Do not pass the trailhead. Do not collect a scenic view.
I was suppose to go hiking and sleep on the top of the mountain this weekend.
Due to planning that didn't work out.
I didn't find out what time I needed to be ready until less than twelve hours before I was suppose to be ready.
As I still hadn't packed at that time and needed to find some last second bits of gear (kitchen dishware basically)...well, let's just say by the time I had gotten home, collected all the gear I needed and stuffed it into my backpack...I was depressed on account of the weight--I remember doing this last year and the weight sucked--what with the tent (four person ultra lightweight), plus clothing/rain gear, and food. Food was a total planning fail last year because I listened to my friend and...what he told me and what happened on that front were two very different things. Suffice to say I wished I had planned differently last year.
This ultimately resulted in me not be able to settle down to try and get any sleep until less than two hours before I was suppose to be awake getting ready to go meet up at his house.
I must have missed the alarm--I've noticed that tends to happen when it's set so close to when I'm going to sleep and I am really tired--because the next time I knew it was fifteen minutes after he told me he wanted to leave.
I'm guessing either he slept late or wasn't ready on schedule because he stopped by forty-five minutes after the planned departure time to pick up a piece of gear I'd bought for him earlier in the year.
I was also stressed because I felt like I couldn't pack the backpack correctly. The tent is at the bottom because it is largest and of all the individual items going in the pack it was the heaviest. Later, once most everything else was inside I realized I was a fool to have done that when I could have strapped it to the outside. It was even more foolish because only two tents had been accounted for on the planning list online and mine was one, and held the greatest number of people and it was entirely possible that once we gathered we could have taken turns carrying the tent.
But...no, I would have had to repack in the parking lot when we met. Which we did last year (not me personally) which I didn't understand when we could have just as easily repacked at the trail head once we had secured a place to park...as it turns out the trailhead parking lot was pretty small.
The whole...lack of advanced planning really stressed me out. My friend tends to be...very last minute about things and this was a fine example. The idea had been floated...a couple weeks in advance as I recall, so there was plenty of time to plan but all he gave me was a gear list. I could have figured that out myself. I had nothing more than which two days but no times. No meeting time, or estimated departure time from here. Nothing actually relevant or useful. Which was pretty frustrating for me.
If I'd had more information I could have planned and packed over the week instead of a last minute run-around getting or upgrading gear I couldn't use or didn't have. It didn't help that even after I had stuffed as much as I could possibly fit into my pack I had still left out important things, like what I was going to use as a stove (it was small but that isn't the point, it was unpacked) or the camera I wanted to bring. These went in the bag where I had placed "spare gear" for anyone that might be missing things like rain pants.
Of course while there was a place to denote who had extra gear nobody indicated if they actually needed it or not. So...again, this comes back to proper planning and communication.
For the record, I hate Facebook events. Mostly because I don't use Facebook so they are completely and utterly useless to me. A Google calendar event would have at least let me see the event details and the event notification could have explicitly indicated to indicate on the gear list if you needed extra gear, if so, what, and how many. Because...you know, some of the lines were kinda vague. Rain gear doesn't tell anybody whether you need rain pants or a jacket muchless sizing.
This is bordering on complaining even though I'm focused on what it was about this attempted event that was a failure and how to avoid such failure in the future.
I knew that even if I slept in the car on the drive up that might net me a couple extra hours of sleep, putting me at, if I was lucky, maybe four-ish hours? Not the kind of required rest needed to hike a mountain when you haven't been actively hiking or staying in mountain-climbing kind of shape. That's my fault, that's an improvement I need to work on for myself. I've known that for some time. I need to get back outside and do stuff. Whether walking, hiking, riding my bicycle, or running I need to be active outside and get some exercise. Having a desk job sucks because it doesn't let me move around and get that. When I worked in the theater and retail I moved around plenty and got to burn off whatever I ate, which was great because it helped my weight. Now...I've definitely gained weight and honestly I miss being trimmer. Mostly because that's how I've always been and...I feel a bit self-conscious with the extra weight.
Even if I'm still an "average" weight. Per the doctor I am an "acceptable" weight for my height but then again they always thought I was underweight before. I didn't, I just thought I was lean and I liked it that way.
I also need to focus on my diet because...currently I don't and I'm sure that's part of the problem. I want to be able to live until I can see great-grandkids or something. I'd love to celebrate a triple digit birthday but I won't be able to if I don't focus on doing the right things for myself.
Asking me to change something that requires mental discipline is easy. Asking me to do something that requires physical effort is not done as easily.
Not to say it can't or won't be done but it requires...more. I understand the benefits of the change but I also need to dedicate the energy and time to it as well.
I should seek out a suitable hiking user icon.
Due to planning that didn't work out.
I didn't find out what time I needed to be ready until less than twelve hours before I was suppose to be ready.
As I still hadn't packed at that time and needed to find some last second bits of gear (kitchen dishware basically)...well, let's just say by the time I had gotten home, collected all the gear I needed and stuffed it into my backpack...I was depressed on account of the weight--I remember doing this last year and the weight sucked--what with the tent (four person ultra lightweight), plus clothing/rain gear, and food. Food was a total planning fail last year because I listened to my friend and...what he told me and what happened on that front were two very different things. Suffice to say I wished I had planned differently last year.
This ultimately resulted in me not be able to settle down to try and get any sleep until less than two hours before I was suppose to be awake getting ready to go meet up at his house.
I must have missed the alarm--I've noticed that tends to happen when it's set so close to when I'm going to sleep and I am really tired--because the next time I knew it was fifteen minutes after he told me he wanted to leave.
I'm guessing either he slept late or wasn't ready on schedule because he stopped by forty-five minutes after the planned departure time to pick up a piece of gear I'd bought for him earlier in the year.
I was also stressed because I felt like I couldn't pack the backpack correctly. The tent is at the bottom because it is largest and of all the individual items going in the pack it was the heaviest. Later, once most everything else was inside I realized I was a fool to have done that when I could have strapped it to the outside. It was even more foolish because only two tents had been accounted for on the planning list online and mine was one, and held the greatest number of people and it was entirely possible that once we gathered we could have taken turns carrying the tent.
But...no, I would have had to repack in the parking lot when we met. Which we did last year (not me personally) which I didn't understand when we could have just as easily repacked at the trail head once we had secured a place to park...as it turns out the trailhead parking lot was pretty small.
The whole...lack of advanced planning really stressed me out. My friend tends to be...very last minute about things and this was a fine example. The idea had been floated...a couple weeks in advance as I recall, so there was plenty of time to plan but all he gave me was a gear list. I could have figured that out myself. I had nothing more than which two days but no times. No meeting time, or estimated departure time from here. Nothing actually relevant or useful. Which was pretty frustrating for me.
If I'd had more information I could have planned and packed over the week instead of a last minute run-around getting or upgrading gear I couldn't use or didn't have. It didn't help that even after I had stuffed as much as I could possibly fit into my pack I had still left out important things, like what I was going to use as a stove (it was small but that isn't the point, it was unpacked) or the camera I wanted to bring. These went in the bag where I had placed "spare gear" for anyone that might be missing things like rain pants.
Of course while there was a place to denote who had extra gear nobody indicated if they actually needed it or not. So...again, this comes back to proper planning and communication.
For the record, I hate Facebook events. Mostly because I don't use Facebook so they are completely and utterly useless to me. A Google calendar event would have at least let me see the event details and the event notification could have explicitly indicated to indicate on the gear list if you needed extra gear, if so, what, and how many. Because...you know, some of the lines were kinda vague. Rain gear doesn't tell anybody whether you need rain pants or a jacket muchless sizing.
This is bordering on complaining even though I'm focused on what it was about this attempted event that was a failure and how to avoid such failure in the future.
I knew that even if I slept in the car on the drive up that might net me a couple extra hours of sleep, putting me at, if I was lucky, maybe four-ish hours? Not the kind of required rest needed to hike a mountain when you haven't been actively hiking or staying in mountain-climbing kind of shape. That's my fault, that's an improvement I need to work on for myself. I've known that for some time. I need to get back outside and do stuff. Whether walking, hiking, riding my bicycle, or running I need to be active outside and get some exercise. Having a desk job sucks because it doesn't let me move around and get that. When I worked in the theater and retail I moved around plenty and got to burn off whatever I ate, which was great because it helped my weight. Now...I've definitely gained weight and honestly I miss being trimmer. Mostly because that's how I've always been and...I feel a bit self-conscious with the extra weight.
Even if I'm still an "average" weight. Per the doctor I am an "acceptable" weight for my height but then again they always thought I was underweight before. I didn't, I just thought I was lean and I liked it that way.
I also need to focus on my diet because...currently I don't and I'm sure that's part of the problem. I want to be able to live until I can see great-grandkids or something. I'd love to celebrate a triple digit birthday but I won't be able to if I don't focus on doing the right things for myself.
Asking me to change something that requires mental discipline is easy. Asking me to do something that requires physical effort is not done as easily.
Not to say it can't or won't be done but it requires...more. I understand the benefits of the change but I also need to dedicate the energy and time to it as well.
I should seek out a suitable hiking user icon.