Destination Fireplace

Each year I go through the same routine.  I am amazed how fast the weather changes throughout the day.  In the morning on the way to work I use the heater in the car, then in the afternoon use the air conditioner.  Today was one of those days.

The hike started off cold, so I had my coat and gloves.  A little ways into the hike, the sun came out and apparently I got sunburned.  My van was assigned to Solstice Canyon, which is one of the toughest hikes.

It is tough because the first part is steep uphill.  The incline is not as long as Zuma Ridge, but it is much steeper.  The first incline took about 30 minutes and required a lot of energy.  I had to stop a couple of times, but mostly I just powered through.  The other parts of the hike were not hard, but the steep incline part took a lot out of me which made the other parts relatively hard.

There is a spot in the hike where we go down the hill to the valley, where there is a waterfall and a creek.  The waterfall wasn't that big, but it was still wonderful to see it.  After the waterfall, we hiked up the other hill to an fireplace at the top.  One of the guides told the story about the fireplace, but I spaced out for a moment and didn't get the story.  Besides, I was still worn out from the the first incline part and was having a small victory moment for making it to the fireplace.

So let's get to some pictures.

The picture above is of a trash can at the beginning of the hike.  I saw this and started laughing because it says trash only.  What other items would I place in a trash can besides trash?  Is this a problem in California?  Do people put valuables in trash cans and need to be reminded that only trash goes in trash cans?

Here's a picture of the waterfall and the creek.

This picture was on the way to the fireplace.  We started the hike on the other side of the hill, and the waterfall is located in the valley.  You can even see the ocean in the background.  Beautiful scenery.

Here I am at the fireplace.  Notice the sweat line in my shirt, and this is only halfway through the hike.

This picture is of the chocolate covered strawberries.  I'm glad it turned out good because the lighting in the dining room isn't the best for pictures.  I know this isn't part of the hike, but is one of the best deserts on the menu.  Yes, that is real dark chocolate.

The afternoon classes were treading, pool class, and ball works.  Ball works is about using the ball in the gym to get a total body workout.  Some of the exercises are awkward, and this is my least favorite class. For those that don't know what ball I'm talking about, I'll take a picture tomorrow.

Treading was good.  I decided to use the arc trainer because I like it.  At the end of the class, we have a one minute sprint and I challenged myself and the other people around me to max out the resistance and incline for the last one minute sprint.  I got some strange looks from some people, but we did it.

This is what I did in the cardio intervals class on Tuesday, but today I had a lot less energy so I wasn't sure if I could do it.  Then, at the moment before we started, the trainer told us the last sprint was all mental - mind over body.  I thought she was right and got it done.  Max resistance and max incline on the arc trainer for one minute at the end of treading class on a Thursday after hiking Solstice.  What a great moment it was looking back on it.

Closing thought for the day:  Solstice Canyon is the one hike that I wanted to do since I got here because it is challenging and the scenery is beautiful.  Today I got to do it and wasn't disappointed.  I have now completed the three toughest hikes offered and am on week four.  I can't wait to see what the other four weeks have in store for me on the hikes.