Well, this was an interesting morning. I got up late, meaning 6AM, and decided since I was running behind, and it would be a thousand degrees outside by the time I got to training, perhaps a hard workout in the garage with endless stairs might be the best way to go. So, I grabbed the gear and drove downtown. When I got out of my truck, and threw the bag on my back, I looked down at my passenger seat and there was a big old wet spot. Nice… Apparently, the gallon of water I had been using as a weight in my bag finally sprung a leak. For some reason I didn’t notice this back at the house. So, I had to unpack the backpack and repack on site. No biggy, just a bit soggy. After a bit of adjustment, I was off to beat it down on some stair action.
I ended up doing 10 reps up 6 flights of stairs in about 45 minutes. At the top of flight 6, each time, I would take 30 seconds and then head down. Once at the bottom, I would take 30 seconds to 1 minute to do some stretching, then head back up. I’d say overall it was a pretty decent workout, but I didn’t exactly kill it. I think it would be good to get back out again tonight. Of course, it was 84 degrees out, and I forgot to put a clean bandana on my pack. I’m so unprepared today. Sweat was pouring in my eyes the whole time. Yay. I have to start giving myself a dose of prep time before I leave the house to look over my essentials. Anyway, just another morning of training.
Yesterday I received the ground cover for my ZPacks Solplex tent. It feels like a tissue, “Ha!”, but it looks pretty durable. I feel like I’m buying astronaut gear these days. Efficient, overtly functional, durable and ridiculously expensive. Well, if you want to play with the big boys… I just ordered a few small items from REI. I got the Suunto clipper L-B NH compass, the Snow Peak titanium single 450 cup, and the Counter Assault bear bell. All of this REI purchase was covered under 2 gift cards I had laying around. (Thanks Big Jer!) That was helpful. I still have like $2 left on one. Future use. I’m still waiting on my Gossamer Gear Gorilla 40 backpack, but I got an alert from the company it’s in the process of being shipped. I should get it in the next day or two.
In the meantime, I did a little experimenting the other day by putting some Woolite into a Ziplock along with some of my stinky hiking socks and shook the hell out of it. Rinsed twice and hung out to dry. At first I was skeptical this would be a viable option for laundering on trail, but now I’m a believer. Once they dried they were just like they would have been if I had taken them from the machine. I do think I might need to use my camp towel to help wring out a bit of the water before hanging from my pack, but otherwise I think this could be a good way to help stay fresh. Of course I’m most likely going to switch out the Woolite for biodegradable liquid soap and use my Sea to Summit food bag instead of a Ziplock, but it works. Fresh socks, underwear and shirts for the trail! Woo-hoo!
