June's Time For Myself - Mega Hike at Starved Rock State Park

Well looky here - its only June 3 and I already have done and am posting about June's time for myself! 

This past weekend I completed the Mega Hike at Starved Rock State Park.   It was a great hiking experience - challenging and enjoyable.  It was certainly a tough physical day.  There were lots of ups and downs, and many miles of the trails were 2 to 6+ inches of muddy muck and of course the water crossings!!  The water crossings bothered me - first I really think the Illinois park system should (and easily can) add rocks or boards to make those crossings less wet.   It was inefficient, and if your a reader on my blog you know I hate inefficiency!! Plus they had us hike those water crossing canyons first of the day and also first after lunch (when some of the group had just changed to dry shoes)

My iphone died before lunch so there are limited photos. 

This first picture is from Illinois Canyon - the 'waterfall' as less than 18 inches tall and about 2 to 3 feet wide.   And to get there we needed to cross the stream 3 times (and 3 more times to exit the canyon).   Some of the crossing had the water up to just below the knees.  My hiking boots are waterproof but not when the water goes up and over the top!  Honestly this waterfall was so small and such an uncomfortable trip to get there that they should rethink this as the first canyon.  It makes for long day of hiking in wet socks and shoes - not a good start.  Because the next two canyons were still flooded (Ottawa Canyon and Kaskaskia Canyon), they had the trolly pick us up and drive us to the parking lot across from Hennepin Canyon.  While on the trolly I changed to dry socks - it helped but since the hiking boots were submerged and drenched the feet were still wet - better with dry socks but still not the best.   If I do this again next year - may want to wear keen sandals or other water shoes and change to boats after exiting Illinois Canyon - from what I understand this always requires 3 stream crossings and it will always have water in it.  Again the best approach is if Starved Rock added some larger stepping stones or some wood planks to keep you from needing to submerge your boots.

Nice water flow near on the
connecting trail to Hennepin Canyon

A few more thoughts.... this was a nice break with a mid size drive (3.5 hours each way) which gave some good self thinking time and an evening alone in the hotel.  I thought I would get more self reflection and planning done - but it was still a good rejuvenation evening.

Orange mushroom fungus

This was an unusual Mega Hike for them - it was rescheduled from the April date because the Illinois River  had flooded the park.  They have never had to skip canyons before - they skipped 2 canyons because of the flood damage and we had to backtrack in and back out of a couple of connecting canyons because of flood damage. In April the park was filled with wildflowers, which had all finished blooming by our June Mega Hike.  So going during their regular time would change the expirence - also normally there is much less mud than we encountered - maybe as much muddy area, but not the deep shoe stealing mud we fought through.  Less of the deep mud means you can hike through it - we spend time bushwhacking our own path along side the supper muddy sections - and therefore cover the distance faster.

Another point was this is a challenge to go by myself to these things and make friends/interact with the group.  Overall I did well and felt like I fit in.   But the flip side of that is that I'm glad I went alone because not many of my friends could keep up with the group's pace and would be able to deal with the mud and water.  I'd rather be by myself than have a friend along that is slowing down the group or complaining about the conditions - as that would stress me and reduce my enjoyment.

I'm not sure I feel the need to go back here on my own again for a Spring/Summer hike.  But I am interested in either coming back in the fall to see the trees in full color, and its peaked my interest to see this in winter - apparently even some of the waterfalls that only run part of the summer will always have ice waterfalls.  Out guides said you must wear Yaktrax on your winter boots.  

And I would do their Mega Hike again - I probably can't do their Fall Mega Hike this year since it is the same weekend as the Wisconsin - Ohio State football game and I expect to be Columbus that weekend.  But I'll watch for it on their calendar and try again in 2014 - either their Spring Waterfall one, or their Fall Colors one - or both.  This was a good physical challenge.  I'm tired today, but happy about the experience. 

St Joseph's Staircase

This is the first of a series of New Mexico location details and links in preparation of the Family 'bacation trip

At last night's Light Weigh meeting, Lisa and Krissy shared about this miracle staircase in New Mexico.  Turns out it is in Sante Fe, the city we will be staying in for most of the trip.  So there is a very good chance I'll be able to make it there.

The Loretto Chapel
207 Old Santa Fe Trail
Santa Fe, NM 87501
(505) 982-0092

This is from their website - http://www.lorettochapel.com/index.html

Two mysteries surround the spiral staircase in the Loretto Chapel: the identity of its builder and the physics of its construction.

When the Loretto Chapel was completed in 1878, there was no way to access the choir loft twenty-two feet above. Carpenters were called in to address the problem, but they all concluded access to the loft would have to be via ladder as a staircase would interfere with the interior space of the small Chapel.

Legend says that to find a solution to the seating problem, the Sisters of the Chapel made a novena to St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters. On the ninth and final day of prayer, a man appeared at the Chapel with a donkey and a toolbox looking for work. Months later, the elegant circular staircase was completed, and the carpenter disappeared without pay or thanks. After searching for the man (an ad even ran in the local newspaper) and finding no trace of him, some concluded that he was St. Joseph himself, having come in answer to the sisters' prayers.

The stairway's carpenter, whoever he was, built a magnificent structure. The design was innovative for the time and some of the design considerations still perplex experts today.

The staircase has two 360 degree turns and no visible means of support. Also, it is said that the staircase was built without nails—only wooden pegs. Questions also surround the number of stair risers relative to the height of the choir loft and about the types of wood and other materials used in the stairway's construction.

Over the years many have flocked to the Loretto Chapel to see the Miraculous Staircase. The staircase has been the subject of many articles, TV specials, and movies including "Unsolved Mysteries" and the television movie titled "The Staircase."

Lisa asked that I pray for our Light Weigh group while I'm there - especially through the Intercession of St Joseph:

For the Intercession of Saint Joseph

O Joseph, virgin-father of Jesus, most pure spouse of the Virgin Mary, pray every day for us to the same Jesus, the Son of God, that we, being defended by the power of His grace and striving dutifully in life, may be crowned by Him at the hour of death.

Milestones

Just a quick update on the weight loss progress.  I don't like to leave too many personal details out here on the web so this may seam a little nebulous but I know what it means and if you have questions, ask me!

Our St Joe's group has complete our first Light Weigh program and are about to repeat it starting next week.  Through the first session I've lost 10 pounds!!  That's a big accomplishment for me; I usually lose between 1 and 2 pounds a month - and this is 10 pounds in 14 weeks!! (12 week program plus I started a week early on Ash Wednesday with my own Lenten plans, and our week in-between the program on the back end.)  Very nice achievement for me.  Last year's shorts are no longer fitting me well; I've purchase new one and the new size is one "X" less than last year. Very nice feeling!

I still have another 35 pounds to go to get to my desired final BMI category.  That is too big a goal for me to directly focus on, I need to have some intermediate goals.

I am now within 3 pounds of my next weight lose goal of reaching the next level on the BMI scale.  I would really like to reach this goal before my New Mexico trip at the end of June.  Honestly, this is a stretch goal - I have about a 50-50 chance of reaching it.  It will take a lot of hard work and dedication to reach it.

Next goal is for the Houseboat trip and this goal is not fully set yet.  I would absolutely love to have lost 19 pounds at this point in July.  That would put me at a nice round number that would feel like I've made a lot of progress.  I'm down 10 but getting another 9 between now and mid July is just not realistic for me.  So I'm setting this goal as 5 more pounds - its takes me not to a nice round number, but a pound under a nice round number so that I'm under NNN.

I have a feeling the New Mexico trip will give me a temporary bump up in the weight so the near term goals are 3 more pounds between now and New Mexico and then losing any gains from New Mexico plus 2 more before houseboating.  These are flexible goals that I may change - they feel realistic and something that I can accomplish.   But I really would like even more weight loss and I am feeling like I'm in a good pattern so I'd like to take advantage of that good grove and set new challenges for myself if it looks like I can reach these too easily.  I have a long way to go and I want to stay both motivated and pushing to reach these goals.

Ultimately, I would like to reach my BMI goal category by Ash Wednesday 2013.  That would be a year of focusing on this and losing a total of 45 pounds.  I think it's possible and will be a great accomplishment!  Secretly I want to reach it by Christmas 2012,  but I think that is too much for me to reach by then so it is not an official goal but a huge desire.  I'll keep you posted on my progress and if we can pull this in.