Hikes provide exercise while dieting

This is the first in a series about day hikes in the Greater Columbia Basin area.

About a month ago part of a conversation with Bill Witt of Ephrata continued, "Boy, I need more exercise."

"Well, let's go on a hike every week," Bill said. "We will take turns picking a place to go, you the first week and me the second."

"I also need to go on a diet," I said. "My 50th high school reunion is in August and I don't want to go with this much weight on my bones."

"You're on your own with the diet."

The first hike was on a Wednesday, Feb. 18. We parked one vehicle at a gate at the bottom of a hill between Ephrata and Soap Lake. A second vehicle was driven to another gate at the top of the hill.

The road curved to the right after 100 yards, but we continued in a straight line, through the sagebrush, as we walked the edge of a deep ravine. This provided a bit of difficulty as we were forced to travel over and down ground covered with loose rocks. Walking down a steep hillside was required during the last 100 yards to intersect the road.

The scenery was super and we spotted more than 30 deer, in small groups, and one coyote. Yep, this hike was downhill all the way, with the last mile on level ground.

The hike only required about two hours of our time and covered just over three miles.

"I'm not as sore as I thought I would be, actually feeling rather good," I said in an e-mail to Bill the next day.

"Glad to see you mastered downhill so quickly," he replied. "I am looking forward to a level walking experience, but sometime in March we should be ready for a slight incline."

What I didn't tell Bill was on the second day several of my leg muscles were quite sore to the point of being most uncomfortable.

The word diet loomed heavy in my head at this time. More hikes and the looming reunion helped me wrap my willpower around the desire to lose weight.

There is a computer program called DietPower which is a diet and nutrition coach. The user sets a goal and a date to reach the goal. The dieter logs everything they eat and drink and the program keeps a running count of calories eaten. The amount of calories burned in exercise is also taken into consideration.

After logging the person's weight for a day, the program indicates if the projected weight will be attained on schedule. Such a program may drive some people nuts, but this program helps me immensely.

Monday, Feb. 23 my diet began. My goal was to reach 200 pounds on Aug. 28, the first day of the reunion. At first I had a budgeted count of 1,797 calories per day. At the end of the first day, 1,276 calories were eaten with 521 remaining.

As with most diets, I lost five pounds within a few days, then the weight bumped up a touch and has been trending down since then with 10 pounds off so far. What's more, the program has my projected weight at 182 by the end of August, which I consider a bonus.

My main food is brown rice. I love the stuff and always have. A typical breakfast and lunch consists of one cup of rice and two ounces of frozen broccoli, seasoned with Mrs. Dash of some sort.

The following week we headed for Northrup Canyon. This had been a desired destination of mine for years. Bill and I drove to the edge of Coulee City for lunch at Big Wally's. I had my lunch already prepared and in a cooler, but Bill convinced me to have something at the restaurant.

Now this is a dilemma for dieters. It isn't nice to take your brown rice into the eatery and devour it at the booth. Plus it isn't nice to sit in the booth while Bill enjoyed a meal and me just watching. I ordered a roast beef sandwich. I planned to eat only half, but it tasted so good, I ate the whole thing. Skipped the package of chips, however.

Northrup Canyon was a fun trip. Multiple footprints in the dust indicated this was a well used trail. Bill and I were clipping along at our geriatric speed, when I jumped at a noise close behind us. It was Tim Russell, who traveled from the Coast for the day to hike the canyon and also Steamboat Rock.

We visited a bit and then Tim surged ahead to hike the rest of the trail, while Bill and I stopped at the old homestead. Interesting piece of land, which obviously had been farmed. There were several outbuildings, plus a more modern structure, perhaps from the 50s or 60s.

We headed back to the vehicle after looking around for half an hour. The steep canyon walls provide striking scenery during the entire hike. The distance was just over four miles with slight inclines. It is suitable for family members who are able to walk or be carried this distance. Beware of rattlesnakes from this time on. We didn't see any, but they are known to be in the area.

Next week: More Columbia Basin hikes.