At first Dave said we were going to snowshoe in the valley but, as always seems to happen on Dave's hikes, within a few minutes of nice, leisurely shoeing, he said "Hey, would you like to try going up this hill to get into the sunshine? Val, you said you'd like the sun." Ummm, yeah I said I'd like the sun but I didn't realize that meant climbing a nearly vertical 200' slope covered with 4' of fluffy, cottony snow that had little stability. I didn't want to be a wet blanket though so I said I would try it. And try it I did. Digging my shoes into the snow, feeling my feet slide back, my poles sink deep, it was exhausting.
Finally after about 10 minutes even Dave admitted that perhaps it was a bit much. So I slid back to the valley again and we resumed the nice, leisurely, swish, swish pace. The valley was in shadow for the first 30 minutes and then we saw patches of sunlight filtering through the Ponderosa pines.
Dave mistook my eagerness to take a photo of the sun to mean that I wanted to climb again. He and David were chatting away in front while I was mindfully walking in the back, meditating on how wonderful it was to be in this place, to have my body responding to the movement. Then all of a sudden up they started. Once again I struggled to find purchase with my feet. I was worried about doing a Beckham--tearing my Achilles tendon or something as my feet strained to push upward--but Dave blithely said "Relax your feet, feel your weight sink through them into the snow, into the earth." Dave, the tai chi aficianado. But, you know, he was right. When I could get the rhythm--unfortunately I often lost it--it made a huge difference and I did feel a part of the earth.
We made it up to where I took this final photo
We were actually looking at four different slopes with valleys between each and then finally the wide valley and far in the distance one of the Sandia peaks. (I think--my sense of direction is still lousy and I didn't have my compass.)
I was worried about going down but Dave reminded me to "feel" my feet and the weight shifting from foot to foot. Made it most of the way down with only three tumbles. Another 20 minutes of level snowshoeing and we were back at the car. Started at 8:30, finished a little shy of 11:00 a.m. Perfect.
My feet and backside were soaking wet so I made a quick stop at WholeFoods for thinly sliced corned beef--tasted almost like Montreal smoked meat without the fat--and colcannon. Colcannon is a mixture of creamed potatoes, cabbage (WholeFoods used kale) and is SO yummy. Not so great for my IBS but on St. Patrick's Day I didn't give a darn.
By the time I got home though I was chilled and my left foot was hurting. A hot bath helped the chill and the IBS but an hour later, my foot was hurting more. I still had to go out to visit someone and to the bank but as I made my rounds the pain grew worse and it was hard not to limp. When I got home I knew it was time to spend the rest of the evening with the foot elevated, the gas fire burning in the kiva, Celtic Woman playing on the stereo. Physically, between my painful foot, painful gums (still hurt from the dentist "stuff" last Friday), and painful cold sore, I feel, as my mother would say in a mell of a hess. But spiritually I feel terrific. I kept up with Dave, I did the climb and nothing is actually broken. I will be fine tomorrow!
