Summit Summer Summit Number Three

This week was a great Summit Summer week!  Summit Summer Summit Number Three is a local 'mount' which looks like a gentle slope in this photo.   The hike up is rigorous and the view from the top is fantastic.  We hiked to the two top twice this week--once with some fun hiking friends and again a few days later. (Summit Number One and Summit Number Two are both buttes that are in town and can be hiked on pavement.  We hiked those to work up to Number Three!)

I've been encouraged as this week was a trial week of hill hiking for me.  As the summer began and I was especially excited about the Summit Summer concept, I got up one morning and there, having literally popped up overnight, was a large cist on my left foot.  It was one of those, 'What the heck is that?!' moments.  I've had the cist looked at by a few doctor family members and it's not getting any bigger and it hasn't caused any noticeable pain for a few weeks.  I named it 'Selma' and I'm hoping she gets along well with me--having a cist carved off my foot right now would definately put the kabosh on Summit Summer.  Then, there's my left knee.  In the interest of cross-training, fun, and avoiding high gas prices, the kids and I did a ton of bike commuting a few weeks ago.  My naggy knee was very unhappy with the pushing off motion of getting the bike going and was sore enough to make the uphill hiking motion uncomfortable.  I parked the bike and spent a week on flat route walking.  Note to self--always wear socks.  It has been two weeks since my sockless walk and I have literally had to wall paper my foot with moleskin to cover a blister right on the weight bearing ball of my foot.   Still, the week turned out well with several trail hikes and culminated with the Butte To Butte 4.5 mile walk with a good friend and several thousand other people!