Am I Dead Yet?

WWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, husband says last night, "What should we do tomorrow?" I thought for a little while, because my pat answer of sleep in and relax on the one day of the week we have that ability is not a popular one with him...and my response ended up being, "How about we drive up around Cloudcroft and go hiking on one of the millions of trails?"

Now, we've lived here a year, and all of the trails that we've hiked have been within two square miles of our home, and we always drive by and say, "some day we need to stop here."

So, we started driving...after passing all the traffic on the way to the cherry festival (oversight on our part), we decided to head out on the road towards Weed, since we have never gone past the highway that goes to Timberon. We realized quickly that this was mostly private land, so we turned through Russia Canyon because husband was certain it came through onto the road we were used to being on. Not really a nice drive I was hoping for in my minivan--next time we take the truck. But, when we came out on the other end of Russia Canyon, right across the street was a trailhead for the Rim Trail, a 14-mile loop.

We knew we were not packed (or early enough in the day) for such a big hike, so we figured we'd hike in for a bit and turn around and go back. So, we go a few miles and take some pretty pictures, not really noting the gradual decline in elevation along the VERY narrow trail with a steep fall (picture hugging a tree for dear life to let mountain bikers go by). We take a few minutes to catch our breath (3000 feet higher in elevation than home) and have some water, and turn around to go back to van.

We quickly realize how far down we have hiked, and now our hike out is all uphill. Okay, no problem, we'll take it slow. Well...I'm on my way to being back in shape, not quite at peak performance yet. I thought the muscles in the back of my thighs and my rear end were going to leap off my body in protest! OWWW! We stopped several times for me to rest (husband played with his knives and carved a new walking stick), so it took 2-3x longer to hike out. Thank goodness my husband was patient with me...he's more of the Speedy Gonzales kind of walker/hiker.

I made him drive home because I felt awful...walked in the door and proceeded to sleep for three hours before a long jacuzzi bath with Epsom salts. Legs are pretty sore tonight and I'm beyond exhausted.

Lesson for the day: Research your trails, don't wander aimlessly and pick one that does not match your hiking ability.

Ow.