Crystal Ridge Hike

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

Due to the holiday weekend, there were a ton of people out and about in Lake Tahoe. While I love to get out and enjoy many of the trails that Lake Tahoe has to offer, I wanted to go on a hike today yet I did not want to run into a bunch of tourists. Therefore I headed over to Diamond Peak, which is the local ski resort in Incline Village, NV.

I decided to hike up to the top of Crystal Express chair, which is at 8500 feet. It is a phenomenal workout, to say the least. I parked at the top parking lot that is closest to the base lodge. From the lodge I started the ascent up the mountain. I followed the trail that is directly under the Lodgepole Chairlift. Once I got to the top of the chair left, I veered to my right and took Freeway Run up until I hit Ridge Run. This is where the grueling climb begins. Head up Ridge Run until you get to the top of Crystal Express. I must warn you that this trail is extremely steep. It took me just under an hour to get from the base lodge to the top of Crystal Chair. It was a great hike for a great Memorial Day weekend!

Mountain Bike Trail: Lower Mt. Rose Meadows to Tunnel Creek

Summer is officially here, which means that it is time for me to pull my mountain bike out of storage. With the warm weather that we have been having, the majority of the snow throughout the mountains has melted. I took my bike out for the first time last Sunday and rode a portion of the Tahoe Rim Trail. This was the first time that I went on this trail and I was surprised at not only the beautiful views this trail offered but the level of difficulty.

To access the trail:

• From Incline Village, head up Mt Rose Highway (Hwy. 431) towards Reno
• After you pass the Lake Tahoe lookout, there will be a lookout parking lot on your left. You should park your car here.
• The trailhead is directly across the street.
• Follow the trail down towards the Tyrolian downhill.
• About 3 miles into your ride, veer towards the left to head into Diamond Peak Ski Resort.
• Ride through Diamond Peak’s terrain until it spits you onto the Tunnel Creek Trail.
• You have the option of either go right and heading down the hill or going left and heading up towards the Incline Flume Trail. Our group decided to ride up just to the top of Tunnel Creek to get some extra cardio and then we just turned around and went down Tunnel Creek. I must warn you that Tunnel Creek is extremely steep, so it’s a tough climb on your mountain bike.
• The Tunnel Creek Trail will spit you out onto Highway 28 in Incline Village.

If you’re feeling adventurous, you can ride your bike back up to the lookout parking lot where you parked your car, or you can set up a shuttle system with a couple of cars. Since I live in Incline Village, my friends and I left one car at the lookout parking lot and then road to our house to pick up another car.

Camp Richardson/Fallen Leaf Lake Trail

My all-time favorite trail run is in South Lake Tahoe, CA. The run does not have a specific name, yet I like to refer to it as the Camp Richardson/Fallen Leaf Lake trail. The trail has extremely diverse terrain, breathtaking views and most often offers an up close and personal experience with the wildlife that inhabits the Lake Tahoe basin. The most impressive portion of this trail is how it winds up Taylor Creek, leading to Fallen Leaf Lake. During the fall, kokanee salmon from Lake Tahoe spawn in Taylor Creek. It is fascinating to see so many fish in a condensed area:

 

Here’s how to access the Trail:

-Drive to Camp Richardson in South Lake Tahoe, CA.

-Park in the Valhalla parking lot

-Enter the Valhalla visiting center and head straight towards the lake

-Take a leaf and run down the shore of Lake Tahoe

-Once you hit Kiva Beach, enter the Taylor Creek visitor’s center

-Wind through the main path the runs along Taylor Creek

-Cross Emerald Bay Road and head up Smokey Bear Circle (this is the back entrance to Fallen Leaf Lake)

-Run up Smokey Bear Circle until you reach the forest service road

-Continue on the forest service road until you see a trail on your left. This path is usually pretty hard to spot, yet just look for a mini parking area which is directly across from the trail head

-Take the trail, which will wind up Taylor Creek

-On your left you will see the Fallen Leaf Lake dam.

-Cross the dam and run south along the shore of Fallen Leaf Lake

-About ½ mile or so the trail will come to a Y. Take a left and enter Fallen Leaf Lake Campground.

-Wind through the campground until you reach Fallen Leaf Lake Road

-The road will lead you right back to Emerald Bay Road

-Take a right on the bike path and run until you reach Valhala parking lot.

Done!

Total mileage: 5.30 miles

Healthy Baking Gone Bad

I have a TON of ripe bananas in my freezer:

 I like to buy bananas at Costco because they are so cheap, yet my boyfriend and I can never eat them fast enough before they get all brown. I love to bake and eat banana bread but since I have been trying to eat healthy I have not made banana bread in months. I decided yesterday that I wanted to make banana bread, yet I wanted to make a “healthy” version. I googled healthy banana bread and I found this recipe: http://caloriecount.about.com/healthy-banana-bread-recipe-r10419

Ingredients

1 1/4	cup flour
1 1/4	teaspoon baking powder
1/2	teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2	teaspoon cinnamon
1/8	teaspoon salt
2	egg whites
1 1/2	cup bananas
1/2	cup sugar
1/4	cup applesauce
3	teaspoon vanilla
1/8	teaspoon nutmeg

Directions

1. In a bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. in larger bowl mix together bananas, egg whites, sugar, oil and vanilla. stir in flour mixture until moistened. Pour into sprayed 8x4x2 inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 45 to 50 mins until toothpick comes out clean. Cool bread in pan for 10 mins. Remove from pan and enjoy.

I decided make a few modifications to the recipe. First, I think spices in banana bread are disgusting so I omitted both the cinnamon and nutmeg. Second, I wanted to make the recipe healthier so I used whole wheat flour instead of white flour. After I mixed up all the ingredients, I tried a little taste of the batter and it was GROSS. I decided that I would go ahead and not add any additional ingredients to the recipe. After the bread finished baking, I tried a bite of the banana bread. The bread turned out to be very dense with no flavor whatsoever. I immediately put both loaves into the trash.

While it was a great idea to make banana bread with healthy ingredients, I wish I would have just followed my grandma’s banana bread recipe. Her recipe calls for a stick of butter and two cups of sugar, yet my grandma’s banana bread is delicious.

The Ultimate Trail Mix

I love trail mix, it is my go to snack of choice because I am always on the run.  It only takes five minutes or so to throw together all of the ingredients in a big container and then distribute smaller proportions into individual containers. I like to put together a mix on the weekend and then I will store it in an airtight container and keep it in my pantry.

Purchasing trail mix at a store can be extremely expensive therefore I have found that it is more cost effective to make my own trail mix. I like to go to grocery stores that sell wholesale nuts and fruits in large bins (such as WinCo or Safeway).  Since this is a health and wellness blog, it’s important to discuss that even the “healthiest” trail mix still has a very high caloric value. While it might be tempting to mindlessly eat trail mix, try to limit yourself to less than ½ cup.  

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup roasted, salted almonds
• 1/2 cup roasted, unsalted peanuts
• 1/2 cup roasted, salted sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup unsweetened mango slices
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup of plain cashews
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or some type of delicious chocolate (I like chocolate covered cherries from Trader Joes)

Feel free to substitute this mix with your favorite dried fruit, nuts or seeds.

Exercise Ball vs. Office Chair

Currently, I sit at my desk at least 95% of the time while I am at work. At my previous job at Harrah’s, I would walk around for the majority of the time while I was working my shift. When I started in my current position as Assistant Registrar at Sierra Nevada College back in January 2011, my overall daily activity level significantly decreased. After six months or so, I decided that I no longer wanted to sit on an office chair all day long, so I decided to take a trip down to Carson City and I purchased an exercise ball.

I have a lot of friends who use exercise balls as an office chair, so I thought I would give it a try. The first day that I used the exercise ball in exchange for my office chair I got a ton of interesting looks from my coworkers. Yet, after a week or so I was excited to see that some coworkers went out and purchased their own exercise balls to use as an office chair.

 

The benefits to using an exercise balls versus an office chair are astronomical. To begin, when you sit on an exercise ball you are forced to stabilize your core. Having a strong core is the foundation to a strong and healthy body. An additional benefit to using an exercise ball is that it will help to improve ones’ posture. When I use an office chair I find that I always slouch and that I never sit up straight. When you use an exercise ball, if you do not sit up straight then you will most likely roll over backwards (yes, this has happened to me a few times!).

If you sit at a desk for the majority of your day, I encourage you to replace your office chair with an exercise ball- your body with thank you!

Round Hill/ Nevada Beach Loop

The weather in Lake Tahoe this weekend was amazing. The temperature was between 75* to 77* degrees both days with absolutely no wind, which made for perfect conditions to go for a long run outside. Today, I drove down to South Lake Tahoe and met up with my good friend Jennifer. We decided to run the Round Hill/Nevada Beach loop. Overall, the loop is 5.25 miles and it meanders through the forest, a meadow, Nevada Beach and Nevada Beach Campground. We saw all types of wildlife during our run, including a muskrat and a grass snake (ekk!).

Here’s the route:

- Start at the Safeway parking lot in Zephyr Cove, NV.

- Run towards Stateline and hop on the path that runs parallel to Highway 50. This path will wind up and down hills and will eventually spit you out onto Kingsbury Grade. Take a right down Kingsbury Grade.

- Run for about 300 yards and then take a right towards Kahle Community Center and run around the baseball and soccer field.

- Run down Kahle Drive and cross Highway 50.

- You will now enter the meadow (this is where we saw the muskrat and snake).

- Run towards the lake (to the left side of the campground).

- When you get to Nevada Beach (take in the beautiful view) and run to the other end of the beach up to the campground.*Jennifer and I stopped at the dock at did a round or two of pushups and sit ups.

- Run up through Nevada Beach Campground until you get to Elks Point Road.

- Run up Elks Point Road towards the Safeway parking lot.

- Cross Highway 50.

- Done!