New Year’s Day Hiking

One of my favorite things to do in Little Rock was climb Pinnacle Mountain and run around the base trail. My love affair with Pinnacle began when I started the UBBT (Ultimate Black Belt Test) in 2009. One of the requirements of the test was participation in an Eco Adventure which would involve a lot a hiking. While I was pretty good at gym conditioning, I had not done a lot of outdoor hiking. I had to overcome some fears about heights and falling to my death, but with a lot of persistence and some encouragement from Steve I got there.

On New Year’s Day in 2010 we climbed Pinnacle with a few of my TKD students and Keely.

Yesterday, New Year’s Day 2012 found us in Red Rock Canyon. What a contrast to just two years before. We now live in Colorado and cannot believe how lucky we are to call this beautiful state home. Keely has become much more experienced at hiking and climbing and she doesn’t whine much at all. I don’t feel like crawling on all fours instead of walking when the rocks get steep. We have done some really fabulous hikes all over the country but there really wasn’t great areas close to home.

Of course some things are not going to change. Keely and Steve are still going to scare the crap out of me getting way to close to the edge of a cliff with a 600 foot drop. I’m not ever going to be the chick on the TV commercial that wants to climb that needle-like rock a gazillion feet in the air.

My surgeon told me when I had hip replacement that I would never be able to run again. That didn’t really upset me; running has never been my thing even when I was doing 40 miles a week. I just thought it was plain boring really.
Then I found that I loved running the base trails at Pinnacle. For some reason trail running doesn’t make my hip feel like it’s coming out of its socket like running on pavement does. I love the challenge of dodging rocks, jumping over obstacles, ducking under branches, knowing that if I fall it is going to hurt like hell. There were some trails around here that were ok…but nothing really great.

I haven’t found a place I connected with like Pinnacle Mountain until yesterday.

This New Year’s Day we found Red Rock Canyon (thank you Paula!) Rock Canyon is breathtaking, similar to Garden of the Gods but without the tourists. We spent three hours there yesterday, Keely in tow and joined by Steve’s coworker Mark. There are lots of dirt roads and trails, and beautiful red rock formations to climb. The park is huge and the terrain is varied, and it’s just outside of Canon City.

I am in heaven