Friday, June 20, 2014

Fitness Friday: Another Hike

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Imagine over an hour on the Stair Master, but skipping three stairs every step and being afraid of falling to your doom.


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almost to the top and pretending to be happy
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the rock climbing portion begins...
I remember it being much steeper than this photo depicts.

That's about as accurately as I can describe my Big Cross hiking experience. But let me elaborate...

In lieu of studying like I should've been, I thought it a better idea for my boyfriend and me to do this hike. It's on a camp site in Tapia Park in Malibu State Park and is a hike my boyfriend has done about a trillion times. He actually said he's done this hike since he was 14 and would race with his friends up to the top. His dad used to do this hike a trillion times too (he was actually the one who discovered it), so I figured it couldn't be that bad...right?

It started off pretty poorly and didn't get better from there. As we were driving up to the camp site, my guy points to a massive mountain off the road and gleefully states, "That's it!" To my dismay, he wasn't kidding. I'm telling you guys, I thought he was for sure kidding. He's told me he's gone up this trail in about half an hour before... there was no way that was the mountain. My only reply, "Holy... shit..."
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view from the very top
As you can see from the picture above, there was quite a bit of rock. This wasn't one of those trails where people bring their dogs. Unless, of course, your dog happens to be a mountain goat. It's a trail where 90% of the time I was either in a low lunge position or a squat-crawl position. About a third to a half of the hike was basically rock climbing - holding onto jagged rocks while balancing on any little crack my toes could find. A lot of the "rock" was actually lose clay crap that broke off when I put any pressure on it. Needless to say, this did not help my anxiety. My strategy: one step at a time, go as quickly and safely possible, and DON'T LOOK DOWN. 

This trail seemed to be never-ending. Whenever we got through one brutal portion of it, there seemed to be another, more trying, portion before us. And to make matters worse (at least for me) my guy kept saying, "Just a little further. We're almost to the top." But they were LIES! Every time he said that, there was a significant portion of the trail left! Even when we were finally close enough to the top to see the Big Cross, we were still about twenty minutes from completion. Bullshit! I'd get all excited only to find we were still so far off. I think it made me mentally more tired. He meant well, but I wanted to slap him. I might've...kidding! maybe... No, totally kidding! :|
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top right side
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Completed! 
It's embarrassing to say how long it actually took for us to reach the top. My guy could've skipped circles around me the entire time, but thankfully he was just trying to tell me how to manage this beast. "Step on these rocks." "Don't step on those." "It's snake season." "Don't touch this plant." 

But you know what? I did it! My guy actually said some girls have cried and given up during that rock climbing portion of the trail (I don't blame them), so I'm glad I was able to complete it. The view from the top was gorgeous. We could even see the beach from there.

The next challenge: getting down. I won't bore you with the details but let's just say I stayed very low to the ground. Also, I definitely need hiking boots.
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The Big Cross!
Just as a side note: that cross... my guy has a picture of himself standing on the very top of it. He's much more of a dare devil than I am and there is NO WAY IN HELL I would ever, ever attempt standing on that thing. My stomach is churning just thinking about it. 

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panoramic view from the top
Also, I should've worn sunscreen.

Until the next adventure! 


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2 comments:

  1. Nothing beats a great hike! I have some plans for a similar event next weekend and I can't wait!

    xo Jackie
    Something About That

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  2. wow what a beautiful hike! i've also been thinking about incorporating hikes into my fitness regime one day! haha

    great blog! we followed you on twitter and bloglovin, would love it if you followed us back!

    http://www.footnotesandfinds.com

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xo - Christine from The Lion's Den