Exerccising is Easy in the Mountains Exercise is different for us up here in the mountains. For one thing, everything we do up here is exercise. Even the couch potatoes in Crestline are in better shape than their counterparts down the hill. That’s because it takes three times the effort to hoist a 12-ounce beer at 5,000 feet than it does at sea level. As I did my bi-weekly trail patrol in the San Gorgonio Wilderness, covering 15 miles with a 50-pound pack at elevations from 6,000 to 10,000 feet, I realized how fortunate we are to have so many opportunities for exercise. Sometimes we don’t even realize we’re exercising until we’re huffing and puffing and sweating. I live in a three-story down-slope house with my office on the bottom floor and the kitchen on top. In one hour, I might have to run all the way upstairs to answer the home phone, then go back down, then immediately go back up to retrieve the cup of coffee that I forgot I poured for myself while I was up there, then five minutes later the doorbell rings and I run back up and sign for the UPS package, then go back down. I then open the package and find that it is for my wife, so I bring it back upstairs. And suddenly, I’m huffing, puffing and sweating, and I’ve gotten more cardiovascular exercise at 5,000 feet than most people at sea level get in a week. Down the hill, they call this calf-burning exercise. In Crestline, we call it office work. I have a neighbor who lives about three-quarters of a mile down Altdorf Drive from me. She has about 15 years on me, but she walks one mile from her house up two grueling hills to the intersection of Albrun and back twice a day. That’s four difficult miles and is probably the equivalent of walking eight miles a day at the beach. And you know, she keeps in shape without having to drive anywhere or pay $500 for a health club membership. We’re building a playhouse in the back yard, which is another opportunity for exercise. (I say, “we’re” building it because my 6-year-old and 10-year-old are “helping.”). So I’m making big concrete piers with those round forms. I carry a 60-pound bag of concrete down the hill from the front, then hump a 40-pound bag of yard waste that my wife has cleaned up back up the hill, and then carry another 60-pound bag of concrete back down the hill, and then repeat this for several hours. A couple of times I caught myself singing old Southern gospel tunes as I was trudging up and down the hill. By mid-afternoon, all the concrete was in place, so I could finally “begin” doing the actual work. But now I have to get to the dump before it closes, so I load up all of those 40-pound bags into my trunk, drive to the dump and then offload all of them. Down the hill, they call this chain gang punishment. In Crestline, we call it yard work. There are many enjoyable ways to exercise up here. One is to go to Lake Gregory, pay your three bucks and take laps across the swimming area. I do a combination of freestyle, an ugly backstroke and some dogpaddling. If you do five laps back and forth, you’ve done a kilometer. If you do eight laps back and forth, you can tell people that you swam a mile. This is the most refreshing way I know to exercise up here, and swimming is also the best, non-impact, every-muscle-in-your-body workout you can do. You can also hike from the parking area at Deep Creek and scramble over the boulders for as far down the creek as is comfortable for your workout. Then, when you’re getting sweaty and tired, just pick a deep, cold pool, and spend the rest of the afternoon swimming. Just take Hook Creek Road through Cedar Glen. About 1.5 miles after the houses end, veer left at the fork and then a little way farther, veer right at the next fork toward Splinter’s Cabin trailhead. Park at the end of the road, then follow the trail. At the big bridge, cross and then go left down to the creek and just follow it down. I could make money doing exercise videos for mountain people. I could be the Jack LaLane (am I dating myself?) of mountain men. But instead of doing low-impact aerobics or stair stepping on the videos, I could do things like manual oak-stump pulling. You’d get out there with your portable television and video machine, your five-foot landscape bar and your digging spade and you’d be “Stumping to the Oldies.” Exercise is different for us up here in the mountains. |
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