New Year's Day Hike Gets 2014 Off to Running Start

For active residents, the best way to start 2014 on the right foot is with a hike. Hikers gathered at the base of Grand Terrace's Blue Mountain — one group at 5:30 a.m. and another at noon — on New Year's Day, for the hike tradition orchestrated for the 19th year by coordinator Ernie Medina Jr. He estimated the morning group was comprised of about 40 people, while the noon group saw up to 90 participants. "It's the die-hard ones who come up in the morning," Medina said. Hikers of all ages from Grand Terrace and nearby communities of Loma Linda and Redlands, came out for the event. Hikers made the just-over two-mile hike to the top of the mountain, where they then listened to inspirational speeches about making resolutions and ended the hike with a sparkling cider toast. A new feature this year was a musical performance by sibling duo Rebecca and Erick Michel on the flute and the violin, respectively. Another new feature? Mountain bikes. "Every year we have maybe one or two people who like to ride their bikes up, but this year in our noon hike, we had a large number of kids who rode mountain bikes up. My sister is in a community biking group called Team RICO, and it's various high school kids in the area from Redlands High School, Redlands East Valley, Loma Linda Academy, Redlands Adventist Academy and homeschool groups, so they came out and rode up the mountain," said Medina. Medina, who worked for 21 years as a preventative care specialist at Beaver Medical Group and recently took a job as a faculty member at Loma Linda University, started the New Year's Day tradition after being introduced to it while teaching English as a Second Language in Japan during college. "New Year's in Japan is a very big holiday and it's a big tradition to go to some elevated point and welcome the new year by viewing the sunrise at that spot," said Medina. The hike first started as a small group of Medina's friends and gradually grew to become a larger, more community-saturated event. "I'm a big believer in new year's resolutions and a lot of people do make resolutions to start a workout routine or lose weight and this, I feel, really helps people get off to a running start, so to speak," said Medina, who's come to earn the nickname "The Physical Activity Evangelist." He explained it's also rewarding to see participants finish the hike, especially when they didn't think they'd be able to. "They might say, 'It's so hard,' but then they get to the top of the mountain and they're like, 'That's it? That's the end.' When they make it, they can say, 'Wow. If I can do that, then I can do all these other things, too.' It builds confidence that spills over into other parts of their lives," Medina said. He also explained he's begun planning for next year's hike — the 20th annual — and is looking forward to involving more of the community, possibly with a partnership between Loma Linda University and La Sierra University, where a former colleague now works. "Who knows? Maybe we'll even be able to get a little band up there for some more music," he said.