Most of the backpacking I do now is on guided trips. I used to lead trips myself and some of my old friends wonder why I would choose to be led. My response is usually something like, well, when are we going backpacking? And then, they don't really have much else to say on the matter.
It gets really difficult to match vacation schedules once people have partners, children, super serious careers, etc. It takes a really dedicated hiking partner to carve out schedules together. My answer has been guided hikes.
Technically, I did my first guided hike in 2002 in northern Italy. I did the Via Ferrate in the Dolomites with an Italian outfitter. My husband had a conference on Lake Como, the kind where he was expected to share a room, so spouses were clearly not meant to be part of the package. Now that i think of it, we were not married at the time. I decided to go hiking while he was at his meeting and then we would find each other again afterwards. The caveat here is that we stayed in the rifugios common in Europe. No carting tents and stoves around on our backs, all i needed to bring was a daypack. And I got to sleep on a bed at night. The indoor toilets were still of the squat and hold onto a pole variety, but they flushed. And there was cold beer at the end of the day.
That was in the time before digital cameras and cameras on phones were common. I don't yet have photos I can post on line, but I can say that it was a spectacular hike, with views beyond my expectations. It might not be the most exposure I've ever encountered, but if not, it is pretty close.
Since then I have used a few other guide services, all stateside.
This is on my mind today because I am being offered a space on a Sierra Club backpack for which I was wait listed. The trip is in southern Utah and is sandwiched by my NOLS Canyoneering course and my backpack in ANWR. I am thrilled at the chance to go, but even with a guided trip, I need to work out the schedule with my husband and my daughter. My daughter will ask to go with me and my husband will wonder about logistics and cost. I will continue to fantasize about 25 nights.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Sunday, February 22, 2015
The Soundtrack
Every backpack has a soundtrack. It plays in head, sometimes with monotonous regularity. Often, especially if the hike is long enough, there is a lot of variety. Sometimes i sing when i think no one else can hear me. Sometimes we all sing together, even though I'm tone deaf. Right now, I am in prep for the 2015 season, and I am having a soundtrack for that:
Our Town-Iris Dement
You're Just Just A Baby-Belle&Sebastian
Red Cape-Priscilla Ahn
Coney Island-Good Old War
Lovers in a Dangerous Time-Barenaked Ladies
No Ceiling-Eddie Vedder
Halah-Mazza Star
I am looking to ad to the list, but haven't come up with anything new in a few days.
When I get home from hiking, I make a playlist out of the soundtrack. I have been to Alaska 3 times, so I have one playlist that is a compilation from all 3 trips.
Our Town-Iris Dement
You're Just Just A Baby-Belle&Sebastian
Red Cape-Priscilla Ahn
Coney Island-Good Old War
Lovers in a Dangerous Time-Barenaked Ladies
No Ceiling-Eddie Vedder
Halah-Mazza Star
I am looking to ad to the list, but haven't come up with anything new in a few days.
When I get home from hiking, I make a playlist out of the soundtrack. I have been to Alaska 3 times, so I have one playlist that is a compilation from all 3 trips.
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
I'm a Wife. And a Mom. And a partner.
I like to be gone, and mostly I like to be gone backpacking. However, I am not single, I have a partner (husband) and a young daughter (3 years old). I generally take care of my daughter at the end of the work day and most days get her to school in the morning. So it is tough for me to be gone for more than a week or for too many weeks a year.
Part of the issue is that my husband needs help taking care of our daughter, and the rest is that I miss my daughter. Since I gave birth, there is a moment in the evening of every day of every backpacking trip where I freak out a little or a lot. I miss her. I can't check on her, I can't hug her, i can't comfort her and she can't do the same for me. I don't even have the warm glow of FaceTime. Sometimes the feeling seems unbearable. My guess is that it happens in the evening because the work and distractions of the day are over. There is no more packing, cooking, walking, hefting. I am fed and watered and it will likely be time to try and sleep soon. It is when my whole self feels what is missing emotionally, when I don't have the distraction of surviving/living to comfort me and quiet my head. When this happens and I am with Rebecca, she points out that I would likely not be happy if I didn't miss my daughter. And she is right. I do want to miss my daughter. I want to feel that much love for her. Although I like to think that somehow one can feel that much love for another person and not get so...distraught.
I used to get that way about my husband, and sometimes I still do. And I would say that I have that much love for him, even after 15 years. But for people in LTRs, sometimes being apart is really awesome. Sometimes it makes the being together again when I get home even more awesome. And it adds so much to our relationship that seems immeasurable. Also, my husband and I used to travel a lot on business. As in 50-75% each. There used to be 6 weeks every winter when we would not see each other. I once flew to Paris for a long weekend so we could be together during that timeframe. In a lot of ways we are used to being apart. My daughter is growing up and seemingly changes every day. When she was 3 months old I went back to work traveling 50%. It seemed like she would change so much every week I was gone, and she probably did.
She wants to come with me now on my excursions, which thrills me. But she is still too young. We took her on her first overnight backpacking trip to Pt. Reyes last summer solstice. It felt like a huge victory. 2.3 miles on a dirt service road each way. She walked part of it and sat in the jogging stroller for part of it. She isn't much for strollers though, so that ship has sailed.
This winter we went camping in Death Valley and it was unusually cold, even for the desert, at 2,000 feet, at the end of December. She amazed me with her ability to handle the cold and see the fun in the "scary" trail down Ubehebe Crater. I have hope that in the future I will be able to claim her as a hiking partner and that between the two of us we will get her dad back out on the trail.
Part of the issue is that my husband needs help taking care of our daughter, and the rest is that I miss my daughter. Since I gave birth, there is a moment in the evening of every day of every backpacking trip where I freak out a little or a lot. I miss her. I can't check on her, I can't hug her, i can't comfort her and she can't do the same for me. I don't even have the warm glow of FaceTime. Sometimes the feeling seems unbearable. My guess is that it happens in the evening because the work and distractions of the day are over. There is no more packing, cooking, walking, hefting. I am fed and watered and it will likely be time to try and sleep soon. It is when my whole self feels what is missing emotionally, when I don't have the distraction of surviving/living to comfort me and quiet my head. When this happens and I am with Rebecca, she points out that I would likely not be happy if I didn't miss my daughter. And she is right. I do want to miss my daughter. I want to feel that much love for her. Although I like to think that somehow one can feel that much love for another person and not get so...distraught.
I used to get that way about my husband, and sometimes I still do. And I would say that I have that much love for him, even after 15 years. But for people in LTRs, sometimes being apart is really awesome. Sometimes it makes the being together again when I get home even more awesome. And it adds so much to our relationship that seems immeasurable. Also, my husband and I used to travel a lot on business. As in 50-75% each. There used to be 6 weeks every winter when we would not see each other. I once flew to Paris for a long weekend so we could be together during that timeframe. In a lot of ways we are used to being apart. My daughter is growing up and seemingly changes every day. When she was 3 months old I went back to work traveling 50%. It seemed like she would change so much every week I was gone, and she probably did.
She wants to come with me now on my excursions, which thrills me. But she is still too young. We took her on her first overnight backpacking trip to Pt. Reyes last summer solstice. It felt like a huge victory. 2.3 miles on a dirt service road each way. She walked part of it and sat in the jogging stroller for part of it. She isn't much for strollers though, so that ship has sailed.
This winter we went camping in Death Valley and it was unusually cold, even for the desert, at 2,000 feet, at the end of December. She amazed me with her ability to handle the cold and see the fun in the "scary" trail down Ubehebe Crater. I have hope that in the future I will be able to claim her as a hiking partner and that between the two of us we will get her dad back out on the trail.
Monday, February 16, 2015
Food and gear and poop, in any order. Repeat.
Conversation on backpacks varies widely. But there are always three themes that pop up: food, gear and poop. And I love talking about these things. At least the food and gear. Poop must be discussed, but that, much like Pooh Bear himself, just is. It is a thing on the trail, at least for me and it was for a lot of the kids I used to lead on backpacking trips.
Sometimes, i am introduced to a food on a backpack that then becomes a thing i eat IRL. Even when I was fifteen, even when by many measures (especially since I am half locavore by birth) the food stuff is only acceptable eating if you do not have access to fresh food eg. canned chicken. After my first summer at Camp Unalayee, a backpacking summer camp in the Trinity Alps of northern California, where among other things trail lunches sometimes included canned chicken, I would eat canned chicken at home, on crackers, with mustard (which before that summer I would never eat). On crackers, at home, in a place where I had access to Acme Bread Company. Canned chicken, in a place where my mom would take us to the "Chicken Farm" to feed the donkey named Eeyore, the geese, and buy freshly killed chicken.
I think because I want to feel like I feel when I am on the trail. I want to feel my heart full of fresh air, and mountains, and red rocks, and fir trees...and...my first love (which I consider the wilderness). I want to feel the right kind of tired, the kind that makes me feel the right kind of relaxed, that gives me the ability to feel the right kind of things. Right by my own measure.
Maybe it's the smell more than the taste? That's supposed to be the trigger, according to Science. And what am I if not a Scientist? Either way, i get to spend a moment, or a fraction thereof wherever i remember eating that thing. Even today, even if it happened when I was fifteen.
Sometimes, i am introduced to a food on a backpack that then becomes a thing i eat IRL. Even when I was fifteen, even when by many measures (especially since I am half locavore by birth) the food stuff is only acceptable eating if you do not have access to fresh food eg. canned chicken. After my first summer at Camp Unalayee, a backpacking summer camp in the Trinity Alps of northern California, where among other things trail lunches sometimes included canned chicken, I would eat canned chicken at home, on crackers, with mustard (which before that summer I would never eat). On crackers, at home, in a place where I had access to Acme Bread Company. Canned chicken, in a place where my mom would take us to the "Chicken Farm" to feed the donkey named Eeyore, the geese, and buy freshly killed chicken.
I think because I want to feel like I feel when I am on the trail. I want to feel my heart full of fresh air, and mountains, and red rocks, and fir trees...and...my first love (which I consider the wilderness). I want to feel the right kind of tired, the kind that makes me feel the right kind of relaxed, that gives me the ability to feel the right kind of things. Right by my own measure.
Maybe it's the smell more than the taste? That's supposed to be the trigger, according to Science. And what am I if not a Scientist? Either way, i get to spend a moment, or a fraction thereof wherever i remember eating that thing. Even today, even if it happened when I was fifteen.
Spring is on the way!!!
Spring is on its way. Officially it arrives March 20, but for me Canyon hiking season starts March 1. This year my first night in the canyons is scheduled for April 5. It's a little later than I would like, but last year I froze so maybe the later date will mean warmer weather? Also, less time wearing all my layers inside my sleeping bag trying to sleep.
My hiking partner is NOLS Alumni Trips. It's a Technical Canyoneering trip, some rope work, carrying somewhat heavier packs and hitting up some slot canyons. Skills i need to brush up on if I want to do more hiking in southern Utah. I am excited to revisit Cedar Mesa, last year I hiked with a NOLS Alumni trip in Grand Gulch. When I was 19 I spent a month hiking there with NOLS, it was part of my Semester in the Rocky Mountains. These days I beg, borrow, and steal for a few nights out, but when i was 18 and 19 i spent the better part of a year sleeping outside.
The month on Cedar Mesa was spent without toilet paper, drinking from sinkholes and sometimes eating grape nuts with lemonade instead of milk. For a whole month. It was awesome. i remember taking apart a whisper light completely, cleaning it as well as i could and putting it back together. It had stopped working that morning. We cooked dinner over a fire that night. Fires were verboten. But we were hungry and it was our last night out.
Holy shit, I spent a whole year outside.
And I think about it all the time, or at least parts of it.
My hiking partner is NOLS Alumni Trips. It's a Technical Canyoneering trip, some rope work, carrying somewhat heavier packs and hitting up some slot canyons. Skills i need to brush up on if I want to do more hiking in southern Utah. I am excited to revisit Cedar Mesa, last year I hiked with a NOLS Alumni trip in Grand Gulch. When I was 19 I spent a month hiking there with NOLS, it was part of my Semester in the Rocky Mountains. These days I beg, borrow, and steal for a few nights out, but when i was 18 and 19 i spent the better part of a year sleeping outside.
The month on Cedar Mesa was spent without toilet paper, drinking from sinkholes and sometimes eating grape nuts with lemonade instead of milk. For a whole month. It was awesome. i remember taking apart a whisper light completely, cleaning it as well as i could and putting it back together. It had stopped working that morning. We cooked dinner over a fire that night. Fires were verboten. But we were hungry and it was our last night out.
Holy shit, I spent a whole year outside.
And I think about it all the time, or at least parts of it.
Friday, February 13, 2015
Whiskey is a backpack's best friend.
And tonight it is Hooker's House. Which I have never tried before, it was a birthday present, but is so good, i think it will make it on to my next trip. When I was younger it was Old Crow and i have moved on, now I can afford pricier goods.
But, why wouldn't you bring whiskey for a backpack? Last year when I was in the canyons with 11 other people, i was the only one who brought the good stuff. Whiskey and some Scotch for good measure. Sometimes I think it will help me sleep, but mostly it just makes after dinner a little more fun.
I like wine too, but for weight to drunk ratio, gotta go with the heavy hitters.
Oh, and I am not backpacking, but I wish that I were.
But, why wouldn't you bring whiskey for a backpack? Last year when I was in the canyons with 11 other people, i was the only one who brought the good stuff. Whiskey and some Scotch for good measure. Sometimes I think it will help me sleep, but mostly it just makes after dinner a little more fun.
I like wine too, but for weight to drunk ratio, gotta go with the heavy hitters.
Oh, and I am not backpacking, but I wish that I were.
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Planning...and thinking and hoping and wishing and dreaming*...and planning
It is February, and the weather is beautiful in the Bay Area. But it is still winter most other places that are easy for me to backpack. There is still snow in the Sierras, the Trinities, the Cascades. It's rainy and damp and cold on the Olympic Peninsula. Guide services are not running trips, for the most part, in North America.
My next trip is to Disneyland for Dapper Day. It's a very different kind of trip. Even when I am running the Tinkerbell Half, there is no mistaking the Matterhorn for the real deal. But right after that trip is this:
http://www.rei.com/adventures/trips/weekend/sup.html#sec1
and i again have hope that i might get out before April. Plus! I have a friend who is interested in doing a quick trip to Big Sur (yes, I have never been to Sykes) or Pt. Reyes. because sometimes you just gotta sleep outside.
*this is a Tangled reference
My next trip is to Disneyland for Dapper Day. It's a very different kind of trip. Even when I am running the Tinkerbell Half, there is no mistaking the Matterhorn for the real deal. But right after that trip is this:
http://www.rei.com/adventures/trips/weekend/sup.html#sec1
and i again have hope that i might get out before April. Plus! I have a friend who is interested in doing a quick trip to Big Sur (yes, I have never been to Sykes) or Pt. Reyes. because sometimes you just gotta sleep outside.
*this is a Tangled reference
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
25 Nights Out
Over a year ago I was talking backpacking with my gynecologist. Somehow over the course of time spent looking inside my vagina we discovered a mutual love of backpacking. She explained that with her job she has been able to not only hike the John Muir Trail multiple times, but that she spends 20 something nights on the trail a year. I brought this up with my friend and sometimes hiking partner Rebecca and she tried to figure out how that could be possible for her and I. Not necessarily together, just, could we figure out how to spend that many nights out in a year?
It is February 2015 and I have yet to hit the trail except to run my first trail half marathon (Steep Ravine, because if you have run that you deserve the brag), so I can start counting today.
Rebecca contends that in order to hit the mark we should redefine trail night as night out. Night out being a night spent out of doors in just about any capacity, the backyard, car camping, burning man...so, I am going to see what I can do to get it done this year.
It is February 2015 and I have yet to hit the trail except to run my first trail half marathon (Steep Ravine, because if you have run that you deserve the brag), so I can start counting today.
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