Today I attempted a hike on Mount Falcon that has defeated me twice before. I was defeated again today. My objective was to hike 3.2 miles up the Castle Trail (an elevation gain of nearly 2000 feet) to visit the ruins of the Walker Home. Instead I walked about 1.6 miles up the Castle Trail, totally ran out of energy, and had to backtrack to the parking lot.
The hike began well. I felt strong and the trail conditions were excellent. However, I started late, around noon, and the temperature was already in the low 80s. The temperature soon became a significant burden.
After about a mile I was gasping for breath. My stops for rest and water became more frequent. To save face, I disguised some of my rest stops as nature viewings. It seemed better to have my fellow hikers think "That fat man with the giant hat is certainly sensitive to the beauty of nature" than have them think "That fat man with the giant hat lacks endurance." Here are some specimens from my nature viewings.
I took a picture of today's terminus at 1.6 miles along the Castle Trail to give me something to better on my next hiking attempt. The measurement of incremental progress is a great encouragement.
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