SOON it will be time to kick this blog into full gear. Soon, oh so soon, it'll be time for us to apply for our permits. Once I have those permits confirmed, I will begin posting details of our upcoming hike. I fear if I post too much of anything beforehand, the gods will smite us for our arrogance and we won't get the permits we need! :)
In the meantime, here's a cut-and-paste from our main blog. I have..(had?)...Iliotibial Band Syndrome -- but my leg feels much better now, and the girls and I will soon ascend another peak. Hooray for the mending process!
*****
Woo-hoo! My leg feels fine and dandy. Had a visit with my local -- and most excellent -- sports med doc yesterday afternoon. All I need to do is keep doing what I've been doing these past few weeks -- mainly, stretching. He gave me a few new stretches to go with the old ones. He also told me I should use hiking poles on a regular basis, to slow the progression of arthritis.
Two days ago, I did a five-mile hike up and down some hills near my house. Yesterday, I walked a few flat miles and rode a stationary bike for half an hour. Nothing hurt. YES!
Monday, I'll head back into the woods and take on some mountain miles. A week from tomorrow, the girls and I will summit a peak or two.
It feels good to feel GOOD again.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Thursday, January 23, 2014
ZPacks 20 Degree Sleeping Bag
I'm continuing to NOT post much of anything on this blog until we've secured our permits, since I don't want to jinx our trip. I should be able to start filling this site with planning and gear purchase details by the end of February.
In the meantime, I've added one important item to our packing list. I finally broke down and bought an ultralight sleeping bag. The 20 Degree Bag from ZPacks (long version) is 1 pound, 2 ounces, and, according to every review I've read, performs extremely well in three-season temperatures.
The girls will need ultralight bags too, but that's a discussion for another day (when I have our permits).
My leg is doing much better, by the way. All the stretching helps tremendously. I plan on trying a small mountain (5 miles roundtrip with less than 2500 feet of elevation gain) by the end of this month. I think I might be completely back to normal by the end of February...we'll see.
In the meantime, I've added one important item to our packing list. I finally broke down and bought an ultralight sleeping bag. The 20 Degree Bag from ZPacks (long version) is 1 pound, 2 ounces, and, according to every review I've read, performs extremely well in three-season temperatures.
The girls will need ultralight bags too, but that's a discussion for another day (when I have our permits).
My leg is doing much better, by the way. All the stretching helps tremendously. I plan on trying a small mountain (5 miles roundtrip with less than 2500 feet of elevation gain) by the end of this month. I think I might be completely back to normal by the end of February...we'll see.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
ITBS, PT, and Hiking the JMT for FA
How's that for a bunch of letters?
First -- we are fundraising for Feeding America. Before Christmas, we reached 50% of our $2104 goal. Now it's time to raise that other 50%. Please check out our fundraising page and contribute what you can. Every penny goes straight to Feeding America.
Now, for some slightly bad news...on December 26, I slipped on my icy driveway while loading the car for a hike. I then did what most outdoor enthusiasts do...I got up, brushed myself off, and drove to the trailhead.
Here's Alex's reenactment of the incident...
In the days that followed, I hiked another mountain, shoveled a bunch of snow, and attempted a third winter ascent. To make a long story short, I now have Iliotibial Band Syndrome. Usually, that's an overuse injury. In my case, I whacked the distal portion when I fell, then I ignored the soreness and carried on as though nothing had happened.
This won't affect the JMT hike. At least, I'm fairly certain it won't. I anticipate getting back on the trails within a few weeks, and I hope to be back in usual 4K hiking shape by the end of winter. We're not hiking the JMT until August (assuming we get our permits), so there's plenty of time to heal.
In the meantime, I'll carry on with gear purchases and planning, though I won't post much about any of that until after I get those permits...I'm worried I'll jinx myself otherwise.
I'll also post short, weekly updates on the physical therapy (PT) process and, eventually, our training hikes.
Please don't forget to donate to Feeding America if you haven't already. Thanks!
First -- we are fundraising for Feeding America. Before Christmas, we reached 50% of our $2104 goal. Now it's time to raise that other 50%. Please check out our fundraising page and contribute what you can. Every penny goes straight to Feeding America.
Now, for some slightly bad news...on December 26, I slipped on my icy driveway while loading the car for a hike. I then did what most outdoor enthusiasts do...I got up, brushed myself off, and drove to the trailhead.
Here's Alex's reenactment of the incident...
In the days that followed, I hiked another mountain, shoveled a bunch of snow, and attempted a third winter ascent. To make a long story short, I now have Iliotibial Band Syndrome. Usually, that's an overuse injury. In my case, I whacked the distal portion when I fell, then I ignored the soreness and carried on as though nothing had happened.
This won't affect the JMT hike. At least, I'm fairly certain it won't. I anticipate getting back on the trails within a few weeks, and I hope to be back in usual 4K hiking shape by the end of winter. We're not hiking the JMT until August (assuming we get our permits), so there's plenty of time to heal.
In the meantime, I'll carry on with gear purchases and planning, though I won't post much about any of that until after I get those permits...I'm worried I'll jinx myself otherwise.
I'll also post short, weekly updates on the physical therapy (PT) process and, eventually, our training hikes.
Please don't forget to donate to Feeding America if you haven't already. Thanks!
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Feeding America Fundraising Goal -- 50% There!
I hope everyone is having a wonderful winter vacation. We are -- Christmas week is always an enjoyable stretch of time at our house. My birthday falls on the 22nd, Alex's falls on the 28th (she's now eleven), and, of course, there's Christmas on the 25th.
This year, in the midst of all the celebrating, we had a lovely surprise. We logged in to our Feeding America fundraising page and discovered we've already reached 50% of our goal. To those who have donated -- thank you! If you haven't already donated, please consider doing so in the next few days. Your contributions are tax-deductible, so if you donate before January 1, you'll give yourself a slight break on your 2013 returns. Every cent goes directly to Feeding America.
Our training continues in the form of our usual weekly mountain hiking. You can follow our New Hampshire all-season peak adventures on our main blog, www.trishalexsage.com. The girls hike once a week and I usually hike twice a week. Once we have our JMT permits secured, I'll begin posting more JMT-specific info (gear, resupply plans, etc.) on this JMT-specific webpage. Also, once spring arrives, the girls will increase their NH mountain hiking to two or three days a week, and I'll increase mine to three or four days a week.
Happy New Year, folks. I'll post again next week. In the meantime, please consider donating to Feeding America, and come join us on our main blog, www.trishalexsage.com.
This year, in the midst of all the celebrating, we had a lovely surprise. We logged in to our Feeding America fundraising page and discovered we've already reached 50% of our goal. To those who have donated -- thank you! If you haven't already donated, please consider doing so in the next few days. Your contributions are tax-deductible, so if you donate before January 1, you'll give yourself a slight break on your 2013 returns. Every cent goes directly to Feeding America.
Our training continues in the form of our usual weekly mountain hiking. You can follow our New Hampshire all-season peak adventures on our main blog, www.trishalexsage.com. The girls hike once a week and I usually hike twice a week. Once we have our JMT permits secured, I'll begin posting more JMT-specific info (gear, resupply plans, etc.) on this JMT-specific webpage. Also, once spring arrives, the girls will increase their NH mountain hiking to two or three days a week, and I'll increase mine to three or four days a week.
 |
| Ascending Mt. Jackson (NH), December 23, 2013. Here's hoping for a fun 2013-2014 winter hiking season! |
Happy New Year, folks. I'll post again next week. In the meantime, please consider donating to Feeding America, and come join us on our main blog, www.trishalexsage.com.
Monday, December 9, 2013
Permits and Training Hikes
Hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday. The girls and I traveled up and down the East Coast visiting relatives and playing tourist at various cities. We're finally back in New Hampshire. Our weekly White Mountain hikes will resume this month; trip reports will be posted on our main blog, www.trishalexsage.com.
I can't post much in the way of readying ourselves for the JMT until I secure our permits. We can't secure our permits until 24 weeks before our intended departure date. Everybody and their brother wants to hike the JMT during the same weeks we want to hike it, so I'm a bit nervous about being able to reserve those permits...once those permits are indeed secured, I can relax and move forward with all the other planning details. Therefore, almost all the prep posts for this trip will be written after February 2014. The superstitious part of me worries I'll jinx everything if I write any prep posts before those permits are set in stone.
One thing I can say is that we'll continue to hike the Whites from now until the time we leave for California. I call those little adventures "training hikes," but really, they're just our usual weekly mountain hikes. As mentioned above, you can see the trip reports for our White Mountain hikes at www.trishalexsage.com.
Don't forget about Feeding America! At the end of this month, we'll have reached about 30% of our goal. Once our permits our secured, I'll start getting more aggressive with my fundraising pitches. :) You can still donate in the meantime, though!
Happy hiking,
Trish
I can't post much in the way of readying ourselves for the JMT until I secure our permits. We can't secure our permits until 24 weeks before our intended departure date. Everybody and their brother wants to hike the JMT during the same weeks we want to hike it, so I'm a bit nervous about being able to reserve those permits...once those permits are indeed secured, I can relax and move forward with all the other planning details. Therefore, almost all the prep posts for this trip will be written after February 2014. The superstitious part of me worries I'll jinx everything if I write any prep posts before those permits are set in stone.
One thing I can say is that we'll continue to hike the Whites from now until the time we leave for California. I call those little adventures "training hikes," but really, they're just our usual weekly mountain hikes. As mentioned above, you can see the trip reports for our White Mountain hikes at www.trishalexsage.com.
Don't forget about Feeding America! At the end of this month, we'll have reached about 30% of our goal. Once our permits our secured, I'll start getting more aggressive with my fundraising pitches. :) You can still donate in the meantime, though!
Happy hiking,
Trish
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Wenk and Morey's Guide
The girls and I took a seven mile walk to Dunkin Donuts and back last Friday instead of hiking a mountain. We had house maintenance stuff going on that day and needed to stay close to home. Happy to say we only took three hours for our jaunt -- that includes a long fritter break and lounging at a nearby dam. We averaged 3 miles an hour on hilly roads at what felt to us like a casual pace. Looking forward to getting back into the now-snowy mountains with the girls on the 22nd.
I am studying John Muir Trail: The Essential Guide to Hiking America's Most Famous Trail by Elizabeth Wenk with Kathy Morey. This book is a fantastic resource. I'm in the process of creating a trail itinerary I think the girls can happily handle. Of course, once we're out there, we'll do whatever works in the moment and throw the itinerary out the window...but still, it's good to have a decent of idea of what to expect.
Even though our JMT hike isn't for another nine or ten months, you can still donate to Feeding America today. Your contribution is tax deductible, and every penny goes to the virtual food drive. Click on the Feeding America link at the top of this page to help families in need.
More next week, after the girls and I hike some peaks.
I am studying John Muir Trail: The Essential Guide to Hiking America's Most Famous Trail by Elizabeth Wenk with Kathy Morey. This book is a fantastic resource. I'm in the process of creating a trail itinerary I think the girls can happily handle. Of course, once we're out there, we'll do whatever works in the moment and throw the itinerary out the window...but still, it's good to have a decent of idea of what to expect.
Even though our JMT hike isn't for another nine or ten months, you can still donate to Feeding America today. Your contribution is tax deductible, and every penny goes to the virtual food drive. Click on the Feeding America link at the top of this page to help families in need.
More next week, after the girls and I hike some peaks.
Friday, November 15, 2013
Resupply Issues
Still wondering how to best deal with the southern half of the JMT. We plan to stop and resupply at Muir Ranch...then there are no more easy resupply options for the rest of the trip. There's over a hundred miles between Muir Ranch and our Whitney exit, and I cannot carry 8-10 days worth of food for three people. If I was going solo, there wouldn't be any problem, but I'm not going solo...and my daughters can't carry 8-10 days worth of food each. Well, maybe they can, but I don't think they'd enjoy the experience if they did.
There seem to be three options. One, hire someone to bring your food to you on the trail. That option is expensive, and it probably requires being very specific with our timing. Two, we can hike down to the Onion Valley trailhead and hitch a ride to the nearest town. That option means getting off the trail for a couple of days and walking over 16 extra miles. Three, we can suck it up, take on some extra weight (with me carrying most of the burden) and attempt to do the rest of the trail in seven days instead of 8-10. That option probably isn't the safest move, though. We could always try it, but then do the Onion Valley trailhead thing if we found we couldn't go as fast as we wanted and/or we were running out of food.
I'm fairly certain we'll easily be able to average at least ten miles a day. The girls are strong hikers and we're used to the steep and rough terrain of the Whites, so I don't anticipate having any problems with the trail itself. The altitude, however, is a bit of an X factor. The girls have done well with their high-altitude highpointing thus far, though, so I think we'll be fine with proper acclimatization. We didn't feel the altitude at all and the girls hiked two and a half miles an hour on our last highpointing trip (Kings Peak in Utah), hence my optimism. Still, I don't want to count on being able to handle the southern half without resupply, so I've got a lot of thinking to do.
There seem to be three options. One, hire someone to bring your food to you on the trail. That option is expensive, and it probably requires being very specific with our timing. Two, we can hike down to the Onion Valley trailhead and hitch a ride to the nearest town. That option means getting off the trail for a couple of days and walking over 16 extra miles. Three, we can suck it up, take on some extra weight (with me carrying most of the burden) and attempt to do the rest of the trail in seven days instead of 8-10. That option probably isn't the safest move, though. We could always try it, but then do the Onion Valley trailhead thing if we found we couldn't go as fast as we wanted and/or we were running out of food.
I'm fairly certain we'll easily be able to average at least ten miles a day. The girls are strong hikers and we're used to the steep and rough terrain of the Whites, so I don't anticipate having any problems with the trail itself. The altitude, however, is a bit of an X factor. The girls have done well with their high-altitude highpointing thus far, though, so I think we'll be fine with proper acclimatization. We didn't feel the altitude at all and the girls hiked two and a half miles an hour on our last highpointing trip (Kings Peak in Utah), hence my optimism. Still, I don't want to count on being able to handle the southern half without resupply, so I've got a lot of thinking to do.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)