Photography, backpacking plans, fitness, finances.
I'm toying with the idea of a photo-a-day project in 2015, the sort of thing I did back in '08. The trouble is, there isn't much variety in my day to day life nowadays, not like there was in '08. Back then I went to school (lots of my pictures were taken while exploring campus), took a class featuring lots of lovely animal bones, had a job (which took me outside and sometimes involved archaeological artifacts), was dating someone who didn't mind being the subject and had two cats (several pictures of Charm and Jinx that year), and had money to travel (something like seven trips altogether: Toronto, New Mexico, Florida, Connecticut, Florida and North Carolina, Florida to New Mexico, New Mexico again). Even with all those things to photograph, I still wound up looking around at 11:45 PM seemingly every other day, settling on pictures of batteries and calculators and my hand out of sheer lack of ideas. It's difficult taking a picture every day when life is interesting; I bet I'd get a week into January this time before giving up.
In longer-term goals, I've decided (again) that I want to attempt a thru-hike in 2016 or 2017. Not one of the Big Four -- though those are the ultimate goal, provided my joints hold out. I was thinking something like the Northville-Lake Placid Trail, 133 or so miles through the Adirondacks, a 10 or 11 day thru-hike with time to check out side trails to lakes and viewpoints.
I've let myself go, to the point that I can barely walk 6 miles on flat terrain without feeling sore for a day afterward, so obviously I need to work my way up to that level of fitness. Besides that, I need gear, lots of gear, before I can attempt another overnight, let alone a ten-night expedition. Off the top of my head, I need to obtain or borrow these items:
* Trail runners with good soles.
* A backpack that fits me and is adequate for a 5 day load.
* A water filter.
* Some kind of reusable water container.
* Camp stove and other cooking paraphernalia.
* Sleeping pad.
* Lightweight sleeping bag.
* Lightweight backpacking tent.
* NPT map set.
* Possibly a standalone GPS unit.
* Another camera battery or two.
Even if I hit the gym tomorrow and got in shape for next summer, I couldn't attempt an overnight hike until I had (at the very least) the trail runners, the water filter, and the sleeping pad. Anything longer than one night, I'd need the rest of the kit. That's hundreds and hundreds of dollars altogether. Hence, I can't plan on thru-hiking anything longer than, say, 20-25 miles until I can afford everything -- thus the late 2016 to 2017 time frame.
Ideally, I'd like to do a simple overnight hike next September, likely in the western Adirondacks. By that point, perhaps, I could acquire the three essential items, and borrow a backpack from somebody. And by that point, I hope to be fit enough to attempt it, and not end up miserable and exhausted the way I did last year in the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness. I need experience with basic backpacking before I attempt something as ambitious as the NPT -- just like I need to try something like the NPT before I, eventually, move on to the big hikes.
In longer-term goals, I've decided (again) that I want to attempt a thru-hike in 2016 or 2017. Not one of the Big Four -- though those are the ultimate goal, provided my joints hold out. I was thinking something like the Northville-Lake Placid Trail, 133 or so miles through the Adirondacks, a 10 or 11 day thru-hike with time to check out side trails to lakes and viewpoints.
I've let myself go, to the point that I can barely walk 6 miles on flat terrain without feeling sore for a day afterward, so obviously I need to work my way up to that level of fitness. Besides that, I need gear, lots of gear, before I can attempt another overnight, let alone a ten-night expedition. Off the top of my head, I need to obtain or borrow these items:
* Trail runners with good soles.
* A backpack that fits me and is adequate for a 5 day load.
* A water filter.
* Some kind of reusable water container.
* Camp stove and other cooking paraphernalia.
* Sleeping pad.
* Lightweight sleeping bag.
* Lightweight backpacking tent.
* NPT map set.
* Possibly a standalone GPS unit.
* Another camera battery or two.
Even if I hit the gym tomorrow and got in shape for next summer, I couldn't attempt an overnight hike until I had (at the very least) the trail runners, the water filter, and the sleeping pad. Anything longer than one night, I'd need the rest of the kit. That's hundreds and hundreds of dollars altogether. Hence, I can't plan on thru-hiking anything longer than, say, 20-25 miles until I can afford everything -- thus the late 2016 to 2017 time frame.
Ideally, I'd like to do a simple overnight hike next September, likely in the western Adirondacks. By that point, perhaps, I could acquire the three essential items, and borrow a backpack from somebody. And by that point, I hope to be fit enough to attempt it, and not end up miserable and exhausted the way I did last year in the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness. I need experience with basic backpacking before I attempt something as ambitious as the NPT -- just like I need to try something like the NPT before I, eventually, move on to the big hikes.