Peralta Trail

 I've decided to try hiking again, need to get in better shape so my girlfriend Kayla took me out to the Peralta Trail this past Saturday.  Thankfully she let me pick the time so I opted for 10 a.m. so I could get some sleep  and let the sun rise a bit so it wouldn't be as cold.  We had a chill spell the last few days.  

This is at the beginning of the trail, BUT even at this point I was HOT, suddenly it is 70 degrees out & I was dying.  Right after this pick I asked my friend if she would be offended if I hiked in my cami, thank heavens she was okay because WOW was the MUCH better.  

She was very smart I didn't tell me much about the hike except that it is one of her favorites...

You go UP A LOT!!!  I honestly don't know how I did it, because you are constantly at an incline, but we ran into a ton of people that made it interesting.  A few that stick out are the boyscouts :)  On a trail people going down the trail are supposed to yield to those going up, but most people don't follow this so Kayla & I moved over for everybody.  So we hear people coming down & move over when suddenly we hear a boys voice yell, "To the SIDE," and was so sweet, TONS of boyscouts all got over to the side for us to keep going, I didn't notice at first so he was even waving me through.  And as we passed them they gave us high fives.  My coordination isn't that great so I almost tripped trying to hike up and give high fives at the same time.  But it was amazing.  There had to have been 4 different "packs" maybe don't know the correct verbage but 4 groups.  

Another Fun moment was when I really wanted to die and my pace was slowing and I hear people coming up behind so I move over bc their pace was faster than mine.  Turns out to be 3 maybe 4 guys and after they pass us my friend was like WOW they were good looking, and I was like Ok lets catch up with them.  

My friend didn't tell me till later but she knew we were never going to catch up.  THEY MOVED FAST!  AND DIDN'T TAKE BREAKS.  Good Grief, I tried but we never did catch up to them.  She told me she thought it was sweet of me to try though bc she said my pace did quicken in an obvious attempt to catch up. 

Unfortunately my pace is more with the elderly which there was a surprising amount up there, a kind older couple took this photo of us.  The view was gorgeous and the weather without a warm long sleeved shirt on, perfect :)

BUT for my friend there is still more to the trail, there is an even higher point she said that is great, and there you can chill and enjoy the view.  So up we go, this is picture of me next to the Horse Rock.

This picture is a little deceiving.  I had a mild panic attack coming down the narrow ledge to the right.  And even when I was on it my friend wanted me to go further and straddle two boulders to get up and I said, NO.  And stayed stuck on that narrow ledge having a panic attack.  It took almost 10 minutes of coaxing to get me off.  And the ONLY reason I even tried is because this father and his son wanted to go up to where my friend was and they could go over or around me.  

Maybe I'm smiling because I survived. I was very confident I would die so maybe this is a triumphant moment, not sure. 

So we got down and stayed here, which is my opinion was AMAZING!  We chilled here and I was very happy.  Beautiful view and gorgeous weather, no near death moments but the hike was still strenuous so I felt accomplished still.  PERFECT!

Awww the outdoors.  

p.s. you can see my BEAUTIFUL purple gregory hydration pack.  LOVE it :)

My friend would honestly carry whatever I need and probably does pack extra for me but I am trying to hike with a pack so I get more comfortable with it.  

Added a pack even a hydration pack makes a difference.  

Can't wait till I move up to my bigger packs :/

The REAL sense of accomplishment was on the way down when I could see how much I climbed up.  Every 10 minutes or so, I'd say something like, "wow I am amazing, I managed to go up this!" and "check me out, I went up over that!"  My friend said it is very different hiking with me than her guy friends.