Big Creek with the herd

Another hike with no pictures.   I woke up to my alarm at 6:45 looked around and realized the power was out.  My spouse is on home oxygen so I rushed to  help him get hooked up to his emergency tanks, but he had already hooked himself up.  I was all packed to hike, but I felt that I needed to stay home to help him with his tanks.  His oxygen machine that runs on electricity gives off a warning when it stops, the tanks do not.   My spouse is bad enough that he needs constant oxygen now, so the risk of him running out in his sleep was too great.

The power came back on at about 10:30 and I could finally get out for a short hike.  My spouse was creating a bunch of drama on the phone as I was leaving and I think that caused me to leave without my camera.

When I got to the start of my hike at Big Creek camp I saw a bunch of cars.  I did not want to have to deal with a bunch of people and dogs and I wanted my dog to be able to go off leash.  I went to a different location that takes me to the same trail but cuts about a mile off the hike.

As soon as I started hiking I realized that I needed to go back to the car to get something.  Then I realized that I did not have my car keys on me. I must have locked my keys in the car. Did I have a hide-a-key?  After getting good and muddy laying on my back under my car I managed to locate my spare key, but I could not get the hide-a-key case open.  People were driving by really slow looking at Sage,  I had tied her to a tree to keep her out of the street.   People can be so weird about dogs.  I had to smash the case open between two rocks to the key out of it, but I was so glad to have a spare key.

Then I started my hike for real, but I made a wrong turn and had to track back.  Things just were not going my way.  I have a little known trail that I take up to an overlook where I have lunch in solitude.  Okay that’s not true.  I used to have a little known trail that took  me to an overlook where I used to have my lunch in solitude.  It was years before I ever saw anyone else on that trail, but now I see people there a lot.  There are many more people hiking out at Cushman than there were just ten years ago.

Iphone photo

As I approached my lunch spot I heard a huge group behind me.  I decided to test out my iron stores and see if I could stay ahead of them.    I was huffing and puffing a lot, but I was able to stay ahead.  I’m looking forward to finding out how much stronger I will be able to hike when I get my iron levels up good and high.   My serum ferritin went from 4-18 in the last month.   4 is crazy low, but I managed to slow my iron loss with 48,000 IU of vitamin “A” a day and hemi iron pills. 

Doctors just don’t seem to know that vitamin “A” can solve the problem of losing way too much iron every 28 days.  My doctor said it was anecdotal.  I say B.S. to that.  I have primary scientific literature that says otherwise.

Just say no to Novasure or Mirena, try 48,000 IU of Vitamin "A" per day plus Hemi Iron pills.

So anyway, I managed to stay ahead but I sure was huffing and puffing.  I wanted to stay far enough ahead that the group would not see me turn off to the lookout.  I hoped that they would just keep on going right past it.  I knew if they saw me turn off they might decide to  turn off too.

I made it!  I got there before they could see me turn off.  Yay!  Maybe I would get some solitude at lunch time. 

But to my utter horror there were already two people at the bench and they made no effort to move over so I could sit.   I’m sure they would have moved if I had made it clear that I wanted to sit.  Then even more horrifically that huge group arrived, that was my cue to leave.  It was going to be way too crowded and loud at the look out. 

I took off straight up the hill and into the brush leaving the trail behind.   I soon found myself a lovely little patch of woods well of the trail where I settled down to have my lunch and coffee with Sage. 

The forest there is so nice and it just drains all of the stress and tensions right out of me.  Ahhhhh sweet solitude and relaxation.  I recently read that  only children tend to need time alone to recharge, so that might be part of why I seek solitude.

  But also I have rather severe PTSD due to being abused and neglected as a child.   I need my alone time in the woods in order to recharge and in order to sort through all the things that happen to me during a week. 

It can be hard for me to make sense of my interactions with other people when I have so many defense filters in place.   Also my parents never showed me how to make friends or how to treat other people.  I need time alone to just sort things out.

After my peaceful lunch I went back down to the overlook and I had it all to myself.  I sat there for a while even though my lunch was finished.  I was tired.  I’ve been avoiding any hikes with elevation gain with my iron levels being so low.   With only 1,700 feet in elevation gain this was my second highest climb this year.  I used to go up and down Mount Rose a couple of times a week and that is 3,500 feet in elevation gain!  

I never saw another person on the trail after lunch and when I drove past Big Creek all of the cars were gone.  I must have arrived during rush hour, but I had the mountain all to myself after rush hour was over.

5.3 miles round trip with 1,700 feet elevation gain and I’m wiped out today.

Iphone panorama