As most of you know, Lee and I have planned the trip of a lifetime!  We're headed to Patagonia for three weeks on February 1.  Although super excited about this trip, we're also a bit nervous about the feats of strength we're going to have to perform.  We've decided to do the entire Torres del Paine circuit.  It's an 80 mile pack trip in 8 days.  Thing is, the first day is only 4 miles.... that means the other 7 are REALLY long.  So - we decided we better get our butts in gear.

We've been running a few times a week, which is a lot of progress when you haven't been doing anything at all.  But, as we recently realized, it's not nearly enough.  We thought it would be smart to break in our new hiking shoes and get our backs and shoulders used to carrying a full-fledged back -- so out we went. We loaded up the packs and headed to Windy Hill preserve for an 8.5 mile hike.  I love that even in the middle of the very congested Bay Area -- you can hop in your car and within 15 minutes be in a remote, wooded area.  It's incredible.  We started at the top off Skyline Blvd, hiked all the way down and then all the way back up.  The trees were all turning colors and were scattered along the trail -- it made for a gorgeous hike.  We reached the top just as the sun was setting.  One of my most favorite things is to be on Skyline and look out above all the fluffy clouds.... they almost look like waves.  It was a a beautiful sunset.  We took (Lee took) loads of pictures.  I was a bit impatient and uploaded the pictures before he could tweak on them - so improvements will follow.  You can get the unedited version now:  Check them out.

The 8.5 miles weren't so bad. Our new shoes did well.  Trouble came when we woke up the next morning with a combination of sore shoulders, backs, calves, or butt.... (fortunately neither of us suffered from ALL of them at once).  It was a rude awakening.  We've got to get out there and do some days back to back!  We'll be hiking every weekend between now and when we leave... so let us know if you feel like joining us!