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This eighth week into my journey to hike the Grand Canyon in October 2022 we attacked the Mystic Canyon Trail in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. The Mystic Canyon/Upper Monroe Trail is a 9.2-mile trail. The first mile of this
trail is very steep and very hard. We made it about .8 miles this time quite a bit further than the last time we tried. So, there is improvement. This trail, at least the first mile is much steeper and harder than the Lone Pine Lake Mt. Whitney Trail that we successfully tackled last week. We did enjoy the hike though and it was great exercise for the legs. My son Brian joined me and my wife on this hike and it was nice to have the company. We will use this trail a lot to train for Grand Canyon. We turned around and then hiked the big Dalton Trail, which is relatively flat, scenic and a great cool down after the Mystic Canyon Trail. The flora along this trail makes it rather peaceful keep your eyes and ears open to nature you will find yourself becoming relaxed with your
surroundings.
I did forget to activate my “All Trails” App and my altimeter so unfortunately, I do not know exactly how far we traveled or how much altitude we gained. I will not make that mistake again! I think my head was contemplating how in the heck am I going to eat three sandwiches for lunch!
I did continue my strength building exercises, squats, and stair climbing and step-up exercises and am starting to feel the difference when I am hiking so good news there!
