MAY Never Be Repeated!

I accomplished what not long ago I would have considered unthinkable - all the trails on the Giant this month... TWICE!

I had 6 segments left last night after our Memorial Day party so I took Sadie up behind the house hoping to get 2 of them. But she was dragging even after I let her drink from the stream for a minute or so. So when I got to the Red Square, I reluctantly turned right towards Mt Carmel Ave and called home for a ride. I did walk over to the stream there and Sadie drank and stood in it for awhile. There's a promising "slide rock" section right there. I pretty much gave up on my quest, convincing myself that it wasn't necessary to complete all of them twice this month.

So tonight I started up the White trail from Chestnut around 6:40 PM. Pat had taken Sadie in the afternoon and Sadie was pooped. I was glad to hear she was staying home because the White is one of the worst for her. I took it all the way to the Red Triangle in a little under an hour. I had a very close encounter with a "colony" of vultures (I looked that up) along the cliffs. I could hear the sound of their wings as they took off maybe 15feet ahead on the other side of a bush so I ran around the bush to see what kind of birds they were. There were a couple others still waiting so I got to see them very close. I have to start taking a camera with me. There were maybe 6 more in the top of a dead tree just below and they took off with their buddies. A little farther down the trail, there they were again. The last one to leave turned and looked at me and seemed to be thinking "Why are we leaving? We have him outnumbered."

I went down the White to the Red Circle and then back up to the large rock with the panoramic view. Guess who was there? The vultures on the rock and the top of a dead tree. I convinced them they didn't have to fly this time as I turned into the woods.

I turned right on the Red Triangle and again on the Orange. Along the pine-needle section there was a young deer that ran off, but not as far as if Sadie had been with me. A little farther along I surprised another one but it just walked into the woods and turned its head to look at me. I quietly walked around behind it and down the trail. It was still watching and had been only about 20 feet from me the whole time the trail curved around it. I could still see its head turned to follow me as the trail went downhill so I waved goodbye and headed on down.

I took a left on the Red Circle because now I knew I could finish. That Orange section had taken 22 minutes and it was just around 8 PM. I took a right on the Green because that was all I needed. When I reached the Red Square, I kissed my hand and patted the red square marker. I got all 5 that I needed and finished them all. I headed back to my car on Green and the whole hike took exactly 1:40. I was done around 8:20 and the sky was much lighter than it had been at the end of several other hikes.

I think I may try something else next month after I finish all the trails. I want to find out where the unmarked ones go. See you next month!

Squeezing them in

I can only get the hikes in when the weather and my family commitments cooperate.

Tonight I parked in the main lot and walked along Mount Carmel Avenue to the bottom of the Red Hexagon. I had forgotten how far down it was but that was still the closest place I could part to the trail. It took 3 minutes to walk there and then I headed up in the waning light. It was 7:41 when I left the parking lot.

I passed a few people coming down on my way up. I got to the White trail pretty quickly but I wanted the full half of the Red Hexagon so I continued to where it meets the Blue trail to the left of the Tower Path in the woods.

There was a couple walking along the Blue trail toward the Tower Path and I turned around to get back to the White section over the Giant's shoulders. I followed them down the Tower Path but veered off and up the White trail. It was about 8 PM when I headed up and I was up on top in 10 minutes. I stopped about a minute to take in the view and enjoy the cool breeze. It had been a fairly warm sunny day but now the cool of the evening was a welcome relief.

I headed down the steep drop to the Red Triangle as a couple of guys headed down to my right. It was getting fairly dark now around 8:20. I headed up the Red Triangle to finish the piece down to Tuttle. The flashlight came in handy, not that I couldn't see the trail, but just to verify in a few spots which way the trail officially went.

I called Evan a little before I got to Tuttle and he picked me up after a brief wait under the only streetlight that I could see.

I think I can do the rest in 3 hikes. We'll see...

Going for it

Haven't kept up with the blog but I'm officially obsessed with hiking on the Giant. I have hiked 19 out of the 23 days so far. I have started keeping track of how long each segment takes and only have one segment left.

I tried to finish up the segment times tonight. I started a little after 7:20 up the Yellow trail. It had been raining and was still raining off and on lightly so it was kind of dark when I started. I was also the only car in the parking lot!

I made it to the Red Triangle in 12 minutes and was hoping to get the last segment of the White to my left. But I knew that it was getting darker and wetter by the minute and for once I showed restraint, sort of. I decided to just keep going up the Red Triangle to the Tower Path. But of course, I had to do the whole Tower Path so I turned right on Blue and followed the path to the tower. There I circled around the back of the tower but took the Blue back to the Tower Path to pick it up where I had started.

From there it was a nice walk in the rain and the dark with absolutely nobody around. When I reached the bottom, it was almost exactly one hour after I had started, and still light enough when out from under the trees to see well.

Next quest - can I finish all the trails twice in one month? Stay tuned...

Giant Master in 11 Consecutive Days!

I had dreams of doing it in a week but I'll take 11 days.

Tonight's final hike was the White trail from Chestnut. I'm starting to track the times it takes for each segment and maybe high points in between. In 13 minutes we were on top of Hezekiah's Nob and 3 more to the Red Square. The White crosses the Orange and we got there in 7 minutes but it took 11 more to get over and down the cliff to the Red Circle. Part of that I blame on Sadie because I had to help her down some steep drops.

Up the White to the great view and got to the Y/G Cross in 11 more minutes. Then over the next mound with good views and then the switchback along the wall down to the Red Triangle. The second half took 12 minutes giving 23 total.

Now it was just the Orange back to the Red Circle. This segment is deceivingly long. We went up the rocks and over to the Y/G Cross in 7 minutes so I was thinking we'd be back to the car in a little over 20. But that last piece, while one of my favorites with the rocks surrounded by pine needles and the views over the central valley, took 16 more minutes! For a fairly flat segment, it took 23, just like the long White segment over the big hills.

But we did it! Giant Masters in 11 days! Sadie wanted to go home down the Red Circle but I knew from the night before that it would only take 16 minutes to the car. It was 7 to the Red Square and 9 more to the car.

What a great run! What beautiful weather for 11 straight days!

14 Segments in 2 Days!

Yesterday Chelsea came over and said she was going to run up the Red Circle to Yellow to Chestnut and back on the horse trails. She said she would be up for a hike when she got back. I was so excited and didn't see the point of her coming back down and up that I went up to the "Table Rock" and waited for her with Sadie.

As she came running up, we surprised her because she had been watching her step and not looking ahead. We were trying to decide which way to go and she told me she had been to the bottom of the imbedded waterfall purely by accident. She had gotten way out by the roads and was trying to shorten her run so she had taken whatever left turn came up in the maze of trails on the north side.

I was intrigued because I had always wanted to see that waterfall from the bottom so she took me to the unmarked trail just past the Violet to the right off the Red Circle. The falls are impressive from below and there was a couple up top who started down alongside the falls on the east side so it can be done.

We may have taken a different unmarked back to the Red Circle and I told her I thought it was a short walk to the right to the camping area. It turned out to be farther than I thought and there were 2 women approaching with 2 dogs off the leash so we turned around. We all ended up at the Violet intersection and a mass of people coming down the Blue. I didn't realize the Blue jogs there but told them it continued to their right.

Chelsea said she had another hour so I told her we could see most of the route she is going to run in June. We took the Violet all the way to the quarry and then the Red Diamond down to the river. I wanted Sadie to drink in the river but there were too many dogs and people there for her to focus.

We took a left on the Blue around the pavillion hill and cut across the very crowded picnic area to the Yellow. From there we took the Yellow back to the shortcut to home.

This evening Pat had taken Sadie for a hike and when I was able to go out she was on her way down the Blue. I had decided to finish up around the head so I took the Violet down the stairs out of the parking lot around 6:20 PM making sure to go along the road to the true start of the Red Diamond. I took that along the river to the Blue. As I started up, Pat & Sadie were coming down. She told me it was the first time she had ever gone over the head in that direction and that it was very warm. I should have given her my sweatshirt because it was off soon.

I did the part of Blue along the river and then up and over the head. My sweatshirt was off and tied around my waist but soon even that was too hot so I carried it in one hand. My intention was to turn on the Red Hexagon and get the northern half but when I arrived I told myself that if it was before 7 PM, I would go for the next Blue section. It was 6:57.

I scrambled over the next Blue section and was happily surprised when it was only 7:09 at the Red Triangle. I walked easily down over the Tower Path and down to the Red Hexagon. From there it was a quick descent down to the Red Diamond. I dutifully walked out and touched the gate at Tuttle and turned back towards the quarry.

When I arrived at the quarry, I realized I had done that part of the Red Diamond the day before with Chelsea and decided to finish up the Violet down past the ruins and along the river. There were quite a few people fishing. When I got past the dam and in the beach area, I splashed some water on my face. I followed the Violet meticulously back to the stairs so that I officially finished both parts of the Violet in between the Red Diamond and Red Hexagon.

Between the 2 hikes I had done both halves of the Red Diamond, the northern half of the Red Hexagon, the four western sections of the Violet and the three western sections of Yellow and Blue plus the southern half of the Red Circle. 14 segments in 2 days.

Can I do them all in "7 Days in May"? Stay tuned...