Doing the Prep Work

Along the White Tank Mountain practice trail

Some times 'prep work' can be redundant

Sometimes it's not.

My, (I think) rational brain has been insistently

Reminding me that this is one of those occasions

When 'prepared' is actually better than good!

So prepared it will be.

In case you missed it,

The preparation is for the

Grand Canyon trip of a lifetime.

SILH, (that would be son-in-law Harry) for the ill-informed)

And I are doing a six day back country camping trip

Into the innards of the Grand Canyon.

Once we get down,

We'll be on and about the Tonto Trail, listed as a marginal trail,

For the rest of the week.

The itinerary keeps us on pace for nine-mile average days,

(the longest being twelve miles)

The destination is Monument Creek.

The one-mile vertical descent is nine miles along the South Kaibab trail

And we'll be ascending the Bright Angel trail.

A twenty inch step down

The actual list of items to bring is lengthy and varied.

Freeze dried milk and white gas

Wick-type long sleeve t-shirts and matches.

Extra shoe laces and my 2 cup campfire coffee percolater.

Woolen socks and sardines

Pocket knife and a headlamp flashlight.

Camera and the ingredients for pan-fried bannock

Salt and toilet paper,

Ziplock bags (no trace left behind), and FirstAid supplies,

And the list goes on and on and on and . . .

And the backpacks grow heavier and heavier . . .

With my Osprey 85 backpack

Speaking of backpacks,

Mine is an Osprey 85+

It seemed huge when I started

Now I'm getting brave

And stupidly tempted to keep adding things.

Am doing my best to not succumb

But I will tell you, that new instant coffee

Available at Starbucks and Timmy's

It ain't comin' along!

Harry'll have to drag along 'the Timmy's'

He's carrying the food,

I've got the cooking, camping gear and tent.

A Saguaro gone crazy, along the trail

Getting to master the GPS

is another experience unto it's own

There's eastings and northings,

And Tracking and Barometric readings

Elevations and Maps

And even a built in camera to master.

Oh well, the good news is

That what started out as extreme hiking to get "in shape",

Has actually morphed into a multi-tasking opportunity.

While I plan my hike I learn to plot my trip.

While I hike up the White Tank mountains, I'm tracking the trial

On the way down I'm 'back tracking'.

And when I get home

I can upload the day's hike

And view almost each step of the day's arduous hike

And feel the pain one more time.

And even print it off so that I can hurt all over again

Each time I look at it.

And I get to test out various foods along the trail

Freeze dried food has come a long way.

Although it's always been true

That the hungrier you are the better it tastes.

But I swear it's actually 'good groceries' these days.

Friend Wayne at the summit of WTM

(I've convinced him into thinking this is fun)

The hiking component of the 'prep work'

Consists of five to ten mile hikes with backpack

(the vertical component is two thousand feet over 1.5 miles)

Three times weekly

With hour long walks about town

On the 'off days', so to speak.

Throw in a few 'core exercise' sessions from time to time

And that's it!

Well it all starts happening Feb 21.

And what happens will happen.

I'm predicting great things.

I doubt that it can exceed the Algonquin trip of this summer past.

But, to match that experience would be huge.

And I suspect that's what it will be!

Coming down the Trail

The end to a typical practice day