Extreme Hike with Friends

My running buddies and I decided to do something different today and went on a hike instead of our usual Saturday morning run. Jill, Valeria, Jo Ann, Cathy and Traci and I joined with some other hikers for an Extreme Cardio hike sponsored by the Irvine Conservancy. If reading extreme cardio hike didn't freak you out - well let me tell you, it freaked me out! The docent (the guide) was very clear at the start (6:30am btw) that this wasn't for the faint of heart or those not used to vigorous exercise. We run 6-10 miles every weekend, so a hike should be in our ability level, right? Well, we made it - but it wasn't always easy.

The views were spectacular! We drove back behind Irvine Regional Park, beyond where the public can normally go. We were in a section of land owned by the Irvine Company, way back beyond the 241 toll road. At times we had great views of Irvine Lake. It was a gorgeous morning - not hot at all, which was nice.The docent kept a pretty fast pace - there were about 20 people total in the group and we all had to stay together. This is mountain lion territory and very rugged, so we couldn't get too far ahead or behind and be on our own. We managed to get enough ahead at times to be able to stop and take some pictures

My friend Cathy has this great backpack to hold all her stuff. We had to bring snacks and plenty of water. We took a break and ate on some big rocks. Cathy brought PB&J, nuts and everything else in that pack of hers ... and nothing was squished.

The girls enjoying the view ...

Part of where we hiked through was the burn area from a major wildfire several years ago. This picture doesn't do the re-growth justice, but it was so amazing to see charred black and burned trees with all the green re growth all around it. What a site to see - the circle of life and how time keeps moving and things grow back ...

Here is some of the group using the hiking poles to get up this hill. We hiked for over 5 hours, over 15 miles, and with 3500 feet of elevation changes!! Hence the extreme cardio part ... yikes! At one point we hiked 1000 feet up in about 1.5 miles, dropped down 800 feet and went back up another 900 feet ... it was an intense workout, that's for sure.

Here is the whole group on these amazing rocks during a rest stop. It's pretty incredible that this is all pretty much in my own backyard - you don't feel like you are in Orange County. So while I was pretty tired after all that hiking, and it was challenging to climb so many miles of hills at a decent pace, we had a great time and got to experience something different. And the calorie burn was awesome - so we celebrated by having big hamburgers later on!!

And this final photo isn't from this hike, but from another run - Cathy and Val made a very coordinated and matching pair ... from the same shirt and grey capris down to the black shades ... looking good ladies!!