It was fun, however, which is the bottom line.  I was at the end of the line, being in the worst shape of the assembled parties, which is always good for the self-esteem.  In my own defense, I am fighting a cold which doesn't help your ability to race up hills and trails.  It was a good hike, challenging with lots of scrambling up rocks and beautiful vistas.  I'm feeling it a little in my legs, but that is a desired effect of a good hike. 

A few months ago my husband and I had gone on a hike in a similar area.  It was not a good hike.  Granted, we made several mistakes in our planning, choosing to hike in the early afternoon of a hot day in late summer, and not being very sure of where the trail actually was and walking up what had to be a goat path until we felt that we'd summited something.  I am kind of ashamed to admit that I, at several points, sat down and refused to go any further.  However, I admitted the previous in the interest of full disclosure.  And it makes the following information make sense.

Sometimes I do not enjoy hiking while I am actually doing it.  I get a little obsessive about milemarkers and a little irrational about being safe.  (I'm the girl who brings a first aid kit, imagining the ranger's disapproving face when an injury inevitably happens and I have to confess that I didn't have a first aid kit).  I worry that I don't really like hiking, I just do it because I want to be the type of person who likes hiking.

I was surprised at how crowded the trail was, which is my usual state of being any time I do something outdoorsy in California.  In Missouri, you can be pretty sure that the State Parks are empty and they are a nice place to go to get away from people, but that is not something you can count on in California.  People are out in the parks, on the trails, walking their dogs and carrying their babies across the terrain. 

I am of two minds on this.  On one hand, I'm like, Awesome.  Great--way to go, be healthy, be outside instead of watching reality TV.  On the other, majorly selfish hand, I am slightly disapointed that I have to share the park.  I also am missing the moral superiority I get from being the "individual who hikes," and that being a unique thing; as opposed to being one of many people who hike.

But then I do like it.  I like it because its hard, I like it for the perspective you get when you are up on top of something, and I like it because its exercise, physical activity that makes me feel good about myself and what I can do.  Maybe its bad, but there is a gigantic sense of accomplishment that comes from realizing that I can do a four mile hike up and down--so if the situation were to arise where I had to hike (nuclear war, end of society as we know it, whatever) that my body can handle some of the challenges.  This links to my "If I get stuck on a deserted island" thing, which I'm sure I'll cover later.