen, will you PM me your recipe?

I probably won't hit Skyline until after October 14 (Long Beach Marathon) as I'm starting to taper right now, though I might not be able to resist a quick run next Saturday.

Ellen, you mentioned a sort of informal shuttle idea where everyone who's going at around 5:30 could drop their cars off at the Tram lot and carpool together over to the museum. That sounds like a great idea, would make the driving convenient, and would be a few fun minutes together on the way to the trailhead where we could all talk. If we can get a couple dates in October and November when everybody's going, I'd be up for that.

On a different note, since we often start at different times, if we all wanted to hike together despite our different start times and paces, we could always meet at Flat Rock at 9:00 or some appointed hour. That way, everyone could hit a hard, medium, or mild pace all the way there (getting in a great workout) and then just cruise on in the last couple of miles, talking and taking in the view instead of hustling up that insanely steep section.

Walt and I ran into each other last year on the trail above Flat Rock, and it was really fun to take time and enjoy his company. Made for one of my best Skyline trips. With the people on this board, I think it would be a fun way to spend time together.

Any thoughts?

z

[Hikin_Jim]

Looking forward to see all of you on the trail again!

Good to see your name on the board, Walt.

HJ

[AlanK]

Good to see your name on the board, Walt.

Agreed. If you hadn't turned up around now, we'd be getting together an SAR like the one we were going to do for Jum.

[Hikin_Jim]

[guest]

Hey Walt & friends,
Glad to hear from you, we all seem to "re arrange" our priorities from time to time, so glad to hear your taking advantage of this awesome weather.
I did Skyline yesterday, it was a stellar day, weather was perfect! Passed 5 on the way, another was at the top, it is so nice to be back on that trail after a summer sabbatical.
I might be convinced to do a Kumbyah like Zipe mentioned at a certain point on the trail, presently, I'm hiking hard as I'm trained up for Whitney this wkend.
The talk of food is makin me hungry again!

See ya on the dusty trail,

ss

[Cy Kaicener]

Welcome back Walt. Looking forward to seeing you on the trail again. You have to ease into it slowly. That way I might be able to keep up with you for a little while.

[magikwalt]

Hello to all,

Glad to be back and glad to see everyone survived the summer! I'll be working hard the next couple weeks to get the fat trimmed off. I doubt I'll make a trip up for a couple weeks. Jean and I are going to spend sometime up in South Lake Tahoe the middle of Oct so I want to have my legs back before that.

ZD your idea sounds good to me.

ss, I may need a part-time gig with you to help keep me focused!

See everyone soon!

Walt

[Ellen]

Howdy Z

I love your idea of "meeting" at flat rock at 9 AM or so. It would be fun to hike with faster folks for a bit or at least be able to see them briefly before they fly by. I'll bring a bungee cord and see if I can catch a ride

Also, I'm more than happy to do the car shuttle in cooler weather when I don't have to start so early to protect my Alaska tan Last Saturday I reached the gate before the tram folks opened it and then followed them up.

Bread recipe will arrrive in your mail box soon.

Howdy Walt

I wish you had been with us last Saturday. I'm sure a 6'4" marine would have "encouraged" the bartender to get the tap beer going. A 5'3" blond just doesn't have the same authority. I wasn't bleeding either, so I couldn't play the sympathy card

Howdy SS

Hope to meet you someday -- have a wonderful Whitney trip.

Miles of smiles,
Ellen