Over the weekend I went up to Mt. Jefferson with my climbing buddy Brynne. We didn't actually climb the mountain, though we did do some bouldering on a 30 foot tall slab of rock.
We camped out at Jefferson Park, along with about 10 other groups spaced around the various lakes. We had a nice perch about 30 feet above the lake with a nice view across the water. There were even fresh wild blueberries for our pancakes in the morning.
On our way out of the park we ran into a group of climbers who just finished climbing the mountain. They looked pretty bad ass, it was probably the ice axes and helmets. Brynne and I have been talking about climbing mountains for a while, probably since Mt. St. Helens. I asked my dad to take us up next spring so we can get in some practice. I think we're going to take a few classes during the winter, maybe a first response class too.
I've realized to go up these mountains I have to get in some decent shape. I thought I was doing okay, but my legs weren't too happy carrying my pack up the hills over the weekend. Which scares me, I've been biking to work 5 days a week and running 2 days a week. And I still huff and puff.
I ran into a gal while running about a month ago and have started jogging with her during the week. At first it was just once a week when we'd run up to the Japanese Garden, and run sets of stairs (with pushups inbetween sets.)
Her normal jogging partner had to stop running so now I'm jogging with her more. She's training for a half marathon in the spring and is wanting to jog 5 days a week. So I'm going to go along with her.
I think in a few weeks I'm going to start carrying weight in a bag when I go jogging. Maybe start off with a gallon of water and work up to 3. I'll have to pad the pack so it doesn't jostle around too much. I've seen other people train for mountains doing this, so it should help me out.
The main problem with my increase in exercise is food. Yesterday I spent 38 bucks on food for lunches for this week. And it's a four day week too. Kinda sick.