Going Down Just as Hard as Going up?

This is a continuation of this post.

Anyway, when we got to the top of the mountain we decided to have a nice lovely picnic. Our friend, Pat, made fantastic chicken salad wraps. The salad was made of chicken (obviously), apple, raisins, some mayo and sour cream. Oh man, oh man. Was it good! Especially after all the hard work climbing up the mountain side. We were all feeling pretty hungry. I am definitely glad we decided to man up with our backpacks in order to have this lovely meal. It was definitely worth the extra weight and the view was one of a kind.

We snacked on crackers and hummus and had a wonderful time chatting and hanging out. Towards the end of the meal, we had a very friendly visitor which also added to our entertainment. We were first afraid that he was going to poop on us, but we made nice and fed him some crackers.

Ralphie, the Gull! He would eat crackers right out of your hands. But then as soon as he realized he wasn’t getting any more from us, he left us for another group! And we thought we were special!

 

Instead of going back down the same way we came, we decided we were going to do more of a loop and go down the other side. Ooh boy.

Just an idea of what we were going down. Some parts were even worse than this.

When I say going down, we were really going down. Most of the trail was very steep and very rocky. We had to be careful not to step on any loose rocks so we wouldn’t go tumbling down. At some parts, we had to slide down on our butt because there was just no other way to walk down. Unfortunately, I ended up sliding down on a stick and it almost pierced my butt… Not pleasant! Thank goodness I caught it in time!

Now going down hill seemed to put more strain on my muscles than I imagined it would have. On the way up, I definitely got in my cardio but I think on my way down, we really got our strength training. My thighs were achy and my legs were shaky. I could also feel my core muscles working as they kept my balance.  Some parts I definitely did not think I was going to make it. You would look 10 feet ahead, and it would look like the path just ended and you were going to fall off a cliff.  But slowly and surely, we managed to make it back down to civilization. As we were going down, we all remarked how we probably would not have made it to the top if we had started on this trail. So I am glad it all worked out for the best and there were no major injuries. Just a little scrape on the fiance’s leg and my blister was definitely a little unhappy but no real harm done.

We had the option to wait for a bus to take us back to the parking lot but we decided to keep walking. It was just so serene walking around the lake even if a lot more people had come out to enjoy the great out doors as well.

Love the reflection.

Freshly eaten by a beaver! What amazingly sharp teeth they have. We were very impressed, though we all felt a little bad for the tree. Moment of Silence. I am sure it is dead now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also the very happy tree. Perfect for sitting on. Here is us just posing in front of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we made it back to the car, we decided to take a quick drive around and then settled on going to a restaurant right on the ocean to have some dinner. Once again, we were all feeling a little bit hungry and we could not pass up enjoying the lovely day right on the harbor. The idea of ice cream did not come up, but be proud. No ice cream was had. We enjoyed our seafood, though! I had the crab cake sandwich and some onion rings. Not the best choice in the world but oh my, was it absolutely delicious! And once again, the view was gorgeous and peaceful.

I am really loving this getting into shape and having adventures thing. The weekend was absolutely marvelous and I am hoping to have a repeat of it this weekend as well. We have been talking about going up another mountain this Saturday. This one will be out .8 of a mile higher than the other one so it should be interesting. Hopefully my body will be recovered by then. I went on a 2 mile run today, but it was a bit of a struggle!

How is everyone’s week going so far? I can’t believe it is only Tuesday! I feel like so much has been going on. I really wish it was Thursday instead.