The Palo Verde Trail, or The Bartlett Lake Allergen Death March

I went on a hike yesterday morning. Check out the Flickr badge to the left there for new photos, which despite everything, turned out quite nicely I think.

It was another Meetup hike, with a new group this time. I was all excited because it was a) A hike by a lake b) a (supposedly) relatively flat trail and c) it was up here on the north side of town. It was a longer hike--7 to 8 miles--but since it was more "cross country" than "mountain" I thought it would be a breeze.

Not so much.

I should have known things were going to be a bit doom and gloom when I started sneezing about 20 minutes into the hike. I'd had good intentions of taking some allergy meds before I left the house yesterday morning, as well as packing some extra for good measure. Ah, the best laid plans. I got the Kashi bars and the trail mix, the frozen bottles of water, the tp (just in case), the sunscreen, and the bandanas. I got the cell phone, the digicam and even my nifty new GorrillaPod (mine's pink!). But I forgot all about the allergy meds.

It's spring here in the desert, which means, contrary to logical thinking, that there are flowers EVERYWHERE.
As you might note, in addition to the multitudinous flowers, there is also quite a steep climb happening in this photo. This was not a rare occasion. My moutainbiking friends and I might call this a "whoop-te-do" trail; a rollercoaster of sorts, filled with a great many ups and downs. My knees loved it not. As far as the flowers go? My pants were covered in pollen. The water's edge was yellow with the stuff. And I kept sneezing. Before we were halfway out, I was feeling pretty miserable. The sneezes kept coming, and I was getting that fun sinus pressure headache that inevitably accompanies any allergy attacks I have. Before we hit the halfway point I was seriously considering hitching a ride back with one of the numerous fishing boats we saw. "Back to the Marina!" I'd cry, "I must blow my nose!"

I'm glad I took a lot of photos on the "out" part of the hike, because on the "back" portion, I was mindful only of staying upright and dabbing my constantly running nose with one of my bandanas (See!? I knew they'd come in handy!). I was getting hot, my head hurt, my nose was leeching any hydration I'd previously stocked up from my body, and I was getting clumsy.

Don't get me wrong--The Palo Verde Trail at Bartlett Lake is a beautiful walk. But next time, I think I'll go earlier in the winter, earlier in the day, and make my turnaround point much closer to my starting point.

I came home and sniffled my way through the evening, and ended up sleeping about 10 or 11 hours. I feel much much better now! However, I think I'll stay inside today. :)

Be sure to check out the flickr photos; you can see the giant old saguaro, more pretty flowers, and a really pissed off rattlesnake!