If I Am Not Here...

... it means I am out there, in the real world trying the best way I can to live a real life.


I love the bloggy life too, but sometimes, I guess, I need a good reality check and that's what kept me away this time.


So how have you, all my virtual friends, been?


As for me, I am still preparing for John Muir Trail this summer. I am climbing awfully steep hills,

Fooled you! 

Don't believe all you see and read in this virtual world, trust me I know. 

This hill is only 20 steps long!!!

testing all kinds of equipment, which makes me feel very materialistic, dehydrating loads of high calorie food, which makes me feel fat by just looking at it. 

First about my training. I think, I hope, I pray, that I am getting stronger and faster. I have not been using my Garmin much because checking the numbers only stresses me out. I do notice though that some hills that used to be tough don't scare me anymore. When before I had to make frequent stops, now I can keep on going without a huge effort. 

I don't have as much time to hike as I would like to with end of the year homeschooling commitments so a lot of my hill training is happening in my neighborhood very early in the morning way before any birds even dream of waking up. But when I do get out, I try to make it to beautiful places like this one, which fortunately is not very far from where I live.

Most of the strength workouts are happening at home also but I do try to make gym visits as often as I can. I am happy to notice that when I do make it there, I am exceeding target weight goals set on the machines. I guess I am doing something right for a change.

Still, I am wondering if it would not be a good idea to have a personal trainer who would understand my needs and help me in those last few weeks. 

Backpacking equipment is weighing heavily on my... conscience. I have backpacking stuff. I have tons of it, but none of it is really lightweight. It will do fine for a 2-4 day trips but for anything longer than that, when we have to carry a lot more food, it just is way too heavy. I probably should have started training sooner and harder and get myself into such a shape that I would not have to buy anything lighter but I haven't. Guilty as charged. So REI has a very good customer in me so I don't feel too guilty that half of the things I buy goes back to be exchanged for something that fits better or feels lighter. So much for my resolutions of keeping my life simple and not materialistic.

I am still trying to resolve the footwear issue. The past couple of years (maybe even more) of minimalist approach made my feet love their freedom maybe too much. The insane amounts of snow in the Sierras this year (about 200% normal, and it is stil snowing) made me wonder if sturdier hiking boots would not be a good idea. So I am trying one pair after another (did I mention I love REI) and try to persuade my feet they need extra protection but anytime I step on a larger rock I feel as if I am stepping on a wobbly plank of wood placed there for balance. Normally, in barefoot or in minimalist shoes, feet would wrap around the rock to grip it but now all they have is a stiff sole. With my sense of balance crossing creeks in stiff boots is quite a challenge.

And then there is the comfort factor. I can go on for miles with a heavy pack in very minimalist shoes and feel great. Boots, even very lightweight and breathable, make my feet scream for air and sore. 
But, minimalist shoes won't be much help if I need to kick into frozen snow. I am toying with an idea of crampons and light shoes but I would have to test that combo first. 

BTW, John's book, Walk the Sky has some of the best Sierra photography
I have ever seen. 

And if that picture does not impress you, how about this one?

Credit for this photo goes to Aaeon Doss

And then there are concerns about stream crossings but that will have to wait for another post.


Dehydrating food is fun but strangely enough it is not easy to pack enough calories for a trip like that. Hiring pack animals seems like a good idea to me now. I would love to have a couple of alpacas to help me. Very high calorie foods are quite heavy and don't dehydrate well. We'll be carrying fats like olive oil or peanut butter with us to make sure we don't bonk on the trail - trust me, that happened to much more seasoned hikers than we are.
For once I wish we had more sun so I could dehydrate more foods outdoors instead of gobbling up so much electricity.

And then there are energy bars. I usually stay away from any sweets but this time I think I might make an exception. Dates, oatmeal, and nuts mixture with some orange peels for flavor sounds delicious and will hopefully give us that kick that we will certainly need on steeper portions of the trail. They weigh a ton though. Anybody has alpacas I could borrow for a few weeks?

And I am reading, always reading. This time it is Bill Moyers' Genesis, a companion book to an old PBS series - a discussion of the stories from the book of Genesis. Bill Moyers brought a great panel of people from all kinds of persuasions to ponder the meaning and relevance of those stories to today's lives. I just love hearing such varied interpretations and points of view, I just want to hop in and ask more questions and discuss so, as I read I am adding my 2 cents of "wisdom" with notes on the margins of the pages hoping that nobody will read my ramblings. :)  

I want to check your blogs to see what you have been up to. I will try to be a more regular visitor but right now I cannot make promises I won't keep. That would not be nice, right?

And now back to my real life.