What's Goin On

A week or so ago, several of us headed out to REI for a quick trip.  My brother and cousin needed to be fitted for new packs, and I was going just to go and come up with an idea of what I would purchase on the next trip.  I knew my next large purchase would be a back packing tent.  I was thinking of getting the REI Half Dome T2 2 person tent.  There was one already set up, so I climbed in.  It seemed way too small for myself and my husband.  I tried to talk my brother into climbing in with me (he's about the same height as my husband) but he just pretended he couldn't hear me.  I also wasn't thrilled with the weight of the tent because going to the T2 Plus just added even more weight.  Anyway, the trip ended with my brother getting a new pack and my cousin heading home to order hers (they were out of XS).  I purchased a package of large bags with odor barrier I have in mind to use for food and packing out my trash.

After the shopping trip, my mom, cousin and I headed out for a quick hike.  I was a little worried because my butt muscle was acting up while I was shopping, so I was certain that I would be in a lot of pain hiking.  We headed out on what has become my favorite hike that ends around a pond teeming with wildlife.  We scared up a Great Blue Heron and saw a couple of turtles. Surprisingly, I wasn't in any pain at all, and that was uplifting. 

I've been incredible busy the last several weeks.  This past weekend I had a large yard sale.  While I didn't get rid of as much as I wanted, I made enough to pay for a new tent and half of my husband's pack.  I went ahead and ordered a tent on Friday.  I had a 25% off 1 clearance item coupon that was expiring.  I planned on getting a sleeping bag, but when the  offer for the REI Quarter Dome T2plus tent popped up, and I realized I could purchase a $320 tent for $187, I went ahead and got it.  Once it's here this week I will be setting it up and seeing if there is enough room for the hubs and myself. 

Way to close your eyes Kelly

Almost Pain Free

Went for a last minute hike this past Sunday.  The temps were in the upper 80's and the humidity made it ungodly hot.  But we went anyway.  I wanted to take along my pack to see how I managed with my injury.  I'm anxious to get back to work and get ready for the upcoming trip. 

I was carrying around the water for everyone else and the pack in total weighed about 12 pounds.  Not quite half of the maximum weight I expect to be carrying on the trail.  Did I mention it was hot?  We only did about 2 miles because of the heat.  I managed okay with my pack.  I stopped three times to stretch my muscle and it didn't really bother me too much.  I had more trouble with back pain than butt pain.  At the end, I was feeling encouraged that I'd be able to overcome the pain in my hip/butt.

When we returned to my mom's house, I crashed on the couch for an hour and a half.  I'm sure glad that our big hike takes place in the fall and not in the heat and humidity of summer!

Hiking Catoctin

The last hiking trip was nearly 2 weeks ago, on March 15th.  I haven't blogged at all since then, with (sort of) good reason (that's a story of another blog post).

Anyway, we decided to travel to Catoctin Mountain to try out one of their trails.  This is an area that is not too far from the actual Appalachian Trail, and it's and area that is equidistant between the members of our hiking group.  It also has the most rugged terrain we've hiked so far- closer to the terrain we would encounter on our trip in October. 

We opted to go on the 5 mile round trip hike that took us from the parking lot at the Visitor's Center onto the Falls Nature Trail that leads to Cunningham Falls (also known as McAfee Falls to locals) then on to the Hog Rock Nature Trail to the Blue Ridge Summit Overlook and back down the mountain to the parking lot.  My mom and I both had our packs along to try them out for the first time, and I also had my new "Indiana Jones" hat on for a trial run. 

We started out on the trail easy enough, but it didn't take long for those hills to start killing me.  Basically, I think everyone on the hike realized they had some more work to do to be in trail shape. My pack, which is the new anti-gravity Osprey Aura 65L, was comfortable.  The added weight killed me, but that was because I'm just not in shape and not because of the pack.  I love the pack.  However, my "Indiana Jones" hat isn't going to work for the trail with a pack.  The back of the hat hits the top of the pack and, quite frankly, it drove me insane.  So my son now gets to wear the hat whenever he wants to without having to share it with me (except now he's realized that my cousin has the same Mothman hat that I do, and now he plans on wearing my Mothman hat, which is the baseball cap I planned to use- I can never win).  And I discovered that if I already didn't think hiking poles were essential, I would now.  They really do help take the strain off of your joints, especially on the downhills, which really are worse than the uphills just like everyone says.  In fact, my cousin ended up using my son's poles (he got tired of them) and she has since decided she needs a set of her own. 

My husband and his hiking poles

My cousin (left) and myself

My mom and son and their poles

It was a gorgeous day- our first real taste of spring after getting hit with some snow earlier in the week.  The views from the summit were spectacular and Cunningham Falls was beautiful as always.  I definitely want to hike here again, and there are a few other trails that we haven't been on yet, though I hear they have pretty steep uphills.  As it was, my son, who has a fear of heights, was pretty nervous near the summit.  His exact words were, "I'm pretty sure there's an 80% chance of dying here.  I've been looking, but I haven't seen any skulls yet."

Despite the abnormally high chance of death, the aches and pains and feelings of discouragement, I enjoyed the hike.  I think that was something we could all agree on.  And I was extremely proud of my son who managed the whole difficult 5 miles without too much whining- I'm pretty sure I whined more and tool more breaks than he did.

The Happiest Place on Earth

I had been anxiously awaiting the arrival of my tax refund so I could finally go shopping at REI for a decent pair of hiking boots and my pack.  I finally had the opportunity to head to the nearest REI this past weekend with my husband, mother, son and friend.  All of us (except my 8 year old son) are going on the big trip in October.
Let me stop here and explain the reasons why I love REI.
1. The knowledgeable staff: you ask them a question, they know the answer and if they don't know the answer, they will get another staff member who does know the answer.  And they're all very friendly.
2. REI Membership benefits- You pay $20 for a membership and you get paid dividends on certain purchases that you can use towards more purchases or cash out.
3. The Return Policy (if you're a member): If you buy boots and you wear them on the trail and suddenly they don't feel like the right boots, you can take them back within a year of the purchase date!  My mom posed the question last week "What if I spend all that money on a pack and I find out I just don't like back packing?" I said "Take it back."
4. REI Garage Sales: The items that are returned that can't be put back on the shelf to sell at regular price are sold in a "garage sale" every few months at a discounted price.

So, back to the shopping excursion.  Myself, my friend and my husband all needed new hiking boots.  I had done my research prior (my mom already had her boots so I picked the brain of her sales associate) and knew which ones I was pretty sure I wanted to try.  When you try on boots at REI, they have you walk on "the rock" to make sure your toes aren't going to hit the front of the boot.  In the end, my mom, myself and my friend all ended up with the same exact boot except for each of us being a half size different from each other.  My husband got the men's version of the same boot, and my son even scored the kid's version of the same boot in the garage sale.
Also scored at the garage sale was an oil skin hat that reminded me of Indiana Jones.  I scored a $50 hat for $12 because when it was returned it smelled of cigarette smoke.  But, by the time I bought it, there was only the smell of the oil skin.  The only problem is my son keeps taking the hat.  In fact, he's wearing it to school today for "Hat Day".  So I'll probably have to find one of his own because I'm not giving up the one I purchased.  I hum the Indiana Jones theme song every time I wear it.  A bull whip purchase might be next.
So after the boots and the garage sale, I finally made it over to the packs and picked mine out.  Again, I had done my research and had settled on an Osprey Aura 65L.  The newest model for this year comes with a new "anti-gravity" feature and if purchased at REI came with the rain cover and a 3L dry sack.  So I got sized and got ready to try out the pack with 30 pounds of weight in it.  This has been my biggest worry about the whole thing- carrying a pack.  This worry came from a trip I took out to the UFO Ranch in Washington.  I used my brother's large pack and crammed it full of all the things I needed (we had to take all our camping gear across country in a plane).  I think it weighed almost 50 pounds and when I was walking through the airport with it I made the comment that I'd never go back packing.  So here was the moment of truth- I put on the pack at REI and was shocked at how much lighter it felt than what I was expecting.  Not that it was light, but it wasn't 50 pounds shoved into a too big pack.  It fit well and it felt doable.  So all my worries are gone and I'm even more excited about this whole experience.  My mom also got her pack.  We'll be trail twins as she got the same one I did.  We'll have to tie different ribbons to them or something to be able to tell them apart.

All in all it was a productive and fun day.  My family scored 3 sets of hiking boots, 3 pairs of hiking socks, a pack and a cool Indiana Jones-esque oil skin hat.  My mom got her pack and my friend got her boots, some socks and some purchases at the garage sale too.
So, all there is for me to get is my husband's pack, the tent, 1 or 2 sleeping bags (I haven't decided if I want to try to see if my existing one will work), 1 sleeping pad, the water filtration system and the stove- though my cousin (who is going) has 2 stoves so I might not need one (but I might want one).

It was a great shopping trip with fun people and nearly made up for the fact that the next day we got snow and ice and had to cancel the weekly hiking plans.  Hopefully March will bring warmer temperatures and no rain on the weekend (and no snow at all)