This May Not Have Been the Wisest Choice

At my last oncology appointment, the doctor told me that I needed to get more exercise,* especially in my "major muscle groups." He was concerned that the chemo was going to make me increasingly sick, increasingly immobile, and he wanted to ensure that, to the largest extent possible, I move when I can and lose fat rather than muscle. (I couldn't bear to explain to him that I'm pretty much all fat.)

In any case, with his recommendation in mind, and faced with a Saturday full of bright sunshine and temperatures in the 80s, I decided to go hiking -- for the first time in four years.** Based on my vague recollections of past hikes, and the reviews on the Washington Trails Association website, I decided I would hike to the top of Mt. Pilchuck. 

In retrospect, perhaps not the best choice. 

Oddly enough, when I offered Sib4's family the chance to accompany me only one person -- my niece -- elected to come along. (Perhaps that should've been a signal.) 

It turned out to be an educational trip up the mountain. Here's what I learned:

• My niece is a sweetheart. She's a senior in high school, and probably could have made it up the mountain and back down again in the time it took me to get to the top, but every time I stopped she stopped, and when I complained that the route was harder than I expected she confirmed its difficulty. In short, she did her best to not make me feel like an out of shape old man (but while i was hyperventilating, she was just patiently waiting, so I'm pretty sure she was faking it). 
• When selecting a trail to hike for the first time in four years, it's probably not the best idea to choose a trail with the word "Mount" in its name. 
• The reviewers on the WTA website are clearly not normal people. (The fact that the first review I read started off, "We got to the trail at 8:00...," should have tipped me off.) Estimating the difficulty of the hike based on the reviews of these hiking zealots was sort of like estimating how fast I could run a mile based on the average time of the kids on the local cross country team.
• If you want a smooth path to hike, it's probably not a good idea to choose a trail the web page for which features a picture that shows nothing but rocks (see above).
• A Type 1 diabetic who's taking Avastin probably shouldn't be engaging in activities that are likely to result in blisters. But at least it's a small blister.***
• The Roadster is not built for gravel roads, especially gravel roads that feature numerous pot holes and weird trenches and which, on a sunny afternoon, are covered with randomly alternating sun and shade which makes it impossible to actually see the road ahead. 

But when push comes to shove, the most important thing is that we actually made it to the top. 

So thanks to my niece for keeping me company, doing her best not to make me feel like an old man, and pushing us all the way to the top. 

* As I get older, and experience more and more doctors as a result of more and more alarming diseases and unusual aches and pains, I'm starting to wonder if recommending more exercise is a condition of receiving one's MD. I can only imagine the orthopedists: "You've broken your arm. You should get more exercise." 

** This was cancer summer, before that was divorce summer, and before that was disassociating spouse summer, so the last time I was on a trail was probably 2011. 

*** And I was wearing hiking boots. We passed a number of folks hiking in flip-flops. I hate to think what trying that would do to my feet.