I decided to go where I know the trail pretty well, and that’s Cowles Mountain. While I no longer care for the southern approach up the mountain because of its popularity, I knew it was short and easy. After filling a CamelBak and mentally preparing myself to accomplish this, I set out. I had to park pretty far down the hill in order to get a spot and once at the start of the trail, I set my phone to begin tracking my progress up the hill.

First thing I noticed is that you cannot go charging up a hill like I usually do when I’m wearing sneakers. After you get used to consciously placing your feet on the ground, you learn to move a little faster. I trailed behind a few hikers who likely thought I was stalking them because followed them for about a half mile before passing them. I wasn’t sure I could pass them and reasonably keep up the speed in order to avoid holding them up, so I followed. Checking my phone at the half-way point I noticed I was going about 25min/mile, just slightly slower than my normal pace. Then I made it to the summit to discover that it had only taken me 3 minutes longer than my current best time of 30 minutes from the start to the summit.

I took a few minutes to rest, check into Foursquare and post a pic on Twitter:

Then I headed back down to my car. I heard more than one comment about the FiveFingers after I passed by several people. No one said anything to me directly, I think most people are still getting used to the idea of them. Either way I finally made it to the bottom and to my car. My feet were telling me that I had gone a little too far this time and were in mild revolt. Once I got home and took off the FiveFingers my feet eventually forgave me. I’m sure with a little more trial and error on my part getting used to wearing them it’ll go easier next time. But these shoes have definitely replaced my flip-flops.

The Mount Gower Open Space Preserve is just down the road in Ramona. From my house, it’s a bit of a drive to get to, but as I’ve been told, the further away and more isolated a place is, the less popular (read: less people) it is as well. After scouring over internet maps and guides for the place and Google satellite images, we had a plan in place to hit the summit. We arrived  at the preserve right before 9am and the thermometer in my car read in the mid-40s. Now I’ve joked about not needing cold weather clothing because Under Armor cold gear is set below 50 degrees and most of the time I’m hiking in 50+ degree weather (one of the joys of living in San Diego). As I stepped out of the car, I noticed that the temperature outside was pleasant and not the frozen hell I expected. We were ready in a few minutes and set off on the trail.

Since the Preserve is open to mountain bikes, horses and hikers, there is a significant amount of horse crap on the trail to avoid for the first mile or so. After that we started heading further down the trail and it was evident that there weren’t too many horses that had been there. After a bit we made it to the end of the trail that was visible and wandered a bit before accepting some directions from a local hiker who’s on the trail 2-3 times a week. Of course since the trail from that point to the summit isn’t the most visible we soon resorted to searching for the small cairns left to indicate the trail. After the occasional scaling of a rock face to get to the next level, we arrived at what we thought was the summit. Since no one else had checked in there before, I of course added the summit to Foursquare. On the way down I was informed that the spot we stopped wasn’t the summit, but the northern peak close to it. Either way, we had 4 miles under our belts that morning and were on the way out with no designs on going back to find it.

Once I got home I checked the trail recorded by Runmeter (here)and then checked the terrain version of the map to discover we had not reached the summit. Now there’s a part of me that wants to go back out there and hike it again to actually hit the summit. Since it’s almost 8 miles in length, I’ll save that for another day.

El Cajon Mountain (El Capitan) is on the horizon. Now all I need is time set aside to get there. Soon.

Sizing. This can be confusing as they size the shoes according to the length of your foot, not shoe size. Of course at the Exchange, some helpful sales person labeled all of the boxes  with what they thought was an appropriate shoe size. Typically I wear anything from a size 9 to a 10.5 depending on the shoe and the width adjustment. I measured my feet and they come to right between 10 1/4 inches and 10 1/2 inches. I decided to go with the bigger of the measurement and go with a size 41 (10 1/2 inches). The Exchange seems to think that’s a size 8, but who am I to argue.

Model. There are plenty of models to choose from, ranging from the original which looks like a ballet slipper to me (Classic), to ones with laces and ones that look like dismembered feet (Bormio). There wasn’t much selection, so I chose the KSO (which stands for Keep Stuff Out). Typically retailing for $85 a pair for the KSO (other pairs are higher) I got a pair for $70 at the Exchange.

Fit. The first time I tried to get my feet into the shoes, it was a struggle. It might be because most of my shoes are designed to smash all of my toes together and the FiveFingers are meant to spread my toes out. Subsequent stuffing my feet into them so far have proven to be a bit easier. I’m not 100% I shouldn’t have gone a size up, because my feet feel a little cramped in the shoe. I’m going to adjust to wearing them a lot more before I determine if their sizing system is flawed, at least for me. The only way to describe how they fit is “like a glove” no pun intended.

Wear. I’ve only had them on for a few hours at this point, but so far, no real complaints. The first day I only wore them around the house to get my toes used to their new alignment. Today I wore them in the car to and from Iron Mountain, switching to my trail sneakers while hiking. I wore them to the store today and walked around a bit and they’re on my feet right now as well. The first few steps I took in them my feet popped and crackled like an old man’s knuckles as my bones realigned themselves to settle into the shoes.

Appearance. While wearing these on my feet, it appears that I have monkey feet at the end of my legs. Sort of comical, but when you get used to them, you’ll take the comfort over the look. My wife doesn’t like the look, but my kids think they’re hilarious, and I’m still waiting for the looks I’ll get from strangers unfamiliar with them.

Even though I’ve only had them for a few days, the experience I have had with them is favorable. If they get a little easier to put on like I’m hoping, they might replace my flip-flops. If you have the money, I would recommend them.

Here’s the map link: http://maps.google.com/?q=http://share.abvio.com/8215/2711/4e89/e113/Runmeter-Hike-20120104-0911.kml

On the way down, I came across something for me to move up a notch on my “hating people on hiking trails” scale. There on the side of the trail was two Starbucks cups. It was about a mile or so from the trail head, and I’m not sure if they left them there to pick up on the way out or not, but I stopped and stuck the litter into the back of my CamelBak to carry out to a trash can. Typically, I haven’t bothered with litter before on the trail, mostly because it’s stuck in the bushes on a slope or something like that. And I don’t even understand why people bag dog crap and leave that on the side of the trail. This time, two christmas themed Starbucks cups had to go. I’m not sure what people don’t understand about the Leave No Trace concept. If you can’t carry it, don’t bring it with you on the trail.

On an unrelated note, while I was on the internet the other day, I stumbled across a site that I spent a considerable amount of time on. http://www.100peaks.com/ is dedicated to chronicling 100 Peaks of San Diego County and Santa Barbara. There’s a lot of good information about the trails in San Diego, and I’ll likely spend a lot of time there searching for my next adventure. The irony happened last night when I got notification of a comment placed on my post from the 2nd of this month. It was from the author of that site. Something like that suddenly made the internet not so big. Thanks Derek.

I spent the majority of the day surfing the internet regarding my recent topic of obsession: hiking. I’ve looked over all sorts of things, from GPS receivers and day hiking tips to hiking the Pacific Coast Trail. You name it, I’ve probably read something about it today. Depending on how the day goes tomorrow I might be out on a trail again, likely Iron Mountain. One of the gifts I got last month was a new CamelBak, since the one I was using before was small and offered no space for cargo. Ever since then, I’ve taken every opportunity I could to use it. Hell, I even used it on Sunday to walk around Lake Murray. My wife asked if it wasn’t a bit overboard, and I promptly replied “No!”

As the day comes to a close, I’ve decided to delve into the world of barefoot running. Well, at least to buy a pair of Vibram FiveFingers and see if they’re able to stand up to the hype surrounding them. I know a few people who wear them, so I’ve heard the speeches of how awesome they are. While I don’t plan on trying to run in these things right away, I will admit that I’m very curious to own a pair to decide for myself.

More to come tomorrow…

Happy New Year!

This year’s extravaganza was to be held at the Hard Rock Hotel in Downtown San Diego. While not typically a fan of events held downtown, there wasn’t much of a choice, mostly because of the aforementioned desire to win consumer electronics. After arranging for a babysitter and getting dressed for the event, we made our way towards the chaos known to many as the Gaslamp Quarter. After having already driven around La Mesa / El Cajon to pick up a friend I planned the route. Not wanting to get caught up in traffic I foolishly chose to take the 163 into downtown. Of course I wasn’t aware of the fact that it was opening night for December Nights at Balboa Park, compounding the already bad traffic on a Friday night at dinnertime.

Finally arriving downtown, the line for valet parking was not moving, so I darted into a nearby parking structure. Making our way to the Hotel, we had to walk nearly around the block before we could get to the party. Maybe a sign or two directing the 400+ guests would have been a good idea. Once we passed an ID check, got cute little wristbands to prove we could drink, we ascended stairs to the area where the social hour was being held. Once there, we met up with some co-workers and got the run down on the place, namely where the drinks were coming from and where the facilities could be found. At the least busiest bar, we ordered a rum and coke for me and a Diet Coke for my wife. The bartender told us that while they were supposed to take half a drink ticket for the non-alcoholic drinks, but he was going to give them away for free. Next round we found out that drinks were $8, bottled beer was $7 and that plain ol’ Diet Coke? $5. That’s right, $5 for a glass of Diet Coke, perhaps 4 or 5 oz of it at that.

The original schedule of events was for a social hour to go from 6pm-7pm and dinner from 7pm-8pm. Afterwards they were going to give away the prizes. Well, at least they had a schedule. We were ushered downstairs for dinner around 7:30. The seating was open and we picked a table out for our group. Remember what I said about partying with your 7 or 8 bosses? Well, somehow I picked the table next to the top 3 of them. Anyway, next we tried to get some more drinks. Back outside to the hall where there were 5 or 6 spots serving drinks. After waiting in line for about 10 minutes, the lines started to fall apart. They had stopped serving drinks, and the excuse they used was that there were announcements coming and they wanted service stopped for 10 minutes or so. Well that 10 minutes stretched into 20 and there was still no service. Does it strike anyway else as odd that the bars, who are already charging $5 for a Diet Coke and making money hand over fist, would suddenly dry up?

Dinner was finally served. There were only two choices on the menu, spare ribs and chicken. We both chose chicken because neither one of us are fans of ribs. The chicken was a little sculpted piece with a random bone jutting out of it, nestled on perhaps 2-3 tablespoons of mashed potatoes and odd little carrots. Definitely not what I was expecting. After a seemingly endless comedy of errors and schedule alterations, they finally made with the announcements and prize giveaways. A record number of prizes and what did we win? Not a damn thing! Given the late hour, we needed to rush out and get home so we could release the babysitter from her duties of the night. I think after the evening that we had I’m likely going to think twice before I venture out again to a Navy sponsored party. For the supposed amount of money spent on this “extravaganza”, listed in the neighborhood of $100k, I was expecting a little more polish on the evening or at a minimum maybe an evening that I would have enjoyed at least a little.

So there it was, the end of the Halloween season. My previous yard decoration, a giant spider made out of wood, was scheduled to be disassembled. Fortunately, I was able to spend the entire Halloween weekend with my family. The downside is that I had to get underway right after the weekend and miss my wife’s birthday for about the 6th or 7th time since we’ve been married. Big Thanks to the Navy for that. In any case, I got back on the following Friday and had to make a decision as to what to do with the giant spider living in the front yard. Jokingly, I suggested to my wife that we create a giant turkey with the structure that was already in place for the spider. Since she has a creative ability ten times of my own, she jumped all over the idea. My condition was if she could design it, I would make the necessary adjustments to the yard statue.

Skip ahead to a few weekends spent under the cover of rain and miserable weather. It’s amazing what you fail to accomplish when you try to plan around the weather in Southern California sometimes. Finally I had the opportunity to make some progress on the Yard Turkey, and I had to move quickly because of the shortened days of Fall/Winter. The only real alteration that I needed to make to the creature in the front yard was the addition of a feather spread behind the body and a head for the beast. After an hour of cutting shapes out of wood and the application of a few cans of spray paint, the turkey began to take shape. A few more days to collect and assemble the final pieces, and Yard Turkey was born.

The best part of making something like this in the yard is that it is ridiculous and awesome at the same time. I’ve joked with my wife while looking at the wooden fowl in the front yard and say, “Yard Turkey judges you…” I sense a trend building in my front yard. Perhaps I should look into getting a charge account at Home Depot so I can make even bigger and better creations.

In the spirit of the rainy weekend, we planned to take the kids to the SEA LIFE Carlsbad Aquarium at LEGOLAND. My wife took the kids to the aquarium about 6 months ago and since I hadn’t been there yet, we decided to go again. The Aquarium is a sort of an add-on park to LEGOLAND in the same way that California Adventure Land is an add-on to Disneyland. The first time we visited LEGOLAND was for my daughter’s 5th birthday and I wasn’t very impressed with the park on any level. Since an aquarium is more of a museum, rather than an amusement park, I was interested in seeing it for myself.

The first stop of the day was to the base Information, Tickets and Travel (ITT) booth in order to get some discounted tickets to the Aquarium. Typical admission is about $20 for adults and $13 for children aged 3-13. When you buy the discounted tickets, everyone gets in for $9.75, which is significantly better. From there we made our way to Carlsbad for our trip. We didn’t tell our daughter where we were going because she has this nasty habit of over-exciting herself before we get to our destination and gets a little loopy. It wasn’t until we made the turn onto Legoland Drive that my daughter realized where we were going. Once at the entrance to the parking lot, my wife opted for the Preferred Parking which costs $8 more than the standard $12 for parking but places you about 200 feet from the entrance to either park. This, according to my wife, is more than worth the additional cost.

Before entering there is a sign that indicates there are no restrooms available once you enter the Aquarium, which is a bit odd to me, but hey, at least they warn you. There are bathrooms that are centrally located between LEGOLAND and the Aquarium. Upon entry to the Aquarium the ticket taker asked if we had paid for parking, because as we were only going to the Aquarium they would refund our parking fee. We didn’t bother with the refund as we were pretty sure it didn’t apply to the folks who sprang for the extra special parking. Once inside, the fun began. Right inside the door leads to an anteroom with a monitor where they queue groups of people prior to entry to the Aquarium. After a short introductory video, the doors open up and you enter the first exhibit.

The length of your stay is up to you, as the layout of the aquarium allows you to go through as fast or loiter as long as you would like through each portion. There are 6 main areas, each with a different featured animal. My personal favorites were the octopii and the largest tank with all various sharks. About half-way through there’s the obligatory photo-op with an employee and at the end of your day you can purchase copies. We bought a 5×7 copy for $10. Prior to the gift shop there’s the Cafe where, as in any park or attraction, over-priced food can be purchased.

The aquarium is a fairly good stop, likely better to be paired with a ticket to LEGOLAND if you’ve never been, or alone if you’re looking to do something for about an hour. Given the fact that the military tickets are half the cost of the regular admission, we’ll probably go back in another 6 months. Even at full price, it’s a good aquarium. My opinion may change based on the fact that I haven’t been to Birch Aquarium yet, but I think my original opinion of the SEA LIFE Aquarium will stand.

Since this weekend was going to be a three-day weekend due to Veteran’s Day, my wife wanted to make plans to do something other than sit around the house while the kids go crazy and everyone gets pissed at each other. We considered going to Knott’s Berry Farm (free admission) but when I looked at the forecast for Orange County, it called for rain all weekend. For fun, I looked at the forecast for Phoenix and Vegas and both of those called for rain as well. Of course the first time I have 3 days off in a row this year, it has to rain. I guess that’s one of the trade-offs we have, living in a place that has fantastic weather most of the time. But bad weather this weekend meant it was not going to be a very happy weekend for anyone.

Right around lunch time today, the kids were at each other’s throats already and the parents were on their last nerves. This is where the Discovery Kids Color Me Playhouse comes into play. Coming as one piece of very carefully cut and designed cardboard, claiming to be eco friendly, the house is somewhat easy to assemble. Everything pretty much folds and connects to the other sides without much hassle, except for the floor. The floor only has tabs folded over to make a flat surface, but there isn’t much stability as-is. Making use of some masking tape, I secured the corners that came together and the sides where the cardboard was already beginning to split. If they had used an extra piece of cardboard to attach to the bottom, it would give a little bit more stability.

Then it’s time for creativity to take over. As a pre-printed house, it’s up to you to get some markers and color in the sides to your preference. My wife only bought one package of markers and after an hour or so, realized that we’d need at least another package if we really wanted to color everything in. Though our house is only 30% colored in on the outside, my daughter decided it needed a TV drawn on the blank interior, detailing a nature show. Now if the thing only didn’t block the view of my TV in the living room.

Overall, I would say this is a pretty good deal, $20 for something that could hold the attention of children and adults alike. I say this because my wife did a good portion of the coloring in on one side, while my daughter was busy writing cursive on the doors indicating ownership of the house.