Lake Stevens, what is that terrible smell?

Top of the Swamp

I've been dieting hard, so this felt like a feast

I've been feeling really weak but still hiking hard and now dieting too.  So today I decided to gorge myself at lunch time.  I hiked enough to earn the calories, so no worries.  A  few days after this hike I got the results of my Serum Ferritin test.  My Serum Ferritin level was 4, that's pretty shocking and it means that my body has almost no iron stores.  My other scores a few week earlier, before I started taking a ton of Hemi Iron were Hemoglobin 10.9, Hemocrit 34.5.  That is pretty darn anemic.

Now I'm taking even more iron and eating lots of liver and taking lots of  vitamin "A".  I seem to be getting my bleeding under control by taking about 4 times the US RDA of vitamin "A".  Amazing how few doctors know that in some studies 92% of women who took large doses of Vitamin "A" got relief from heavy bleeding.

I hope to be feeling much better in a couple of months now that the bleeding seems to be under control.  Doctors are keen to either burn out my uterus with hot water or just hack it out.  No thanks, I'd rather try some less drastic measures first.   I'm so close to menopause, I want to get through this without being mutilated.

I'm still managing to walk 6.3 miles in town almost every day and another 10-20 miles a week on the trails while taking care of my terminally ill and invalid spouse and doing some caring for our daughter too.  Now I need to take some time to take care of my self other than just hiking to get away from the stress!  Caregivers come for four hours a day to help take care of my spouse.

I'm a bit vague as to where this hike is because I love the solitude here.

I really enjoyed my noodles on the top anyway.. :)
10 miles with 800 elevation gain.

I was totally wiped out after this hike and could not understand why.  Now I know why.

I'm going to take one day a week off of dieting and hiking so my body can rest.

A beautiful spot for my second tea break

Lake Slimy Egg

Back to my favorite nearly private lake.  I've been trying to walk 10K a day everyday.  I don't know if that is a realistic goal, but so far so good.  Last year I lost ten pounds while training for Mount Adams, this year I gained 7 of those pounds back and to my horror they landed on my belly.

Turns out it's a change of life thing.  Anyway I have a new goal to lose ten pound this year as well.  I want to get this done by my 50th birthday.  Luckily that means I only have to lose one pound a week.

Walking on a level surface burns 100 calories per hour.  Walking ten K or 6.3 miles per day burns 600 calories.  I think the scale is starting to move, but not sure.

The road to this hike is in terrible shape due to logging.  Logging really tears up dirt roads.  I took a different road out.  The drive out was longer, but it was probabably faster and for sure easier on my car.

I spend about two hours at the Lake with Sage, just relaxing and taking pictures and checking facebook from time to time.  I cuaght two pokemon on this hike, that was all that spawned.

8.5 miles 300 feet elevation gain on the winter route.

My walk in Olympia

Toxic Goose Lake in Shelton, don't go there!

Mount Walker

The rain has been unrelenting this spring.  I decided to go up to an area that gets some of the rain shadow.  Missed Patches on this hike, first time back since Patches died.

Had a good time.  Placed Pokemon in the gym at the top.  They should stay there until the gate opens.

Rain was very light and the views were cloudy but nice.  Rode the bus as it's the only thing that makes sense.  Walker is 110 miles round trip, bus fare is $2.00 round trip.  It's nice to sit up high in a bus with big windows and look out over the Hood Canal.

Had the mountain to myself until I headed back down, then ran into quite a few people on the trail, including some young men who must have been scared of the woods.  When people are scared of the woods, they tend to howl and bark a lot.

6 miles 2,000 feet elevation gain

Little Lake

 A hike to a little lake in an area that I refuse to give much information about.

Westport Beaches

Had so much fun at Westport yesterday walking on the paved path and playing pokemon.  Had lunch on the beach.  6 miles with 30 feet elevation gain.