Wednesday 3/29

Wind blew the clouds away and this morning dawns bright and windy. I’m excited about this little hike. Got a sandwich made, packed a couple of apples and a granol….. nope, sorry Harper, and a couple of Nutri-Grain bars. Plenty of water, binos, safety, 10mm. Thought about taking both trekking poles but decided against it. Too much PITA if I need two hands.

I’ve shorten my trekking pole up almost 3″. It just feels right, here. It isn’t like I haven’t put some miles on these poles. Side note: I’ve got enough miles on my bike now with the bar ends and have raised the seat up 1″. I can still swing my leg over but it’s close! Trekking poles what are the ethics? It use to be “Take only pictures, Leave only footprints” well now, they don’t want footprints. That’s another discussion, back to trekking poles. They are hard on the environment. They are, I use them everyday and I see what they do. Not huge and most people wouldn’t notice or care. I’ve walked with a stick or a pole always. Am I going to quit using my poles, no… Lots of signs about stepping off trail and destroying the growth of the soil or smashing of plants and your footprints. Unfortunately they didn’t post it in “Range Cattle Digest” ’cause these steers don’t care WHERE they step and they step everywhere and for good measure, they’ll shit on it!

The hike was like all hikes, ups and downs, thru cuts and boulders. The first boulders I had to banana step thru gave me….. let’s just say I didn’t dilly- dally getting thru. Ended at Holly ruins. These are good ruins ( is that a oxymoron?) Did a little cross country for a hour or so. Pretty hard to get lost in this flat land. Turned around and headed back to Holly for lunch.

Had lunch, a nap and stiffened up. Took a couple of ibuprofen and
1/2 hour later started to warm up. I was tired when I got back home. My phone says 22.45 miles. My guess is 12-15!

Heading out tomorrow to …Canyon De Chelly. I would still like to make it to Colorado Springs but the farther south I go…. The weather is forecast for rain and snow in south Colorado. Who knows.
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