Chili Cheese and Garlic Jalapeño Fries

    I just wanted my chili cheese fries ingredients and I wanted to get the hell out of that grocery store.
    I had already had one dirty old man tell me a joke today about a penis circumcised and as I quickly shoved garlic fries, chili, sour cream and cheese in my little red hand basket I recognized a weirdo with that crazed look in his eyes
    “Girls!” coming to talk to the sweaty brunette in yoga pants.
    “I smell like mountains!
    I just ran thirteen miles!
    Leave me alone dirty old men, I don’t want to hear your jokes, don’t touch my hair! I just want to buy chili in peace!”
    Is what I want to yell as I storm my way through my local market, trying not to make eye contact with the freak by the freezer case who is coming towards me.
    I make a break for the check out line and pretend to be deeply involved with my phone.
    That does not work.
    I spent all morning on the phone with a certain phone company that starts with a V and is run by douche bags and still my mobile phone is useless. I spent all day after this waste of my time in a bad mood.
    I also hurt every where because I started P90X again two days ago after a year hiatus and did legs and abs two days in a row.
    All day long as my legs have ached no matter how many fists full of Alieve I throw back the words
    “Never skip legs day” Keep floating through my head.
    Right now I wish I had skipped legs day.
    So my legs are killing me.
    And I’m extremely pissed off.
    So I decide to go for a little hike.

    I ended up running slash hiking thirteen miles up one of the hardest trails in my area.
    Vivian Creek Trail is supposed to be the “easy route to the top of San Gorgonio.
    People say this because it is the shortest way at sixteen miles roundtrip to the summit at 11,499 feet. 
     The first mile of the trail has four hundred feet of elevation gain.
    Okay that rocky first mile at the bottom is the hardest part of the whole trail but still, this trail is not easy.
    I had hiked seven miles of this trail a month ago in the snow with Mary so I had done a little practice hike on it, but today I had five and a half hours to hike and wanted to get a lot farther.

    My plan was to try to be coming down the mountain right about sunset.
    Clouds were forming to the west and mixing with our lovely Southern California smog.
    I figured if I made it to that last rocky mile right asbout sunset the views would be phenomal and the sunset promised to be epic tonight.
    One thing about smoggy So Cal; we do have the best sunsets.
    I work nights most of the time, so any time I get to witness a lovely smoggy Southern California sunset I really enjoy it.
    I was slowly making my way up that first rocky steep mile and dreaming about the kale and broccoli slaw salad I was going to have for my lunch, trail snack, when I realized I had left my head lamp in the car for the twilight hike back.
     Guess that would have to mean I would have to turn around about thirty minutes earlier.
      After I reached the wilderness permit sign at the top of the first super hard mile the trail got way less steep and I took my lunch break by the first little creek crossing, inhaling my salad.
    I was quickly back on my feet and hiking up the trail. Last time we had done this hike Mary’s asthma had been bad that day and we had been going pretty slow, a good idea any ways on one of the hardest hikes in Southern California.
    I was going way quicker today, especially newly invigorated with broccoli slaw and kale.
    I was flying up the trail and quickly passed Half Way Camp at three miles up, where Mary and I had turned around last time. After this I ran into some friendly hikers coming down the mountain who told me they had camped at the summit the night before. ( You know we are having a warm January when there are people camping at the top of San G. There are usually feet of snow in January!)
     About a half mile past Half Way Camp the trail and forest became way more beautiful. I had left the cedar forest in the creek area behind and the trail was hugging a ridge line with views of Oak Glen Peak, still a little snow capped at 8,404 feet to the South of me.
     Lodge Pole pines and manzanita rose above me on the high peaks of Jepson Mountain to the north and I suppose San G, Old Grey Back sat behind the green peaks of Jepson Peak.
     I never even saw the rocky peak of San G today: at this point it was nearing three thirty, my turn around time to get back down the mountain before dark.
     I took one last look at Galena Peak to the South of the Vivian Creek trail, thinking about how beautiful its shear peaks would be with snow on them, and had to turn around and head back down the trail.
    I have got to come back and do this trail again in the snow, hopedfully in a few weeks.
    I had been planning to have some teriyaki salmon and veggies for dinner when I got home but as I made my way down the trail and became hungrier and the miles began to build up I started to think Chili Cheese Fries do sound delicious.
    I had done something like three thousand feet of altitude gain today, that calls for Chili Cheese Fries right?
    I had forgotten my gloves and as I made my way down the mountain from nine thousand feet my hands were freezing and all I could think about were Chili Cheese Fries. Thank god the tempature started to warm up as I made my way down in altitude and the sun began to set into the clouds, causing this awesome sunset.
    I suggest you try this recipe for Super Bowl Sunday ( Or after a monster hike!) Best Chili Cheese Fries ever!