Finds from the Grind - First Climb to Clear Creek of 2018

Scenes from my first climb to and descent from Clear Creek on 2/24/2018.

I usually wouldn't make this climb so early in the year, the first time I did it last year was in May, but I wanted to avoid my Southern and Western river trail route this weekend because the Chinatown Firecracker Bike Ride was happening. Even then, I still managed to hit its northernmost tip as I made my way through La Canada Flintridge. At least I wasn't caught in the traffic of an organized ride on a narrow bike path next to an embankment.

So, I was prepared for cold, but I wasn't expecting snow at 3700 feet. Granted, it was leftover snow caught in the crevices of shady cliffs, but still. That's cold! It also made me wary of the descent because that meant water and frost getting stuck in cracks and causing rock falls. I heard little landslides on my way up, so I knew to pay extra attention to the shoulders on the way back down.

I'm still out of shape and carrying extra weight, so I was not surprised to see how slow I was going up this 10 mile climb, but I never felt tired, didn't experience any cramping, and my legs weren't even sore the next day. They had that fatigued soreness, instead of over-exerted soreness. This is a good sign for the progress of my form and for the expected weight loss once the fat cells lose the tug of war with the muscles for glycogen storage and ketosis starts happening during the recovery cycle. Until then, I'll keep working on my strength conditioning with my natural 10 pound vest of fat.