Fitness Review - Week Ending 2/26

This week started by being in Long Beach on vacation for a couple of days, and ended with snowy weather limiting outdoor activities.  My parents were in town until Saturday, and I'd rather spend my limited time with them rather than exercising. 

Day	Exercise	Distance (Miles)	Time (Min)
Sun	Wandering around Ft. Stevens in Oregon.	0	0 min
Mon	Wandering around Cape Disappointment in Washington.	0	0 min
Tue	Walk on Beach.	1.5	30 min
Wed	.	0	0 min
Thu	Wii.	0	30 min
Fri	Walk.	1.5	30 min
Sat	.	0	0 min

Ending Weight: 214.5 lbs

Fitness Review - Week Ending 2/19

Sorry for the last post, my parents were visiting the past week which really threw off the schedule.  They arrived on Thursday the 17th, and we left town on Saturday for a long weekend (hence no weigh-in).  

Day	Exercise	Distance (Miles)	Time (Min)
Sun	Walk Dog and Errands	3.0	60 min
Mon	Walk Dog.	1.5	30 min
Tue	Walk, Wii.	.5	40 min
Wed	Walk, Wii.	1.5	60 min
Thu	Walk.	1.5	30 min
Fri	Walk.	1.5	30 min
Sat	.	0	0 min

Ending Weight: Unk. lbs

Fitness Review - Week Ending 2/12

This week started horribly with me not leaving the house between Saturday and Tuesday due to a really nasty cold. So, unfortunately, it really looks like I'm slacking off this week. I tried to focus on breathing versus excercising.

Day	Exercise	Distance (Miles)	Time (Min)
Sun	Watch Super Bowl (and cough)	0	0 min
Mon	None (just coughing)	0	0 min
Tue	Walk Dog (coughing all the way)	1	30 min
Wed	Walk (still coughing)	1	30 min
Thu	Wii (a little less coughing)	0	30 min
Fri	None	0	0 min
Sat	Wii (a little)	0	15 min

Ending Weight: 212.1 lbs (There are better ways to lose weight than being sick.)

My First Tent (or how to live comfortably with your wife)

My wife and I got our first tent before we were married.  She was living in Arcata, Califormia and I was living in St. Louis, Missouri, so we decided to get married in Fairfax, Virginia.  Our honeymoon was then driving her stuff in her car (1981 Subaru GL Hatchback w/o air conditioning) back to take up residence in St. Louis. 


We spent a couple of days in San Francisco at the Chancellor Hotel off Union Square, then went to camp for a couple of days in Yosemite National Park.  When we arrived at our campground along the Tioga Road (Yosemite Creek, I think), we started to break camp. 


We had purchased the tent in St. Louis when she visited earlier, and she had taken it camping a couple of times when she was in California and I was still working.  So she had an idea of how to set it up, but of course, since this was camping, I had my own ideas of how it should be set up as well. 


Needless to say, within a few minutes, we had a bunch of poles laying around and a couple of hurt feelings.  Each of us thought we knew best until we realized that we both did.  Either way would achieve the same result, we just had to both work in the same way, which meant that someone had to be in charge.  


To this day, when we're doing something that requires coordinated effort, we look at each other and decide who's in charge.  It's not always the same person in charge, but someone is always in charge. 


Words of wisdom:  If the goal is clear, it doesn't matter who gets you there. 

Gear: Headlamp

One last item of gear for this round is the headlamp.  I received this for Christmas this last year from my lovely wife, Gail.  I guess she took the hint when I tore out the REI page and circled something.

My daughter first got a headlamp a few years ago, and it seemed pretty handy, so I figured that I'd like to get one as well.  This particular headlamp was chosen because it was cheap and it has two different lighting modes, one LED spotlight, or three LEDs which throw a wider range.

This particular model looks to weigh about 3 oz.

Iron Goat Trail Recollections.

I've been laid up sick the past couple of days, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to do a little wool gathering about hikes I've been on in the past. Today, I'll talk about the Iron Goat Trail, an almost perfect hike in my opinion. 

The Iron Goat Trail was the name given to the Great Northern Railway as it went over Steven's Pass in the Cascade mountains.  The railroad would be considered crude compared with today's standards, for there were a dozen switchbacks up the valley leading to the pass.  It was time consuming, but it was much easier than going over by horseback  (US 2 didn't exist in 1893.) 

It became obvious that the original route would not work after the first winters, between the snow plows and avalanches, so they built the first tunnel at Wellington in 1900 to bypass most of the switchbacks.  This did not solve the problem, since the there were still massive snowfalls causing delays.  Tragically, in 1910, an avalanche trapped a passenger train resulting in the death of 96 passengers.  This, and escalating costs and additional snowsheds led to the Great Northern building a longer tunnel 500 feet below the first. 

The original trail was abandoned until 1993 when the Volunteers for Outdoor Washington (VOW) and the USDA Forest Service opened a 4 mile stretch of the old grade for hikers and bikers. The VOW has an excellent guidebook detailing the history of this trail.  Too long of an intro to one of my favorite hikes (in hindsight). 

In August, 2010, I was heading over the pass to visit a supplier in Spokane.  It was such a gorgeous day (mid 70's, no clouds), that I decided that I'd stop along the way to take a little hike.  As I found the sign to the Iron Goat Trail, I couldn't help myself.  So, I decided that I'd give it a go. 

Not being prepared, I did the exact wrong thing to do when making this hike, I turned right.  You see, since the trail is on railroad switchbacks, there is a gently ascending trail following the old railroad grade.  If you go left.  If you go right, you go 700 feet straight up.  That's the path I took.  Having almost died on the way up, I was wondering if it was all worth it, until I got to the Windy Point viewpoint.  On a clear day in the Cascades, you feel like you're all alone on top of the world. 

However, what makes this hike exceptionally fascinating, is that the old tunnels, snowsheds, reservoirs, and railroad debris is still there, slowly crumbling into ruins.  I know that there are some that like their hikes "unspoiled" by human presence, but as a lover of history and one who is enthralled by puzzles, these ruins give a glimpse of what it was like in those days.   I just wished I'd brought my camera. 

Note:  This trail parallels abandoned tunnels and other structures that have been unmaintained for the past 80 years.  I would advise staying out of them. 

Gear: Cooking Stove

A cooking pot is no use if you don't have anything to heat it with, so next in line in the stove.  (The National Park Service doesn't take too kindly to starting campfires in the back country.  Something about forest fires burning down old growth forests tend to make Park Rangers a little cranky.)

Again, I received my camping stove from one of my daughters as a Christmas gift.  It is a MSR Pocket Rocket and it comes in a cute little plastic case.  This is designed to be mounted on a fuel canister, using the width of the canister as a base.

The fuel is an Isobutane/Propane blend which will "provide more cooking power from start to finish".  Given that the output of a stove is generally measured in BTU and not power, we can assume that some marketing wonk made that up.

So, when sizing up the stove, it's about 4 oz. and the fuel canister is about 13 oz.  (Of course, the bottle indicates that the gross weight is 12 oz., so that marketing guy is once again stretching the truth.  I have much more faith in this scale than the Borg.)  

New GPS (or, why we buy things at REI)

About 18 months ago, we decided we'd get a GPS, however, we were more interested in using it for Hiking and other outdoor activities, so we didn't get a vehicle GPS.  We decided we'd get a GPS with Topographic maps instead.  Furthermore, we decided to go to REI to get our GPS because REI is really good at helping poor misguided souls and answering really basic questions.

So over a year ago, we got a Garmin Oregon 400t which was great with only one flaw.  The roads that were on the GPS didn't match the roads we drove on.  Many times, the roads would be off by 50 feet or more.  This didn't bug us too much until we started doing more geocaching.  The GPS would get to the right coordinates, however, at times when geocaching in an urban area, we'd go down the wrong street because the map was off.

So, last week, I took it back to REI and asked them if this behavior was expected (remember, misguided souls with stupid questions).  They said that this shouldn't do this, so they offered to exchange the maps.  When the map came, I came back and tried the new map but it didn't really work.  When the supervisor couldn't figure out how to make the exchange, he asked me if I wanted to replace my old unit for a new one.  I said sure, if it'll fix the problem. 

So, without batting an eye, they exchanged a 18 month old GPS for a new one that has a built in camera and a few more features.  I was happy, until I tried to track my path on the way home. 

The maps are still off.  I guess I have to do some more work to figure out how that should work. 

Fitness Review - Week Ending 2/5.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I thought I'd start putting up my weekly review of the training that I have done.

Usually, I try to walk for half-an-hour during my lunch break.
I've also been using a program on the Wii called Wii Fitness Trainer.  It's more intensive than Wii Fit, which makes you wait a couple of minutes between exercises and is cute but annoying.

Day	Exercise	Distance (Miles)	Time (Min)
Sun	Walk the Dog	1.5	30 min
Mon	Golf (9-Holes)	2.5	90 min
Tue	Lunch Walk, Wii	1.5	60 min
Wed	Golf (18-Holes)	5	180 min
Thu	None (Sick)	0	0 min
Fri	Wii	0	20 min
Sat	Walk	6.75 m	120 min

Ending Weight:  214.1 lbs. 

Gotta work on getting that weight down.  Gonna have to start cutting out carbs. 

A Saturday Stroll (with a GPS)

It came to pass that I finally got tired enough of the cold I'm fighting to go to the doctor.  It started last night with a number of dry coughing fits and although I managed to sleep until 6am, that was about it.  So instead of going up to the mountains to snowshoe, I ended up at the Walk-in Clinic at 8:30 this morning.  Sent on my way with a prescription and some recommended over the counter medicines, I figured that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to go snowshoeing in 40 degree weather with rain.  Instead, we decided that we'd take a long walk around the neighborhood.  6.75 miles later, I figured I should interrupt my Gear stories and talk about my neighborhood.

Mill Creek, Washington, was one of those 70's planned communities, with lots of walking trails, greenbelts (woods for those of you living on the other side of the Rockies) and cute neighborhoods surrounding a golf course and nature preserve.  Proper behavior is embedded on covenants enforced by the Mill Creek Community Association, otherwise referred to as the Garbage Can Nazis.  We live on the eastern edge of the city, and my prescription was being filled on the western edge.  So we decided to take a little walk to get the prescription.

Since we were walking, and since we got a new GPS (another story for another day), we decided to do some geocaching along the way. That took us to a bit of a round about route, allowing us to explore more trails than we usually do.  Playing with the new GPS, we decided to go ahead and track our route.  We found that during 3 hours, 15 minutes, we walked for 2 hours, rested for 1:15 and travelled 6.64 miles for an average walking speed of 3.3 miles per hour.  I had on a small backpack, maybe a couple of pounds at the most, so it was basically just a stroll.

And during all that time, no rain.  Altogether a good day.

Gear: Cooking Pots

Next on the weigh-in is the cooking gear.  I received the gear from one of my daughters as a Christmas gift a few years ago when I was stocking up for these endeavors.  Again, never used, it is waiting for me to pack it up and haul it around. 

This kit contains a small frying pan, a cooking pot (both with a non-stick surface) and a clamp-on handle to allow you to move them without burning yourself.  Also included are a plastic cup and bowl, fitting neatly inside the stacking pots.  I will have to source some silverware as well as other cooking utensils (spoon, spatula, knife, that kind of stuff), but there is room in here to fit some of that. 

Again, I weighed these items on my trusty postal scale and found that they weigh a wee bit over 1 lb.  Again, with a handy mesh bag, this is ready to throw into the pack. 

And look, it's blue so it will not clash with the tent. 

Gear: Tent Groundcloth

OK, they probably don't call them groundcloths anymore, but it is wise to have a vapor barrier between the tent and the ground.  So the next item on the gear list is a Groundcloth.

So, I can't remember if I got this when I got the tent, or if we went back to REI at a later date, but now that I'm reading the instructions, it looks like it's more than just a groundcloth.  Apparently, this "Fast Pack Footprint" can be used as a ground cloth, or in conjunction with the fly as a shelter in it's own right.  With this little device, I guess you can leave the tent at home.  Amazing what you learn when you actually read the directions!

I have no idea how I'll be using this, but it looks like I've got some choices.  Given that this is a bit smaller than the items so far, I've pulled out our postage scale to weigh this item.  Coming in at 9 oz. wrapped, it's the Fast Pack Footprint! 

This ought to be fun setting it up.

Gear: Tent

Of course, the next largest piece of gear that I'll be using when backpacking is a tent.  The tent was more of a "huh" purchase than the backpack.  A year or so after we got the backpacks, we went back to REI to look for tents.  I may have had an excuse like my birthday or something like that, but I can't remember.  Needless to say, Gail came along and gave me one of those looks when I told her I wanted to buy a tent.  She went along with my lunacy, and I now have a tent that's been sitting in the garage for a couple of years without being used.

The tent is a Sierra Designs "Sirius" model.  It's nominally a 2 person tent (friendly people, that is) and has a host of features, including 2 doors, 2 poles, a 4' x 4' vestibule (for the dog or the pack) and is 39" high at the peak.  According to the tag, it has a trail weight of 4 lbs.  According to my Borg, it looks more like 5 lbs.  Needless to say, it's lightweight and small.  I erred on the smaller size for I figured if you're hiking around, the idea would be to be outside.

As part of the preparation, I'll have to learn how to set it up and the like.

Gear: Backpack

So, while I had the scale and camera out in the Garage yesterday, I thought I'd take the opportunity to weigh some of my gear that I'll be taking along.  Of course, the starting item will be the Backpack. 

When I first had visions of life without kids, I thought it would be a good idea to get a backpack.  So Gail and I went down to REI, tried on a number of different packs, and I found one that fit me well, didn't cost too much, and was brown (i.e., the color of dirt).  I finally picked out an REI 65 backpack that has two main compartments and a number of different compartments for stuff.  (Gotta have places to put your stuff.) 

My first experience with this backpack was while I was traveling with my daughter in Europe.  We spent February wandering around the Mediterranean a couple of years ago, hauling our possessions on our backs.  She used Gail's pack and I hauled around mine.  It worked fairly well, and it was comfortable.  So far, I am pleased with this particular pack. 

Although you don't get a good view of the pack, you can see with my highly accurate scale that this piece of gear weighs 5 lbs.  (It's probably closer to 3 but what do you expect from the Borg?)