Hiking: indoors (aka shopping)

It’s been so cold outside that we have to be creative for things to do in our SPARE TIME.

Partly for fun, partly for practice, and partly because I have a strange sense of humor, I pulled out my MapMyHike app on a recent visit to Walmart. I always wanted to know just how big a big box store is.

This was a simple trip through pharmacy, automotive, a spur over to shoes for a pair of shoelaces, and a few grocery items. (By the way, the oil filter supply is still unreliable.)

Stats from the day: we went just over half a mile (.55) and it took 28 minutes, about 10 of which were standing in line at the checkout, so my app gave up on trying to figure the pace.

It also said we burned about 218 calories – how it calculates that can be a rant for another time.

Christmas shopping: part 5, unofficially finished!

Retraced a previous trip. Because one of my readers is also a gift recipient, I can’t describe it any more than an Undisclosed Retail Establishment (URE).

Upon entering the URE, it was painfully obvious that the intensity level of Christmas shopping has increased from our previous steps. I even suggested that one of us acquire a place in line while the other picks up what we came for. We toughed it out and both shopped and waited. Judging by the volume, maybe the economy isn’t as bad as it still seems to be.

With that task complete, we were then left at a crossroads: whether to go to a frequently-visited Walmart or an unfamiliar one. We chose the adventure of a new one. (They are different – the same components, but arranged differently – sort of like buildings Legos into different arrangements.)

It was at the “new” Walmart, I made these comparisons of hiking through Walmart and hiking through the Rocky Mountains:

• you can go out-and-back, a loop, or simply aim for a desired distance.
• the scenery changes as progress from along a creek, through pharmacy, open meadows, housewares, thick forest, electronics, etc.
• you are constantly presented with navigational decisions to make: stepping around the tree root or the fat lady, avoiding the jagged rock or group of tweenagers, and so on.
• it is fairly like to run into Duck Dynasty-like characters in either place.
• for the advanced, you can even use your GPS to return to your car(t).

There are some differences, though, such as very few elevation changes in Walmart, not more than a few inches. And although you protected from the weather, you can’t follow the sun as a guide. In fact, in a 24-hour Walmart, time is irrelevant since you don’t have worry about finishing before nightfall.

Hiking: Banning State Park

Hiked the Quarry Trail, about a 2-mile loop that features the area’s history as a sandstone quarry back into the 1800s.

To do this, pick up a brochure at the park office. It has summaries that correspond to marked points on the trail. Park at the picnic grounds lot and you can go right to the trail.

We started out at the boat landing instead and followed the river for several hundred yards, which gave us more scenic views and the opportunity to do a little scrambling on the sandstone formations.

Where the Quarry Trail turns around, there is the option to go out another quarter-mile to Hell’s Gate, a narrow passageway and rapids that caused many logjams back in the days of logging.

We only had time for this trail, but had a gorgeous sunny fall day – not too hot, not too cool, no bugs, no worries. (That comes when it’s back to work.)

Banning has more to offer, including a bat cave. The office worker said it was closed off at the time and recommended a return trip another time. Sounds like a deal.