QUARRY QUEST

I visited two customers in Wasau, Wisconsin yesterday to sell buttons. I was finished with both appointments in the early afternoon. My first customer proposed that I could park my car in her parking lot and walk approximately 1.3 miles to a lesser known park entrance to re-visit Rib Mountain State Park. Her suggestion was that my hike include a trip to the abandoned rock quarry. Her favorite way of entering the park is from the bottom of one of the ski slopes and walking up the mountain. This is precisely what I did. As I climbed UP the ski slope, I felt my heart pounding. I rested for a few seconds, a few times and I was very grateful when I arrived at the top of the mountain. My first stop was the Vistiors Center. I asked the ranger about getting to the quarry. The quarry is now abandoned, the Park Ranger confirmed that it was well worth the visit. After a few false starts - apparently following a trail is not like following driving directions from a GPS - I did finally find the right trail. I arrived at the quarry.  I hiked all around it. I hiked at the bottom of it. There was one spot which was stunning as it edged out beyond the rest of the perimeter. Unbelievably, while I was there, so was another hiker. That hiker was the photographer of this photo. This photo fails to capture that fact that I was too scared to be any further back on the rocks than I already was. It had appeared to me that falling down from this spot would have been very hazardous to my health.

Earlier on the hike I had used my self-timer to snap this photograph of me on a rock ledge while at the Quarry. Here again, I was close to the edge...I crawled from the camera to get into place for this photo. I am not a good enough photographer to capture the grandeur of this quarry, the open wound in this mountain from the days when quartzite was mined.

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The weather for the hike was spectacular.  I kept hydrated with my CAMELBAK 'bladder' filled with cold icewater. I also brought four extra bottles of Glaceau Vitamin Water.

My hike was not completed until I had logged 20 miles. Even more remarkable than that was that my fitbit recorded that I had climbed the equivalent of 308 floors. This was only the third time I have 'climbed' so much in one day since I have become a 'fitbitter'. There was the time that I logged 400 flights of stairs walking up the staircase in my building when I was training for the Half Dome Yosemite Park hike. The actual Half Dome hike logged 563 floors. (That particular hike up Half Dome included a climb of nearly 5000 feet elevation - no ups and downs - just 'UPS') Still 306 floors was the most I had climbed since October 1, 2015 at Yosemite. The Rib Mountain is 'only' about 2000 feet above sea level but with 20 miles hikes over quite a few trails, there were many, many UPS and downs. Although the mountain is 2000 feet above sea level, there is less than a 1000 foot climb from the base to the top.

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My hike included travel on The Red Trail, The Yellow Trail, The Quarry Trail, The Homestead Loop Trail, The Turkey Vulture Trail and the colorfully named, Dynamite Trail

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After I left the park and started walking back to my car, I spotted this sign. This is not the type of sign that one typically 

sees when driving through Chicago.  Chicago is home to plenty of dangers, at least forest fires are not among them.

Your Food Diary For:

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Quaker - Grits - Instant - Original, 6 packet	600	132	0	12	1,860	0
	600	132	0	12	1,860	0
L U N C H
Deli Express - Charbroil Burger w/ cheese	710	58	36	39	2,020	9
Glaceau Vitamin Water - Lemonade	120	34	0	0	0	31
	830	92	36	39	2,020	40
D I N N E R
Jack Links - Teriyaki Jerky, 3 oz	240	18	3	36	1,440	15
Read - 3 Bean Salad, 1.67 Cup (85g)	300	65	0	5	1,500	40
Glaceau Vitamin Water Zero - Lemonade	0	15	0	0	0	0
Gourmet - Club wrap, 1 sandwich	600	59	21	41	2,570	4
	1,140	157	24	82	5,510	59
S N A C K S
Balance - Chocolate Mint Cookie Crunch	200	23	7	14	190	16
Bai Cocofusion - Molokai Coconut	10	18	0	0	70	2
Sobe Lifewater - Yumberry Pomegranate	0	16	0	0	120	0
Met Rx Protein Plus - Chocolate Chocolate	620	58	20	64	190	2
	830	115	27	78	570	20
Totals	3,400	496	87	211	9,960	119
Your Daily Goal	7,035	879	234	352	2,300	263
Remaining	3,635	383	147	141	-7,660	144
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 5,105 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 181.3 lbs in 5 weeks     

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       Your Exercise Diary for:

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
Walking	462	3,221
Daily Total / Goal	462 / 30	3,221 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	918 / 210	8,130 / 4,130

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This is a look back at my fitbit 'scorecard' from the October 1, 2015 hike up and down Half Dome in Yosemite Park.  It was this hike that changed my life. This hike instilled in me a love for hiking. Whether I am hiking a a big or small mountain, a small hill, a bluff, a forest path, or a city street - I love to hike. Hiking is good exercise and you can see a lot of amazing things.

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I was reviewing my food diary for yesterday. I made a conscious effort to hydrate myself yesterday and eat lots of protein. It's probably a good thing that I am not on a sodium restrictive diet - as my total for the day was nearly 10,000 milligrams. The funny thing is... I NEVER actually use salt to flavor any of my foods. For example, I would never add salt to french fries. I don't even know what other examples of foods to list as examples as I add salt to no foods at all. Obviously, due to the factory prepared foods that I do consume, I don't have to worry about a sodium (salt) deficient diet.

In a completely frivolous link to my discussion of salt - is the very first Star Trek episode that ever aired. America was treated to the first Star Trek episode ever on September 8th, 1966.  In this initial episode foisted upon the public was a shapeshifter who craved salt. It was not the best episode ever, but did start a chain of Star Trek shows, movies, books, games, and endless merchandise offerings that continues and shows no sign of slowing down. The latest movie, STAR TREK BEYOND opens next Friday and next January a new STAR TREK series will make its debut. 

The salt creature from the original Star Trek series