Packing for Training.

As you can see with my exercise logs, I've been being more intentional about working out.  With the advent of spring, it is time to take it to the next level.  By that I mean putting on more weight while walking around.

Over the weekend, I decided to pack my pack full of something to increase the weight for training purposes.  It had to be relatively heavy, but soft at the same time.  It had to be something I didn't care about getting wet for there will be times where I go wandering around in the rain.  And it couldn't be entirely consistent, for the weight varies much regarding what you put in your pack.

When packing a backpack, the heaviest item should be between your shoulders nearest to your back.  Lighter items should be a little farther from your back, with the lightest items on the top, bottom and back of the backpack.   The diagram on the right will give you an idea of how it should go.

So, for the heaviest item, I chose a ream of paper we had sitting around.  For the lighter blue, I found about 60 golf balls lying around the garage, and finally, I surrounded the whole thing with the rags from the t-shirt quilt.  Voila, a backpack that weighs just shy of 30 lbs.

Adding Weight (or How to use old Rags)

Sometime in the 70's, the t-shirt started to become the clothing of choice for a generation.  Not the stark white t-shirts of the 50's greasers, but with color, decorations, silk screening, and sayings.  I've collected hundreds of t-shirts over the course of my life, and some of my kids have already surpassed that total in college.  What used to be a sign of disobedience became common, even mainstream.  Now, you can get fancy t-shirts that cost more than a dress shirt!

These t-shirts are actually mementos of our lives and throwing them away is a bit disrespectful.  We use some as rags, but there are only so many rags that we can use.  So Gail came up with the idea of making a quilt out of old t-shirts as a reminder of the places we went and the things we did.  A couple of my daughters bought into the project and have made a number of quilts over the years.  Unfortunately, they take more time than Gail has, so we have about 4 boxes of t-shirts in the closet ready for quilting, but that's a story for another day. 

What does this have to do with backpacking?  Well, when one makes a t-shirt quilt, one cuts out the interesting part of the shirt and 75% of it is disposed of.  We had a couple of big bags of old t-shirt remnants waiting to find someplace where we could recycle rags in the area.  Alas, after a couple of years in the garage, I found a wonderful use for them.  Tune in tomorrow.

Gear: Map

I've got this thing about maps. Always have. My parents can attest that I would spend countless hours growing up studying maps.  Road maps, topographic maps, geologic maps, maps in encyclopedias, in books or just stand alone.  So, while I was trying on my boots the other day, Gail found the rack of topographic maps and guess what?  There was a map specifically of Mount Rainier and the Wonderland Trail. 

A waterproof map should be part of every back country trip.  Although a GPS will tell you exactly where you are and a map, the batteries can wear out, it can be dropped and break, it can get wet and malfunction, any host of things.  So, for safety's sake, I got the map and now I get to waste plenty of time studying it. 

Gear: Boots

I've been having this internal struggle regarding whether or not I need new boots for this trip. I've blogged about my last trip to REI and what I learned, including how to fit boots and what to look for.  My existing boots fit well and are broken in, but there are two things that could be better:  tread depth and longitudinal rigidity.

So, Gail and I went to REI, equipped with a 20% off coupon and a pair of hiking socks and tried on a couple of pair of boots.  The first pair I tried on fit too tightly across the top and ball of the foot.  I had to get to a size 11 (I usually wear either a 10 or 10.5) before they felt comfortable.  The second pair I tried didn't snug up my heel so I went to the next pair. 

This pair was highly regarded by two of the associates in the shoe department, and when I put them on, I could see why.  Although they seem a bit heavier than my current boots, they fit quite nicely across the front of the foot, and hold my heel very nicely.  So, with REI's generous return policy , I picked up this pair of boots. 

Next, I get to start the break in process, which will start with little strolls around work.  In a couple of weeks, with the weather getting better, they should be ready to hit the trails. 

Fitness Review - 3/26

This was a great week, two rounds of golf and Wii every day.  

Day	Exercise	Distance (Miles)	Time (Min)
Sun	Golf.	5.0	210 min
Mon	Wii	0.0	30 min
Tue	Wii, Walk	1.5	60 min
Wed	Wii, Walk	1.5	60 min
Thu	Wii, Golf	5.0	210 min
Fri	Wii, Walk	1.5	60 min
Sat	Walk	1.5	30 min

Ending Weight: 209.9 lbs, down .4 lbs.  Still maintaining the downward trend. 

Gear: Multitool (Leatherman)

Wandering around in the wilderness is fun, but if you could ask a caveman what makes life easier, he'd say a tool.  Balancing efficiency with flexibility, Tim Leatherman invented this thing in 1980 and has been selling bunches of them since then.

Knife companies call it a tool, tool companies call it a gadget, it's all of the above.  Containing a pliers, cutter, Phillips and flathead screwdrivers, leather punch, knife and can opener, it's an easy inclusion into the backpack.  Weighing in at about 9 oz. (8 without the case), it's worth the weight, particularly in the event of emergencies. 

Even if you don't ever use it, it's just plain cool.

To GPS or not to GPS, that is the question.

An ode to Shakespeare.  

Hamlet:  Alas poor Yorick, I knew him.  He would still be here had he carried a GPS. 
First Clown:  Aye, Prince Hamlet, he had but a map and a compass yet he still wandered off into the wilderness. 
Hamlet:  Yorick would have not suffered the slings and arrows of despair had he known only that he were but 100 yards from the ranger station. 
First Clown:  Yeah though he walked through the valley of the shadow of death, he found his compass to be of naught, for he did not know from whence he came. 

OK, enough with the silliness. 

Is a GPS a toy, or is it a necessary tool?  As a toy, it has cute maps and can tell you down to the thousandth of a second where you are on the earth.  But do you really need to know exactly where you are?  Particularly if you have a well marked trail and a map.  It is helpful if you need to backtrack or are wandering and need to find your way to a ranger station.  GPS technology is dependent on a line of sight to a number of satellites, which may be difficult in the forest with a large mountain in the way.  The GPS will also require batteries, which will require extra batteries and weight to bring.  Finally, the GPS is not a substitute for a map, for without batteries, you may just as well forget it.

But, is it a fun enough toy that I can spare the extra 8 oz. plus the couple more for batteries.  And given my GPS has a built-in camera, will that spare the weight of bringing a camera?  

ay, there's the rub. 

Gear: Compass

One of the items in my fanny pack is a compass.  It was given to me by one of my daughters for a Christmas or Birthday present and although I don't use it for orienteering, it is an important piece of equipment in case you get lost in the woods.

In most parts of the country, they say you can find your bearings by looking at the moss on the north side of a tree.  In the Northwest, there's moss on all sides of the tree.  You can also find your bearing by knowing what time it is and finding your shadow.  In the Northwest, it's cloudy all the time, so you don't have a shadow.  Even the North Star isn't reliable out here.  Hence the compass.

I've been fortunate that I've never had to use the compass, but now that I've been snowshoeing a couple of times, I can see how easily one's bearings can get crossed.   I'm not certain if the compass will make the final cut, but 2 oz is a small price for a bit of safety.

I'll leave the discussion about bringing a GPS for another day.   

Gear: Sleeping Bag (choices, choices

So, I have two choices for sleeping bags to bring along on this trip.  The one on the left is a plain old sleeping bag that we picked up at Target for $5 when it was on clearance.  We bought two of them and we used them to replace the sleeping bags we bought when we got married.  (They were wearing pretty badly.)  The one on the right is a Eddie Bauer mummy style bag that I got on sale a few years ago.  We got two of them, but I don't know where the other one went.  

As you can see when they're folded out, the plain old square sleeping bag is just that, where as the mummy bag is rated down to 30 degrees F.  The copper colored fabric next to it is actually an extra piece that can be zipped on so that it can go down to 0 degrees F.  Don't think I'll be needing that this trip. 

When I weighed these two bags, both of them weighed in at about 4 lbs.  The mummy bag feels a bit heavier, but that is highly subjective.

I'm kind of at a toss-up as to which bag I should bring.  I have to do more research on how cold it gets at various campsites on the trail at night in August. 

Facing the Music.

Soon, I will have to face one of my largest irritants in life, shopping.  It's not that I don't like shopping, it's more like I like a limited number of choices.  Let me start with a story from a while back.

I needed to buy some gym shorts and I made the mistake of going into a sporting goods store.  Rather than having a section devoted to gym shorts, there were displays of basketball shorts, running shorts, jogging shorts, quick-dry shorts, biking shorts, cargo shorts, etc.  In each of the displays was a choice of 5 brands, 3 styles per brand and 5 different colors.  I'm certain there were over 200 distinct pairs of shorts in the store and all I needed was a pair of gym shorts.  I gave up and went to Target where they had a choice of 5.  Sanity restored.

I'm all for choice, and for specific items, I like a large choice.  Unfortunately, for 95% of the stuff I buy, I don't really care that there are 200 choices.  So, when I start looking for gear for this trip, I'm certain I will confront the inevitable, too much information.  When I do, I'm sure I'll end up at Target.

Snowshoeing at Snoqualmie Pass.

The weather forecast earlier this week looked to be pretty nice, so Gail and I decided that we'd get out the snowshoes again and head up to Snoqualmie Pass.  The Forest Service conducts ranger lead hikes the only one that was open was at 10am with a group of teenagers.  So we signed up and hoped for good weather. 

We got up this morning and were greeted with blue skies and sunshine.  Our drive to the Pass was uneventful, so we got there about an hour before the hike was to begin.  We hung around enjoying the sunshine and when it got to snowshoeing, we were off.  There was a group of about a dozen or so teenagers, possibly an extended family, so the ranger was constantly trying to talk over them and get their attention.  They did a great job of blazing a trail, though.

With the activity and the sunshine, we were peeling off layers and literally steaming in the cool mountain air.   We started where the Pacific Crest Trail crosses I-90 and headed into the woods.  Pat, our guide, said that it was nice hiking through the woods this time of year because you can walk anywhere, not just where the trail is.  In fact, we were walking about 8 feet above a large patch of Devil's Club (a nasty plant with very long spikes).  We made about a mile loop, stopping to learn about Hemlocks, Pileated Woodpeckers, Lungwort and a bunch of other forest stuff. 

After we returned to the starting point, we said goodbye to the rest of the party and headed back into the woods.  Since we had our own gear, we didn't have a time restriction and could just head off on our own.  We saw about a dozen other people wandering around as well as it's a pretty popular area to snowshoe.

Just to give you an idea of how deep the snow is, the building you see in the picture is an outhouse.  And that's with a snowpack that's a bit less than normal. 

Finally, as we were playing with the GPS, we found out that we could get a screenshot.  So we logged our route and took a screenshot of  where we went.  The dotted lines are actual trails (in the summer), the purple line is where we walked.  According to the GPS, we walked 2.3 miles with a total elevation gain/loss of 800 ft. 

The last day of Winter was gorgeous here in the Northwest, and we had a wonderful time. 

Fitness Review - 3/19

This week ended quite nicely, with a guided snowshoe walk at Snoqualmie Pass.  Tomorrow, hopefully it'll be a golfing day. 

Day	Exercise	Distance (Miles)	Time (Min)
Sun	Walk.	1.5	30 min
Mon	Wii, Walk	1.5	50 min
Tue	Wii, Walk	1.5	60 min
Wed	Wii, Walk	1.5	60 min
Thu	Wii, Walk, Walk Dog	3.0	90 min
Fri	Wii.	.0	30 min
Sat	Snowshoeing	2.3	150 min

Ending Weight: 210.3 lbs, a loss of .2 lbs according to the Wii.  At least it's in the right direction.

Gear: What to Bring

As I'm analyzing what gear I have, I now need to delve into what gear I need to bring along.  Near the beginning of this blog, I addressed the need to maintain my gear list, and I've begun to flush it out with the items I have.  Now I have to get down to work creating my list and identifying those things that I need.  (Yay!  Shopping!) 

Lets start with some large categories: 

• Shelter - I figure this should cover the items that surround me while I'm not hiking.  
• Clothing - This would be the stuff that surrounds me while I'm hiking. 
• Food - This would be the stuff that gives me the energy to hike.
• Tools - This would be the general category of items I would use to manupulate the food, shelter or clothing.  One could make an argument that boots are tools, and that a backpack could be considered clothing, but I'll try this and see if I have to change my taxonomy later.  

You've already seen all the boring posts about what I have, in future posts, I'll look at each of these categories, agonize about what I need, what to buy, rent or borrow, and what I think would be fun to bring.  I'm sure it'll all be balanced against the mighty scale.  

Gear: Sleeping Pad

Back to weighing in.  Sleeping pads are nice to bring along because in general, life is more comfortable with a sleeping pad.  Although not required, it does allow you to sleep better at night as well as insulate the sleeper better at night. 

We'll see if this is the one I want to take.  Weighing in at approximately 1 1/2 lbs, we purchased this pad way back when we got married.  I believe I got them from an army surplus store and they're nothing more than a 1/2" sheet of closed cell foam.  I haven't used it in a long time, but if I remember right, it isn't all that comfortable.  We ended up buying a combination of other sleeping pads and air mattresses before we just broke down and bought our camper. 

I've read that in the interest of saving weight, you should cut off your sleeping pad so that it only goes from your shoulders to your thighs.  We'll see if this is an area where I want to shed some weight. 

What I Learned about Boots - Why they don't fall off.

There are times in life when we get an explanation to something that we didn't really know we didn't know.  Like when I was talking to the Boot Salesman at REI, he told me something that made total sense, and explains why boots are made they way they are.

If you look at most hiking boots, there are laces that go over the top of the foot, and laces that go up the ankle, however the eyelet/hoot where it turns is almost always farther down and back than all the other eyelets.  That is because, as explained by the REI Boot Salesman, you want the boot to be loose over your toes and at your ankles, but you want it to be tight between your heel and top of foot.  This is shown by the green line in the picture of the boot.

As shown in the red lines, if the boot is too tight across the ball of your foot, your foot can't move and it's much more difficult to hike.  If you boot is tight across your ankle, you lose flexibility in your ankle, making it harder to walk.  Both of the above lead to blisters.

Taking this a little further, this is why shoes are laced at the ankle, to fasten your shoe to your foot yet still allowing flexibility. 

(Full Disclosure:  These aren't my boots.  I borrowed this picture of Merril Phaser Peak hiking boots from the REI.com website.  I'm sure I'm breaking some type of copyright law.) 

What I Learned about Hiking Boots - Longitudinal Rigidity.

The other week we stopped by REI to pick up some birthday gifts for our daughter and I talked to one of the guys regarding hiking boots.  I have a pair of hiking boots, but they're a couple of years old and I'm not certain if they're the right boots for the hike.  So I thought I'd ask an expert.  Of course, I was aware of a number of the features he indicated, but one of the things he mentioned I hadn't thought of.  I later found out it was called Longitudinal Rigidity.

When hiking on uneven terrain, the question you need to ask is how much support you want the boot to provide.  I'd always thought of this as stiffness of the sole between the heel and toe (perpendicular to the foot) but never parallel to the foot.  For instance if you stepped on a rock on the left side of your foot, how much would the sole flex side to side.  The salesman took a shoe, and holding the heel in one hand and the toes in the other, twisted it.  A tennis shoe will twist greatly, however, a hiking boot should provide resistance.

I came home and tested my boots, and they were more rigid than I initially thought.  However, given my ankles and knees are not the strongest, I may be looking at a stiffer pair of boots.  I have to make up my mind soon, for I'll need some time to break them in before the trip. 

Here are a couple of links that give you some of the basics.  (Full Disclosure:  I'm not endorsing products that these links offer, nor am I getting compensated for linking to these pages.) 

Links
http://www.abc-of-hiking.com/hiking-boots/hiking-boot-features.asp
http://www.consumersearch.com/hiking-boots/important-features

Another Good(?) Reason to Hike the Wonderland Trail.

Last night, we watched Zombieland.  I'm not that much into horror movies, specifically of the Zombie subgenre, but I heard good things about it from my kids and I'm always up for a good satire.  So after watching the movie, I was struck with the question about where the best place to settle after the virus hits. 

You can think of a bunch of criteria, but I'm thinking that the highest priority for long-term survival (of descendants, not just oneself), would be electricity.  With electricity, one can work machines, provide heat, light and pumps, and in general, allow someone to maintain civilization.  So, what would be the best source of electricity?  Most power plants are very complicated, so my mind immediately went to a dam. 

The nice thing about dams is that there are usually lakes behind them (for fishing), out here in the west, they are usually in canyons (easily defended), and don't require fuel or much maintenance for generating electricity.  So, my choice would probably be a dam on the eastern side of the mountains from here (not too wet), yet close enough to a large city for regular excursions to pick up supplies (like Twinkies). 

So, what does this have to do with hiking the Wonderland Trail?  I guess you could say it helps train on survival skills, as well as Rule 1:  Cardio. 

Fitness Review - Week of 3/12

This week started off with a good day (by Seattle standards), so I took the opportunity to play a round of golf.  Second week in a row that I've gotten up before work for a half-hour of exercise.  Unfortunately, it looks like the endless supply of Girl Scout Cookies is not contributing to my weight.  

Day	Exercise	Distance (Miles)	Time (Min)
Sun	Golf	5.0	240 min
Mon	Wii, Walk	1.5	60 min
Tue	Wii.	0	30 min
Wed	Walk, Wii.	1.5	60 min
Thu	Wii, Walk.	0.5	40 min
Fri	Wii. Walk	1.6	60 min
Sat	Walk.	1.6	30 min

Ending Weight: 210.5 lbs. Up a bit from last week, but I didn't weigh in until after the golf game, and I think I may have been a bit dehydrated. Needless to say, the trend is down, which is good.

Fitness Review - Week Ending 3/5

This week I managed to exercise 6 days in a row.  By the time Saturday rolled around, I was tired so I let my muscles rest. 

Apparently, all that exercise paid off, since when I hopped on the Wii I'd dropped over 2.5 lbs!  

Day	Exercise	Distance (Miles)	Time (Min)
Sun	Wii	0	30 min
Mon	Walk, Wii, Walk Dog	3.0	90 min
Tue	Wii.	0	30 min
Wed	Walk, Wii.	1.5	60 min
Thu	Wii, Walk.	0.5	40 min
Fri	Wii.	0	30 min
Sat	.	0	0 min

Ending Weight: 209.7 lbs

Wizard Weight Loss Challenge.

In the spirit of "Biggest Loser", the company I work for started a Weight Loss Challenge.  They did one late last year and I managed to lose a couple of pounds, but this one happens to correlate pretty well with my training for the Wonderland Trail.  Basically, people are competing to see how much weight (as a %) they can lose. 

Every Friday at 10am, we weigh in on a scale in the HR Manager's office.  Last week was the first week, and as of today, I've lost about .6 lbs.  Now, I'm not going to get too excited yet, for this weigh in is based on whatever clothes I'm wearing (no shoes), however much change is in my pockets, and how much coffee I've had to drink.  I'm thinking that the margin of error is at least half a pound.  At least this competition isn't as bad as a previous employer. 

There was a similar effort going on at the company I used to work for, Intermec, called "Fat Boys Club".  This was all about men gambling, with a secondary emphasis on losing weight.  Every week, during weigh in, they'd through their money into a pot, and whoever won that week would get half, with the remaining half going to the pot at the end of the contest.  If you dropped out, you didn't get your money back. 

What made it a bit brutal, though, is that the guys figured out that you really didn't have to lose any weight if you could ensure that your fellow contestants gained weight.  So you'd come in and find a dozen donuts on your desk, or be invited to go to a local greasy spoon for lunch "because of the fine work you do", or come in and find a big candy bar on your desk.  Of course, when weigh in would come, guys would starve themselves for days, not drinking anything and trying to purge as much as possible.  There were guys weighing in who were just about ready to faint because of dehydration. 

As I said, this was a bunch of guys, so their common sense took a back seat to the thrill of competition.  Hopefully, this challenge doesn't degrade to that.