Up On Cripple Creek

Tom is on CRUTCHES!!!!
(Ed. note---as of 5/28, he's walking without them, just in time for graduation)
He hurt his knee playing "ultimate frisbee" and it swelled up so much that you couldn't tell there is a knee in there.

Doctor says there's a 30% chance it will heal in time for the trip. He's undergoing pretty intense physical therapy, so we'll see. Meanwhile we are moving forward with the planning.

We met with Josh and Joe to go over final packing lists and discuss menu selections for meals. The guys are going to try some dehydrated meals to see what they like, then we'll make the final purchases a few days before we leave.

We have all the major equipment items, just have to pick up some miscellaneous things....like more water bottles...they tell you to carry at least 4 litres of water when you start out every day. As those who have visited recently know, this stuff has taken over most of the family room, it will be amazing to see if it all can actually fit in two packs!

Walk, Don't Run

We did some real hiking in Patapsco State Park today...about two and a half miles...on the trails, up and down, rocks, stream-crossings, a little mud. Not at all like walking on a roadway or thru the mall. Everybody carried their packs too, although I'm still practicing at the lower level with a day pack.

In addition to the exercise and the fresh air, we got an important lesson out of our trek today. Tom and Josh, being faster, tend to get ahead of Joe and I. Eventually they stop and wait for us, but by the time we catch up, they have had a nice litltle rest and are ready to blast off again. After a couple cycles of this...with no rest for the weary...we have decided that from now on, the old, slow guys will lead and set the pace.

Grazing in the Grass

So I got this new piece of exercise equipment today. At least, that's the way Rose sees it. She believes grass-cutting is a recreational activity.

The first cut is always the most painful...drag the mower out of the shed and pray that it will start, even though I never do the pre-winter maintenance, like draining the gas tank. Prayers are not answered, so after several hours of cleaning fuel lines and carburetor, trips to two garden stores for new spark plug, assorted imaginative vocabulary, I finally go to Home Depot and buy a new mower.

Selection is aided by a newly-trained saleswoman ("I reallllly enjoyed my lawn mower class!"), who helps me read the signs on the different models. It comes down to a choice between Toro and Cub. Toro engine looks exactly like the one at home that doesn't run, so I settle on the Cub.

Perky salesperson actually helps me load the mower onto a cart (but not into the Jeep), as well as offering various accessories, such as hearing protectors. I'm thinking that the hearing protectors would have been needed for my family yesterday while I was trying to get the old mower to start. No thanx, I say, the only thing I need now is somebody to walk this thing around my yard for the next couple hours. She smiles, pats my arm and says she could use somebody like that too. I am outta there!

These Boots Are Made for Walking

We bought new hiking boots Sunday, and immediately started breaking them in with a 5-mile walk. (I had a pair I bought a couple years ago and wore them for a week or so until I gave up--they were killing my feet.) Now that we're having better weather and more daylite, I am also making my target of 20 miles per week.

One day last week I took another stroll along the Catonsville Short Line. If you're familiar with the area, you know the trail passes through the grounds of the Spring Grove Mental Hospital..or whatever the politically correct name is for such institutions. So, here I am, walking along, hoping I look like I DON'T belong there. Suddenly I'm imagining a couple of guys in white coats escorting me into one of the buildings. Walking around inside the mall doesn't seem so bad after all!

Saturday in the Park

Hershey Park, that is.
What a great day, the weather was unbelievable.
Tom and my niece Elizabeth and I rode all the wooden 'coasters; Elizabeth didn't "qualify" for the Great Bear, but Tom and I took two "spins" on that as well.
I give myself credit for about 3 miles walking...offset unfortunately by a ton of junk food, so the scale will not be my friend Monday.

Alice's Restaurant

You can get anything you want...at Alice's Restaurant....

Arlo Guthrie's 1960's antiwar narrative that revolved around a Thanksgiving Day littering incident came to mind today when I was walking along the old Catonsville Short Line right-of-way.

Here, off the side of a side road, at the bottom of a fifteen foot cliff, was a big pile of garbage. Household garbage, dirty diapers, empty food containers...not the usual remains of a six-pack or a Mickey-D carryout.

Since I had my camera, I took some pictures, ending up with 27 eight-by-ten color glossy photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence against the perpetrators.

Now this isn't about Alice, or the restaurant, it's just a rant. Who would dump garbage along a neighborhood walking trail anyway? In this case, I'm afraid that justice will be more blind than usual, and nobody will have to pay for this crime except people like me who had their walk spoiled.

Day Tripper

We went for an extended walk in Patapsco State Park today, covering a little over six miles. Didn't really qualify as a hike since the trails were very muddy so we stayed on the asphalt and gravel paths. Even though it was chilly and damp we got a good workout and did some exploring along the river. Lots of memories for me from the days when my best friend Harry and I used to hike in the area.

I carried a backpack with some bottles of water, a radio to listen to the O's game, some snacks, couple of ponchos, and one of those survival knife gizmos with pliers and scissors and what not --maybe 8 or 9 pounds total. Speaking of that, some friends offered to let us borrow their backpacks for the Canyon trip, so there's another equipment item checked off.

Take My Breath Away

Went to Opening Day at Camden Yards (O's lost to the Rays 6-2) today. Climbing to the highest seat in the stadium definitely tells you what kind of shape you're in! The second time I climbed the stairs to the upper deck I was really huffing and puffing.This looks like good training, so I'm expecting to go to a lot of games in the next couple months.

Incidentally, the new scoreboard is a winner. The new hotel is NOT. It blocks the view of the Bromo-Seltzer tower from my seats.

Money Money

While out walking around Catonsville, I spotted this sign. No wonder the economy is in trouble.

I am faring much better. Lost two pounds last week, walked 15 miles.

(If you're wondering what happened to the "R"...it stands for "Responsibility". They throw that away)

A Hard Day's Night

After lugging a huge heavy backpack around all day, at night we get to sleep on the hard ground.

I have a pretty good sleeping bag....weighs 4 pounds, is a little bulky, but manageable. Tom's is more compact, and lighter at 3 pounds. Now we have to figure out what's going to go under and over.

Under is rock, and over is bugs, so what I need is a sleeping pad and a tent, both of which will add considerable weight to haul out of the canyon on the last day (more on that in another post).

When we go car-camping I use a self-inflating sleeping pad, but I am considering a lighter foam pad. I don't know how comfortable that will be-- may have to sleep out in the back yard for a couple nights to test them out before deciding.

Meanwhile Josh is working on a tent solution for us, so we'll see what he comes up with.

Good progress walking last week, just over 12 miles.

On the Radio

Josh passed the test for his Ham Radio license, so now we're trying to sort out all the communication possibilities--

(WARNING -- Jargon Alert)

There's a UHF repeater near the South Rim, so we should be able to communicate with the outside world using handheld radios. I have also thought about bringing a low-power HF rig to try for some DX (long-range). We don't know about Blackberry or cell phone coverage in the canyon either. The issues are weight and battery life. We obviously don't want to lug a bunch of stuff around that won't work. I thought about some kind of solar charging solution, but that may get too complicated.

On a more basic level---After my walk the other day, accompanied by Beth, I stopped in at Bass Pro Shops to investigate the water purifiers some more. The salesman wasn't too keen on the UV bug-blaster. Said it was more appropriate for sticking in your glass of water while sitting at an outdoor cafe in Paris, rather than in the backwoods. He recommended a brand that Bass Pro doesn't even stock. Some salesman.

Dropped 1 pound this past week.

You Light Up My Life

....Unless you're a Cryptosporidium.

We stopped at Bass Pro Shops (conveniently located in Arundel Mills Mall) to look at some of the gear we hopefully will not have to buy, and spotted this ultraviolet water purifier gizmo. You stick it in your water bottle for 45 seconds or so, light it up, and it destroys all kinds of nasty viruses, bacteria, and protozoa.

Check out their web site. This looks like a must have!



Meanwhile, the weight report this week is so-so...
nothing gained, nothing lost....
maybe if Valerie Bertinelli would be my weight loss buddy....

Doing better with walking...11 miles this week.

The Tide is High

My friend Virginia emailed me today and asked what impact the flooding of the canyon would have on our trip....WHAT? Flooding? When did this happen?

Fortunately it's only for a few days and is supposed to help the fish.

Click to read more.

Walk Like An Egyptian

I do most of my walking at Arundel Mills Mall where the movie theater has an Egyptian theme...I can't figure out why, but they have hieroglyphics, statues of animal-headed people, stick figure paintings, and the like. I have never seen a movie there, but I have seen Egyptian movies when I was overseas and they aren't very interesting.

Anyway, I try to walk every day. The target is about a mile and a half per day right now...would like to build up to 3 miles a day, maybe 20 miles a week. I had two outside walks this week, once on Monday when the weather was great, and again yesterday when I ended up stranded at the library in the rain....soooo....back to the mall today.

I decided to make Wednesday the "mileage day" to check my weekly total.
This week -- 7 miles. Not so good.

LUV Is In The Air

We bought the plane tickets today, non-stop on Southwest to Phoenix, June 6th. The flight is a little under five hours, arriving at 10:45AM. Then we’ll drive to the Grand Canyon area, stay overnite at a motel and start down into the Canyon Saturday morning June 7th. Return is Wednesday June 11th, also nonstop, Phoenix to BWI.

And, yes, we will have a motel stay the nite before coming home, so everyone will get to take a nice shower and have clean clothes to wear on the plane. Fellow passengers won't know what they missed! (Think John Candy and Steve Martin.)

Weighting for Tonite

Monday...and only Monday....I get on the scale to see if my half-hearted attempts to cut back on junk food and my slightly more dedicated exercise routine are having any positive effect. Actually, I'm looking for a NEGATIVE effect, namely the shedding of a pound or two.

I have been doing this for weeks, but until today, there was nothing positive to tell...well, negative....I'm sure you get the idea.

Tonite I can report success, though. I actually dropped three pounds in the last week! And I didn't reward myself with a Super Big Gulp or Double Quarter Pounder, either. Fortunately California Navel oranges are readily available at not-too-outrageous prices; they make a pretty good snack, and they use the same artificial coloring on them as they do Cheese-Nips.

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