This morning I woke at 4:30am and couldn't get back to sleep. I guess the excitement of my adventure was too much and I had too many thoughts running through my head. "Have I gotten everything I need? Is there something I'm forgetting.? Have I studied the maps and trail guides enough?" Then my mind starts wandering to imagining just how things are going to go. I think about starting the trail at 7ish and 40 degrees and how cold it will seem until my body warms up from the exertion of hiking with 40lbs on my back. I try to picture my trail junctions and how often I will snack. Most of what I am picturing will be totally different once I am on the trail but still my mind can't help thinking about it.
It's 6:15am and I still haven't gotten back to sleep. Oh well, this is about the time I will be rising while on the trail anyway, might as well get up. I get up and go into the kitchen where I am greeted by my cheerful wife who has always been an early riser. We hug and say our good mornings and I think about how that is one of the things I will miss most while on the trail. Ahhh, coffee is ready. On the trail I will have to do that myself. Actually, I plan on drinking mostly hot chocolate while on trail in the mornings.
I am meeting a friend for a late breakfast this morning. He is a teacher and a writer. He is also a great confidant and we don't get nearly enough time to bounce things off of one another as I would like. We don't always agree with one another on things, but we have a mutual respect for one another and know it is important to not completely surround ourselves with those of the same mind all the time. Don't get me wrong, we have plenty that we agree on and several things in common such as, a love for nature and the outdoors, running and hiking as well as being good stewards of our environment. It will be good to connect with him before I head out. In the meantime I will give the dogs one last walk before I head out; another thing I will miss out on the trail. Wish I could bring Emily, the boxer, with me. She would love it.
The dogs and I had a good walk. Breakfast with my friend went well and we had a spirited discussion dealing with politics among other things. When I returned home I decided I had better put up my new tent so I would have a good idea what I was doing if I had to put it up in the dark etc. It was pretty easy and 10 minutes for putting up a tent the first time is not bad. I am pretty sure I will be able to get that down to 5 or 6 minutes doing it every day.
After repacking my tent I resumed the task of putting together my menus for each day. I won't bore you with every day but will tell you what I am eating the first day on the trail. No, I won't bore you with that either, LOL. Maybe in my next post. Anyway, I found myself getting too excited and anxious about everything and decided to lay down and take a 15 minute break to calm down. It worked well and here I am working on this blog for the day again.
The weather is looking to be more mild at night than I had expected and that is somewhat of a relief as I hate the cold. I can deal with 40's and 50's but when it gets down to freezing I don't want to get out of my sleeping bag at all.
It's 3:00pm and I have all my foods etc packed except for some items I am keeping refrigerated just to make sure they are a little fresher for the trip as they really don't have to be kept cold. I packed everything just like I would be taking it, including the cold items, and found my total pack weight to be 38.5 lbs including 3 liters of water. I would like to have it down to 35 lbs or less but it is nice to know that it would be right there if I had my new backpack and sleeping bag taking 3.8 lbs off the total weight.
Now I need to try and calm myself and relax. I really am quite excited and I didn't anticipate that I would feel this way. It feels great to know that everything is ready to go. I hope I can get a good sleep tonight. Going to try and get to bed by 9pm. Early for me.
Happy Trails,
Russ AKA The Colorado Kid
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