An excellent day to be outdoor. I haven’t run yet. My friend whom met couple month ago through the Christian Outdoor Group, had his birthday today
and he invited couple guys to hike Old Rag Mountain, which is a popular destination in the area.
Last time anyone of us been on Old Rag was back in 2002. We went out there at 8 in the morning. The parking lot at Old Rag was already had 40-50 cars. We didn’t know there are so many people. I was glad we started early and hiked in winter. I can’t imagine how much more crowded during the summer time.
The first level ascend was not that crowded. It was a loop and some people went to the other direction. When we got to the rock scrambling part, the line was long. The group in front of us had 30-40 people and the group behind us, was a large group too. It was 10:00 but we decided to stop for lunch and not wait in line. After lunch the big groups passed. It was still bumper to bumper the rest of the way up.
The ascend was 3.2 miles and the descend was 5.8 miles. Though it was almost twice as long going down, but it was mostly easy. We came down faster than we went up. We were back in the parking lot around 2 pm. I think it only took us two hours to come down.
I was happy to go on this hike. My usual hiking buddy was so happy for me, because I surprised her that I have finally made some friends and they are guys!
These couple guys are uplifting. All of them run. I was naturally drawn to runners. We were talking of doing an Ironman. I told them I don’t think I will be ready unless I have 4-5 years of training, but they think couple years should be sufficient. I was happy to find someone having similar interest. They changed my outlook on Ironman, that it is possible to do it in a couple years.
I told them I am doing a 50 miler first before trying the triathlon. I think they are going to go for the tri next year. They are just amazing guys.
One of the guys told me about E2 trail running. That was another blessing to know about trail running.
(End Day 13)
In awe 