Epic Snowshoe hike with Joe - It wasn't THAT epic, it was only intensely difficult. We hiked up the side of the mountain as fast as possible. Ok, back to the beginning. We started at Rattlesnake Gulch of the Wellsvilles and hiked up the snow covered trail in snowshoes. Once the trail seemed to disappear, we decided to do the best we could going straight up the mountain. Amazingly, we picked a line that intersected the actual trail and we were back in business. Of course, the trail was covered in snow and we only knew it was a trail by the lack of bushes on either side. We were making great time. About 30 mins per mile when the trail headed west. The problem was that it was on the east side of a steep ridge and the snow was too soft to make it up the ridge. We kept sliding back down. So we went a different way and from then on, we were forced to head straight up the mountain or to give up and go home. We never give up and so we went up. Our pace suffered. It took us 20 mins to go a quarter mile with no breaks. We nearly shouted with joy upon reaching a ridge we could hike normal on. The view was glorious and well worth the effort. Coming down was a bit of a struggle as the 10 or so faceplants made things interesting. You would be fine running down a mountain and mere seconds later, your toe would sink in and poof, down you went. It was a blast! So, 5.5 miles in 2:40 mins. 4000' vertical (mile 3 took us 52:24) 
Joe and I near the top... Will we make it??
We didn't make it to the top, but close. We ran out of time and steam at the same time...
**On a related note, my doctor visit yesterday was interesting. I definitely have ITB tendonitis in my right knee. Although not as severe as last year. Not much I can do about that aside from what I am already doing. Stop any activity that hurts it. R.I.C.E. I had them do an x-ray to make sure that there was nothing else wrong with it as I still have pain on the inside (MCL area). Plus pain on the shin bone as well. Tender to the touch. The x-ray was negative. No bone issues. Good. But, what is the problem? They had theories, but would need an MRI to know. I have been thinking about this injury for over a year now and since it is reasonably manageable I have not done a lot about it. Now is the time to check it all out and get a proper diagnosis. So, I had an MRI done as well on friday. Pretty expensive day, but hopefully I get some diagnosis from it. I get the results on Monday so I will post those then. I don't expect a major problem to be found as obviously I am able to hike up a crazy mountain the day after the test, but even a negative result would put me at ease. At least then I know I will just have to deal with the pain I do have.
| 