Ordered an Evernew 2L bag for my "dirty" water container. They've become a bit pricey but it will work perfectly with the Sawyer Sqeeze, cut-down cyclone adapter and a 2liter plastic bottle or 2 1 liter Smart Water bottles in a gravity configuration.
Oh wow, I think, not even at the end of the hike I will be as prepared as Dogwood is before his hike! Kudos to Dogwood!
That's what I did this week (so far!):
- Sunday: set up the brandnew tent (Marmot Force UL) for the first time in the living room - it rained so I didnt want to do it outdoors... the tent is great, setup idiot-proof and it stands alone not possible to set pegs in the livingroom floor ;-)
- Monday: study all the new threads in WB during work, in the evening went to my outfitter to try on (once more!) the hiking shoes I want to buy (Lowa Renegades), decided to buy them but had to order it over the store online shop because they did not have the colour I like on the shelf...
- today: realized its only 48 day to the start of my section hike, 5 min of panic, than downloaded the Guthooks Guide or rather the two sections I need... now playing around with it
Tomorrow: how knows ;-)
Anytime I am in an ambulance as a patient, I would sure as heck hope that I got some pain meds...Fentanyl is some powerful stuff....I'd be more than OK with that....I mean...I'm in an ambulance...if I am conscious, I bet it is painful as hell or I wouldn't be in an ambulance...just sayin.....*YMMV*
*Your Medicines May Vary*
Your medicines may vary. YMMV. LOL. Best I've heard in awhile. Right up there with "free yourself from stuff sackery."
With the unseasonably mild February weather, I've been able to get out and hike 5 miles every morning last week. Doing 5 at 5 am. I also switched to trail runners and have been wearing my trail clothes to test them out. I'm happy with my layers, switched from no name wool socks to smart wool, my precip rain coat works great and been getting used to walking with two hiking sticks.
I've done 11 miles this week, plan on continuing 5 at 5, and hoping to throw in a 15 miler on the weekend.
I used the last scraps of my cut up car sun screen to build a new pot cozy. I also need a new wind screen. My last one was sacrificed in a misguided experiment.
I slept in my hammock
Hiking the AT is “pointless.” What life is not “pointless”? Is it not pointless to work paycheck to paycheck just to conform?.....I want to make my life less ordinary. AWOL
Well Last night I has a spare 30 min so I used that time to go through and weigh more of my gear. Trying to keep my excel sheet up to date with all my supplies. Really need to purchase the tent so I can do a real shakedown hike soon.
I went out Friday for a weekend but it turned into an avernight. Still I had fun and learned a few things. I planned a weekend trip for the last weekend in March.
I did some hiking in the Atlas Mountains over the weekend!
I'm hoping for a 2018 thru but every time I make it out of the city, I dream of quitting my job and going this year.
In other preparation/ general fitness improvement, I'm starting crossfit with my new flatmate on Friday. Based on the reputation, I expect to either get addicted or else perhaps die?
We shall see.
March 24th NOBO
- Hiked 8 miles with my full pack on both Saturday and Sunday (16 miles total for the weekend). Plan to do this every weekend until I leave.
- Packed and unpacked my pack about 3 or 4 times.
- Picked up another pair of trail runners on sale that I plan to mail to myself somewhere between Fontana and Erwin. I've put about 150-200 miles on my current pair.
- Started trying to get in the habit stretching. Currently recovering from plantar fasciitis and patella tendinitis from my section hike in Georgia this past fall (Springer to Dicks Creek). I started off way too fast and learned my lesson the hard way. Planning to stay below ~12 miles per day until Hot springs.
- Cutting way back on drinking starting this week until I leave.
- Filed my tax return.
I live in Casablanca, so about 3 1/2 hours to the Ourika Valley in the high Atlas. Not to say that I'm NOT dedicated...
(Does my profile still say Virginia? I'm from Virginia, but I currently reside in Morocco.)
My standard non-training week is about 30-35 miles of trail hiking with minimal extra weight - other than the extra pounds I have gained by not hiking more lol.
As I am now ramping up for a 110 mile Grand Canyon hike in less than 3 weeks I am hiking about 70 mile weeks with about 1/2 of a full pack weight. Two weeks from now I will do about a 70 mile week with a full pack load in the mountains near where I live. I consider the GC hike just an advanced training hike for later in the year so I am not really training hard yet.
Following the GC hike I will start training in earnest for a PCT hike and then I will extend the weekly mileage from the 70 to 100 to and then at least 1 week before I start of around 140 miles with full pack in the mountains. Then I taper a bit for a week at about 70 miles before I start the PCT. This is a bit more than I did last year but this year with the huge snow loads in the mountains along the whole trail I expect that the hiking window will be much shorter than usual and one will need to be able to go 7 days a week at 25-30 mpd so that requires more prep as there will not be time to get in shape on trail much at all.
I do not lift weights at all nor do I run or bicycle (mostly this is because the back does not allow it anymore not that I think it is a bad idea - though a lot of upper body mass from weight lifting will definitely slow you down when it comes to hiking big miles every day). I sometimes do get into swimming a fair amount but never more than 2 miles a day and usually just 1. So not much else but hiking.
M,W,F I walk for 30 min during lunch break, walk the dog for 30 min when I get home, and ride my bike 1 hr. T,TH,Sat I walk for 30 min during lunch, walk the dog for 30 min when I get home and do weight training for 30 min. M,T,W,TH,F, Sat I do 25 to 35 sit ups and 25 push ups in the morning and repeat again in the evening. Saturday I bike ride 10 to 12 miles. Sunday is my rest or make up day. Day hike the SNP once a month. But I'm just a LASHER.