hike today
 

did an urban hike today to prepare for my trip next week.

Pack weighed in at 41 lb. I wore some doc martens (not terribly comfortable for this kind of thing). I figured they could work my feet over well, since hiking shoes haven't arrived yet.

Anyway, did just under 7 miles. Boy was that tiring. Arches and knees. Thank God I am not 41lb overweight.

Hopefully my pack will weigh less when I actually go, but that is probably doubtful. Unless I don't take my camera, which is fairly heavy.

Did your urban hike take you through the more seedy areas of Dallas? Would your chances for survival in the wild be higher or lower than those areas? Do you get a discount for Doc Martens because you're a professional contemporary?

Inquiring minds....

I did walk on the railroad track for a while. But then I thought, "what if I fel, hit my head, and was knocked out, laying on the track?" So then I stopped walking on the track.

Most dangerous part is chance of getting hit by a car.

Dr. Marten is a quack.

End of last summer I did 7 miles with my 31 pound son on my back--but with rapid elevation loss and then gain going to and on the way back from the beach. I know what you mean.

I respect you carrying your son like that. I hope when I am your age, however, my son weighs more than 31lb.

A couple of years ago, I took the scouts on a backpacking/speluncking trip for 5 days in a high mountain wilderness area. 6 mile hike in with about 2000 feet elevation gain.

As we were packing the cars in my driveway I pulled out the bathroom scale just for fun.

My pack weighed in at 75 pounds with water, just shy of half my body weight. The winner was 81 pounds. The lightweight was about 51 pounds.

Just this weekend we went hiking up to a nearby waterfall. It was almost a 2 mile hike in, nearly all of which was uphill. I ended up carrying my 4 year old in a backpack, while my wife carried the 1 year old. I had much more hip and back pain this weekend with a 35 pounder on my back than the 75 pound hiking backpack. Its all about the equipment.

What on earth were you carrying? A five-day trip and 75 lbs? Did you not have a water filter?

I was at 41lb with 5 quarts of water, a 3.5lb can of gatorade mix, and a SLR camera with heavy lens.

I think the spelunking equipment must be heavy!

I don't think my scouts could carry a 51lb pack.

Goose must have been carrying a 10-man canvas tent or something. And a full-size Coleman stove.

Silly scouts. Make them buy a titanium pot and their own MRE's.

I was actually carrying our newest deacon. He weighed about 70 pounds and said he was too tired to walk all the way to camp. The additional 5 pounds came from a knife and some trapping rope. Water filters are for wussies.

MW is right. The speluncking gear is quite heavy. Ropes, harnesses, caribiners, ascenders, helmets, lights....

I eat well on backpacking trips. MREs are the only way to go for dinner. MSR whisperlite stove adds a couple of pounds.

I usually do take a water filter, but often don't use it. We have a little spring right near our camping area where the water is clean every year. There is a caving society out of San Francisco that goes up into the Marble Mountain wilderness area each spring and tests the water. It makes it nice for us. Filtering is a pain.