This year, I wanted to incorporate more non-traditional cross-training\u00a0options. At least non-traditional for me since I tend to stick to the swim, bike, run routine. Anyway, late last year I found that I enjoyed hiking! LOL, I’ve only done 5 or 6 hikes in the past six months and three of them were quite strenuous enough to warrant it being called a “workout” \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
The hike to the Hidden Peak summit was my longest yet. Technically within the confines of the Red Rock Canyon NRA in Nevada (36.04483\u00b0N \/ 115.47223\u00b0<\/a>), the elevation at the peak was around 6,300ft; since our group went the back way, we went through areas where the elevation was closer to 6,500ft. Because of this approach, our total elevation climb was 2,130ft.<\/p>\n I knew it would be a\u00a0cold and overcast morning so I layered up. What I didn’t see was the update from the group leader saying that it would rain later that afternoon! Thankfully, we had finished our hike by the time it really began to pour. The actual temps ended up being between 35\u00b0F and 50\u00b0F, but with the wind chill and being at elevation, um, it was\u00a0definitely coooold. xD<\/p>\n The trail itself was gorgeous! I kept saying, “amazing”\u00a0each time I looked up to take in the view (and a breather!) The photos attached here don’t even come close to how it looked IRL. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n The trail’s terrain varied, too. We were on gravel, dirt (naturally, pun intended! haha), snow!\u00a0and we scrambled on sandstone. Scrambling was a requisite as there was no other way to reach the summit.<\/p>\n\n\t\t