It’s week two of the year’s second climbing trip, and I’m looking forward to three things that will be occurring/starting over the next five days:
- The adventure of hiking Mount Elbert (the second highest peak in the 48 contiguous states) and the view from the summit. On one hand, I expect it to be similar to the views from other mountaintops I’ve stood upon. On the other hand, I also expect it to be entirely unique. Just like it’s been with all the others. (Ha!) In any case, I’ll be experiencing that tomorrow along with my brother and about 50 of our closest friends. But I’ll save that story for another time. 🙂
- Getting back home after a long (but good) couple of weeks; resting and recovering after lots of hiking, climbing, and sleeping on the ground; and recycling my training plan and emphasizing strength and power development for a while. (My endurance is perhaps the best it’s ever been thanks to the previous seven months of preparation. But while I still feel relatively strong too, I’m certainly down from my peak and looking forward to the state of feeling like I could lift almost anything.)
- Eating delicious, home-cooked food again. Like this Chickpea Tomato Salad with Sauteed Salmon. (One can only eat nuts, snack bars, and freeze-dried food for so long before beginning to crave something a bit fresher.) Like I’ve mentioned with previous recipes, the ingredient list is written a little differently than what you might be used to seeing. It’s a modified version of a method used to simplify the cooking process. I was first exposed to the idea when reading Tim Ferriss’ book The 4-Hour Chef, which is actually a great book if you currently aren’t very comfortable in the kitchen and want to level-up your cooking skills.
On a final note, check out the recipe even if you’re not much of a salmon-lover. It includes a note about substituting chicken in that case.