Checking route at the junction

Another weekend brought another training hike, and this time Danny chose a spot closer to San Francisco on the Peninsula. The trail he had planned had several ups and downs and some 2300 feet in elevation.

GPS of our route

We met Jared at the Methuselah trailhead around 10:20ish, applied sunscreen, adjusted our packs and hiking poles, and off we went. Jared already had started swatting at mosquitos and took this time to also roll down his sleeves and turn up his collar. I didn’t notice the critters, and hoped that my ExOfficio hoodie was doing its thing. We had barely gone 100 yards on the trail when we encountered cyclists (which I had been apprehensive about). Thankfully they were friendly and courteous for the most part – and, with the exception of one crazy dude towards the end of our hike – did not seem at all interested in barreling us off the Methuselah.

Stemmed puffballs

The trails are well-maintained, and we found many kinds of fungi peeking out at the edges of the path from bits of leaves and duff and scrub, including one of our favourites – the very tasty Craterellus cornucopioides! Danny will be back during season. Also of note – little to no trace of poison oak!

The path Danny chose first led us down a gradual slope, but around mile 3 started climbing, often quite steeply, towards the highest point, from around 900 feet in elevation to around 2300 feet by mile 7. Then it was a gradual downhill, before going uphill again for over a mile until we reached the trailhead where we started and had parked our cars. We joked as we noticed that we got very quiet on the uphills, laboriously making our way upwards. On the downhills we got quite perky, and sometimes even joggged in short sections, becoming chatty and talking about all kinds of food. Hiker hunger indeed.

Lots of skeeters in this area

We paused for lunch around the halfway mark at a trail junction. We found a horizontal log to perch on, and also found some clusters of mosquitos. Though sweaty from the trek thus far, I flipped up my hood and never did I notice anything flitting about or biting at me. Lunch was the same as the week prior: a tuna packet, crackers, baby carrots. I tried a Honey Stinger Strawberry Waffle for the first time, and it was delicious! It hit the spot, and, at 160 calories for a 1-oz. serving, seems to make for a perfect trail snack food.

All in all, it felt like the most difficult training hike I’d done, and I was so tired the next day I couldn’t bring myself to go on my standard long run, unlike the week prior when I had been just fine for 10 miles after the 9-plus mile hike in Jack London State Park. On this particular hike, the shoulder straps of my backpack bothered me quite a bit while my hips seemed to be fine. I also had difficulty with the B-Grip Uno camera holster attached to my shoulder straps. Towards the end, I loosened the straps a little to distribute the weight a bit more around my hips, to give my shoulders a break.

lots of these little guys

Critters: mosquitos, and lots of banana slugs. As we pulled out of our parking spots to head home, a magnificent deer bounded across the road, startling me.

away, bugs, away!

Products I tried for the first time:

ExOfficio Bugs-Away Lumen Hoodie in a  pleasant sky-blue. It was a little warm, since it was long-sleeved, but it breathed fairly well and we were lucky to be hiking in a lot of shade. I hope I’ll be able to tolerate it in the Sierras, where there might be not as much shade, higher temps and lots of mosquitos!

Honey Stinger Strawberry Waffle. Delicious! Buying/ bringing more of thee light, calorie-packed tasties.

Platypus Z 2-litre water bladder. I was a bit nervous about the way water might come out of the bite valve, but it was just fine. 2 litres seems to be just the right amount for me – I had around 3/4 of a litre left at the end of the hike.

2 more weeks until our actual trip!