I went back to REI today to take another look at shoes, since my left little toe kept banging into the inside of my shoe during Saturday’s hike. After trying on (literally) a dozen pairs of shoes, I wound up getting a wider size of the shoe I already had, the Lowa Renegade GTX Mid Hiking Boot. I also picked up a pair of wool socks and sock liners, so hopefully the next test hike will be kinder on my feet. The weather forecast for the next week doesn't look as good as Saturday was, but it looks like this Thursday's going to be the next day out, or maybe Wednesday if this chance of lightning goes away.
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I hiked about 9.5 miles today between Carderock and Great Falls, along the C&O Canal Tow Path and adjacent trails. The trekking poles I got add as much to hiking as my Camelbak (and possibly even more so). I now can't imagine going hiking again without them.
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Bought more stuff today. Got a drysack to use for food storage, 50 ft of paracord, a Snow Peak GigaPower Stove and windscreen, fuel canister stand, cook set, fuel, a fuel canister recycling tool, a cathole trowel, and a spork.
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Exhausted yesterday after spending a few hours at REI trying on packs and buying stuff. Not sure if the exhaustion was due to shopping, shopping with a 20 pound pack on, or from spending a lot of money.
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It's somewhat irksome that I'm losing sleep to this hike that's still over a month away, but my mind just won't stop spinning in circles about it. I'm kind of unclear what I'm feeling. Some of it of it is just continually running everything through my head, thinking about what I want to do and how to do it. Then there's the anxiousness. This will be one of the largest and most involved (and honestly, most dangerous) tasks I've ever undertaken. And maybe even a twinge of fear that I'm in way over my head. I've never done anything even remotely like this before. I guess the best thing I can do is just be honest with myself that I'll be going in far less prepared than I'd like (and probably should be). And yet, I'm (over?) confident I'll manage just fine.
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