temporary base camp

my friend nancy asked what my day and time of departure are. i said 'half past thursday' - give or take a day or two either side of that. i believe i have everything i need to take and several maps from which i've created a "dotted-line" master. peter nabokov suggested that i map out a 50 mile radius of the places that i've been especially drawn to and get to know as much about them as i can so i've been doing that from home and i also have the 50-mile radii drawn out on the maps for those few locations so i can do so in person when i'm there.

i took what i thought was going to be an easy, uphill climb today; 1/8th the distance i usually go but it just about killed me. i don't know if it was the heat, wearing a new pack, wearing my new hiking boots for the first time or what but i only made it for an hour. i'm chalking it up to just having a bad day - tomorrow's a new one. the pack was great -i am so glad i got the one cj recommended and not the one the salesperson suggested. i hate having to break in a new pair of shoes/ boots - learned my lesson the hard way how NOT to do that on our trip to italy. so i'd been breaking in 3 different pairs of shoes the past couple of months but realized last week that the ones i was going to use for the more difficult hikes/ climbs were just not working and decided it was better to go get the right pair and bust my butt breaking them in as opposed to taking the wrong pair and suffering through. i know that was the right decision just after today's hike but i'd still like to get 5 or 6 more hikes in - even if short ones - before i leave.

a very small handful of friends have asked if i'll update the blog as i travel. i'm not sure how often i'll come across connectivity and i'm hoping to disconnect as much as possible even when it is available but i'll do my best. they probably want me to do so more for the sake of making sure i'm still alive than anything. at the present moment there are friends and family who think this is the greatest thing i could possibly do at this point in my life . . . friends and family who think it sounds great but don't think i'll do it . . . friends and family who think i'm out of my ever-loving mind . . . as to those in the latter category, what's new? to those in the first category, i love you too. to those in between, i guess we'll know in about a month. i'll definitely be spending any time i may make a phone call with those in the "you can do this" camp. just like my trying to ski in new mexico this winter - it's all about the attitude.

the only "XX or Bust" destination i have is lemmon, south dakota. don't ask me why - really. all i know is it keeps coming up and even came up again last night so i am going to check it out - and a 50 mile radius with lemmon as the center. even if i get a fortune cookie while i'm there that says, "austin, texas is a good place to live" i'll have made the trip - actually seen through something that's been in my heart for a long time. and there may be no more to it than that and that's ok. my dotted line has me going to montana from there, or dipping down into wyoming them back up to montana but now i have to keep my eyes on the missouri river due to all the flooding in montana. another benefit to not having hard and fast plans or reservations. i've been given all kinds of advice as to the reservations bit, too. some folks think i'm nuts (again, get in line) for not having reservations locked up from beginning to end but, thankfully, there are plenty of folks who agree with that approach having done trips of a similar bent. the major areas of the national parks and other touristy areas may be crowded this time of year but i've found maps and books and people who have given me information about other places in the same areas where there aren't the maddening crowds. it would be nice to see another face or two from time to time but i don't want to visit the national parks that more closely resemble disneyworld than nature. i also have a map just of the national forests which, i'm told, is one of the best to have for all kinds of reasons.

so, that's it for today. i'm open to any and all suggestions and insider knowledge - that's what's helped to get me this far. i'll take what "fits" and leave the rest - maybe for another trip down the line some time.

p.s. why don't they make tents and sleeping bags that are as easy to "pop" back into their sleeves as they are to "pop" out? and what's with all this wicking? here i thought 100% cotton was the best way to go - so i'm going half and half.