Did not climb at all this week, due to some sort of cold. Tuesday was the worst day, with Thursday being the last day of recovery. The good thing is that i used this downtime to get lots more sleep. The bad thing of course is that i was not exercising at all. Next week i will get back to the daily morning exercises, maybe change up some of them for a walk or run.
This weekend we went for a hike at Cowichan River Provincial Park. We selected the Skutz Falls trail loop, as it seemed like a good length and we expected it would be quite flat. It turned out to be a lot steeper in some sections than we expected, but it was still alright.
At this time of year the campground is closed and no outhouses have toilet paper, so beware to bring your own. We parked across from the campground and crossed the bridge to the trailhead (you can also park at the trailhead if you like), then began eastbound along the at the southern trail. This first section is about 3.5km, but it is not at all obvious from the map that there are some fairly steep sections - IIRC, 3 steep uphills and 2 steep downhills. The rest is relatively flat/undulating. The trail is quite interesting as it makes its way through various different microclimatic zones, plus the river’s path changes several times along the route from fairly wide and shallow with rocky banks, to narrow and canyon like. I should comment at this point that in some sections the trail skirts some cliff edges so you would need to exercise caution if hiking with kids.
We eventually reached the 66 mile trestle which is an old train bridge converted into a footbridge, high above the river. This is part of the transcanada trail between Duncan and Lake Cowichan. At this point V was antsy after having been in the backpack for 2 hours, so after a little break, we took the transcanada trail back to the car instead of the north river trail; Since it is an old rail bed it is very flat and dull, but it meant it was only 15-20 minutes of walking instead of an hour and a half.
On thursday i did alright — started easy and worked my way up. couple of 5.8’s and 5.9’s, some 5.10-/+, No issues. Slipped and fell on a 5.11-, also on the 5.12 which we figure is actually a 5.11+, but finished both. Tried an overhanging 5.12, got about half way before my hands ran out.
Tuesday was a mediocre and unremarkable, plus it is so far in the past i can’t remember any details. *must remember to post on day of climb!*
I am back at the climbing gym again. Tonight was my 1st night on the wall in about 7 weeks, IIRC. I am going to try to track my progress with for the next little while as i attempt to a) regain my previous skill level, and b) surpass it before summer. I also intend to hit the gym from 7:30 til 10 instead of starting at 8:30, i am sure that 1.5 hours at a time is what was keeping me plateaued before.
Tonight’s routes: Flashed: 5.11- 5.10+ 5.9+ 5.10 Struggled, could not complete, 2x: 5.12 (which we all agree is no more than a 5.11+)
Finally moved the blog to WordPress, since i do not foresee writing my own blog engine any time in the next decade. The only major to-do is to fix the old RSS feed to somehow point to the new one, i wonder how i might do that. I am thinking an http ‘moved permanently’ redirect; must figure out how that works.