Quick Links
Search
SEARCH THIS SITE:
SEARCH THE WEB:
SEARCH THE WEB:
Categories
Sponsored Links
SilverDragon's Pages
Contact
Syndicate this site 
Send an Email Archives
Browse all archives by date
| Recent archives | ||||||
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
Current conditions
Valley Village, California
The last recorded mood of the SilverDragon was:
Statistics
Total entries in this blog:
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Oct 08, 2008 10:46 PM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Oct 08, 2008 10:46 PM
Mishe Mokwa Trail
A frustrating day in the Santa Monica
Mountains
I decided to hike along the Mishe Mokwa Trail
today to Split Rock. This is an area of the Santa Monica Mountains in Ventura
County that has some very interesting rock formations; the Split Rock itself is
a huge boulder, broken in two, in a shaded glen beside a stream that has water
in most years (though probably not this year.)
I took 1.5 liters of water, plenty for the 3.4 mile round trip in mild weather (about 83F - well, mild for Southern California.) I took my hiking poles and had braces on both knees this time. I have a new hiking hat which is really well designed for hot weather. I was really hoping to make it the entire 1.7 miles to the Rock.
No such luck.
The start of the trail is smooth but fairly steep, and totally unshaded. By the time I reached the junction with the Backbone Trail (about .2 miles) I was huffing, puffing, and sweating like a fountain. At this point I made a really foolish decision: I decided to take off my shirt and hike in my "sport top."
I had applied sunscreen and insect repellent at the trailhead, but carried none with me. My thought was, "I'll just keep my shirt off until I get to the shaded part of the trail. Besides, I can do the hike to Split Rock in about an hour."
That was "about an hour" two years ago before my knee injury and my subsequent inactivity. I left my shirt off even after I reached the shaded south wall of Carlisle Canyon; I was overheated despite the mild day. I was quickly going through my water supply. The trail becomes much rougher in the canyon; I was overflexing my knees in order to climb through rocky areas on the trail.
Almost directly across the canyon from Balanced Rock, somewhat over a mile in, I sat down under a convenient creosote bush, and actually started thinking. I was, perhaps, one-third of the way through the round trip I intended; I had climbed about 500 ft.; my right knee was extremely painful, and was swelling. Worse, I was 2/3 through my water supply. Usually there is water in the creek beside Split Rock, but I've seen damn little water where I would expect to find it this summer. Nor did I have iodine with me to treat it even if I found water.
That was what decided me; tired and in pain is bad, but tired, in pain, and dehydrated is much, much worse. I could easily lose my balance and injure myself badly, or come down with sunstroke. I rested for about 20 minutes trying to think of a way to get to Split Rock and back safely, but the facts of the situation stubbornly refused to rearrange themselves to my liking. So I took some naproxen for the pain and swelling in my knee, and started back.
My little expedition, which I expected to take only about 2.5 hours, took nearly four and I never reached my intended destination. Dammit.
And I have one hellacious sunburn.
It would be easy to get discouraged at this point, and retreat to couch-potato land. But the only thing that will get me out to the trail, is getting out to the trail. I MUST keep active; I don't want to lose what little fitness I've managed to regain!
I took 1.5 liters of water, plenty for the 3.4 mile round trip in mild weather (about 83F - well, mild for Southern California.) I took my hiking poles and had braces on both knees this time. I have a new hiking hat which is really well designed for hot weather. I was really hoping to make it the entire 1.7 miles to the Rock.
No such luck.
The start of the trail is smooth but fairly steep, and totally unshaded. By the time I reached the junction with the Backbone Trail (about .2 miles) I was huffing, puffing, and sweating like a fountain. At this point I made a really foolish decision: I decided to take off my shirt and hike in my "sport top."
I had applied sunscreen and insect repellent at the trailhead, but carried none with me. My thought was, "I'll just keep my shirt off until I get to the shaded part of the trail. Besides, I can do the hike to Split Rock in about an hour."
That was "about an hour" two years ago before my knee injury and my subsequent inactivity. I left my shirt off even after I reached the shaded south wall of Carlisle Canyon; I was overheated despite the mild day. I was quickly going through my water supply. The trail becomes much rougher in the canyon; I was overflexing my knees in order to climb through rocky areas on the trail.
Almost directly across the canyon from Balanced Rock, somewhat over a mile in, I sat down under a convenient creosote bush, and actually started thinking. I was, perhaps, one-third of the way through the round trip I intended; I had climbed about 500 ft.; my right knee was extremely painful, and was swelling. Worse, I was 2/3 through my water supply. Usually there is water in the creek beside Split Rock, but I've seen damn little water where I would expect to find it this summer. Nor did I have iodine with me to treat it even if I found water.
That was what decided me; tired and in pain is bad, but tired, in pain, and dehydrated is much, much worse. I could easily lose my balance and injure myself badly, or come down with sunstroke. I rested for about 20 minutes trying to think of a way to get to Split Rock and back safely, but the facts of the situation stubbornly refused to rearrange themselves to my liking. So I took some naproxen for the pain and swelling in my knee, and started back.
My little expedition, which I expected to take only about 2.5 hours, took nearly four and I never reached my intended destination. Dammit.
And I have one hellacious sunburn.
It would be easy to get discouraged at this point, and retreat to couch-potato land. But the only thing that will get me out to the trail, is getting out to the trail. I MUST keep active; I don't want to lose what little fitness I've managed to regain!
Posted: Fri - July 30, 2004 at 06:01 AM | | | | |