lessons learned

It is entirely possible that we overdid it a bit with our Mineral Basin loop hike on Saturday because when we woke up on Sunday, we were all, no MTBing, not today, and went back to sleep.  H had big blisters on his feet and my back and neck were very stiff, plus I could feel the fatigue still in my legs when I went up and down the stairs, extra sleep notwithstanding.  So we spent Sunday morning at home, doing laundry and watching some Olympic MTBing, then packed up a cooler and went up to Brighton.  We did three laps around Silver Lake, enough to give us three miles' worth of walking, then settled into our camp chairs with snacks and suds to watch the comings-and-goings.  Although Silver Lake was pretty busy, and there were plenty of people hiking at Brighton, it was definitely less overrun than it had been just a month or so earlier.  Winter is coming, I can just feel it.

As we enjoyed the nice mid-70 degree temperatures, we discussed some of what we had learned on the hike the day before.  First, I need to always bring gloves if we are going to start early like that.  My hands had been so cold that they really hurt and that was entirely due to poor planning on my part.  Second, we need to be better about nutrition while hiking.  We had plenty of food with us (apples, granola bars, trail mix, beef jerky and peanut butter-and-raisin roll-ups) but all we ate were the roll-ups because nothing else seemed appealing.  We were never hungry but we definitely could have used the energy so we'll have to figure out what we might be inclined to eat - and then eat it.  Third, it's not a race.  We tend to go at a fairly quick pace (for people our age in reasonable shape who have desk jobs) and don't stop very much, and we (I) hate it when other hikers pass us.  There was plenty of daylight left in the day - it would have been fine if we'd slowed up a bit or taken a few more stops to rest and eat and enjoy the scenery.

Fourth, I shouldn't wear my Keen sandals when we walk three times around Silver Lake.  I didn't get any blisters on Saturday but I sure did on Sunday.  Lesson learned.