Time for new camping gear...

Thursday, April 12, 2018

Did spring arrive?  I was dressing for my hike, which would follow a trip to Appalachian Outfitters to look over camping gear.  I need a couple of things and have two trips planned – one for the end of April and another mid-May – and know that a day pack is amongst my future purchases.  A bed roll that doesn’t leak air would be nice, too.  Anyway, it was in the low 70’s and I realized jeans were not the answer.  I dug through my dresser and finally dug out a pair of shorts.  I put them on, walked outside and declared to Dakota, “my legs sure are white!”

I bought my last backpack over 15 years ago and, like with so many products, there have been some major improvements.  My pack weighs six pounds empty – too heavy – because it is too big.  I thought that made sense at the time, bigger is always better, but in reality I just try to fill it up, which weighs me down.  I could pick something up now that would weigh 1 to 1.5 pounds less and that’s significant when you’re walking all day, which I plan to be doing in retirement.  They also make them with compartments to hold water bladders, with the hose feeding through and opening near the shoulder for easy access.  But the feature I like most is a mesh bracing that lifts the pack away from your back, creating air space of about an inch.  I sweat profusely without a pack, but when carrying it directly against my back, the soaking sweat becomes even more uncomfortable.  This single feature would be reason enough for me to make a purchase.  I’m holding for now, but it is $250 I know I’ll need to invest.

I reached the trailhead at the Everett Road Bridge around three and hike a rugged trail for the next two hours.  I broke a sweat hiking for the first time since last fall, which felt good.  On a hike of six miles, I never saw another hiker.  Unlike the North Chagrin Reservation, the trails in Peninsula are farther from population centers and thus less convenient to reach.  That, and the one I was on was actually steep and difficult, meaning I will continue to have fewer hikers with which to share.  Okay with me, though.

I finished the night at the Courtyard Café in Brecksville where I enjoyed a burger with an old friend.  It wasn’t Paleo entirely since I ate the bun, but I did say ‘no’ to the fries he offered to share.  I’m down over seven pounds now and my belt is already out of loops.  I’ll drop another ten by summer’s end and should be lean and ready for the 150-mile hike of the Northville/Placid trail and the four peaks I want to climb in September.
Hike: Two hours.
Training Heart Rate: 70 - 90 bpm.
Calories Burned: 700
Bonus: 23,000 steps.