We Can Work It Out

We met with Josh and Joe Sunday to work out some details concerning travel dates and airplane tickets. They are the experts for this trip, with a bunch of camping and backpacking experience with the Scouts. Our tentative plan is to depart Baltimore for Phoenix on Thursday June 5th.

Josh and Joe have lots of great ideas for meal planning, so it looks like we won't have to go with my menu of Cup-of-Noodles and Cheese Nips. Speaking of diet, as part of my training regimen I have given up donuts and sodas and even thought about going meatless for awhile since we're already doing it on Fridays for Lent. To get pumped up I found this list of famous vegetarians. I decided I didn't really fit in with this crowd, so I dropped the idea. It had nothing to do with the Chick-fil-A coupons we got in the mail the other day.

Let's Get Physical

Well, I got one today. Doc says cholesterol, heart rhythm, lungs, and BP are perfect. (Better living thru chemistry...the array of pills I take everyday is working most of this magic.) Anyhow, the next task at hand is to shed a few ...like 15...pounds, and start up a daily walking routine.

I started Wednesday over at Arundel Mills Mall, where I think one lap around the inside is about 3/4 of a mile. I've done two laps, two days in a row, gasping and staggering at the end; I would like to get up to three miles a day in the next couple weeks, then farther as the days get longer and warmer and I can walk outside in the evening. Pops tells about a friend of his who liked to walk for exercise. He always followed the bus line, so when he got tired he would just stop and ride the bus back home. That strategy works for me.

After a month or so will probably start carrying a pack too and start some all-day hikes and then a couple overnighters.

Starting to think about the logistics side too. We plan to hike down into the canyon the first day, spend two nites, then hike back out in two days, overnighting halfway up. This will NOT be a rim-to-rim hike by the way...that's more adventure than I can probably stand this time. Lots to do for the wraparound too...flight arrangements, transportation to/from, accommodations.

Sweet Dreams

Finally!

After applying for three straight years, we received the coveted Grand Canyon Backcountry Permit in the mail last week. We'll be hiking and camping in the Canyon June 7-10. I figure that gives me a little over a hundred days to get ready.

I started out yesterday at the library, where I checked out some motivational reading....Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods and another book, called Over the Edge: Death in the Grand Canyon offering "accounts of the 550 people who have met untimely deaths in the canyon...". Oh boy.

On the lighter side, Bryson's book is a hilarious account of his adventures on the Appalachian Trail. ( Those of you who have read it will probably already be thinking that I am more representative of his companion Katz...that thought, unfortunately has crossed my mind as well.)

As for planning, I have divided the preparation effort into four main areas--Equipment, Supplies, Logistics, and, hmmm, the nastiest one, Physical Conditioning. Clearly my dietary and exercise patterns are going to have to change profoundly.... I figured that out when I was huffing my bags around the Jacksonville and BWI airports Monday. I have become quite accustomed to carrying an extra 20 pounds or so everywhere I go, but I need to transfer that amount away from my waistline and onto my back.

How much weight will I have to carry anyway? Let's see, laptop--9 pounds, have to figure out some kind of satellite internet access, cameras, so maybe we can eat bugs and berries and sleep out in the open to cut down on the weight. Fortunately I will have Tom and his friend Josh to do all the heavy lifting. Hopefully they won't have to lift ME....I'm sure at least one of you has thought about starting a pool on how many days before they have to helicopter me out of there.

As the preparation goes forward we'll continue to update the blog. I can't promise to do the day-by-day thing....nice job by Jessica so far on that one...but, check back here every couple days and see how it's going