Hiking!
I get to go hiking today! And not the "Please stay on the trails" kind of "hike" where you walk through a park for a few hours. Not the "please remain close to the guide at all times" kind of hike. And definitely not the, "wear comfortable shoes because we'll be hiking through the mall all day" kind of hike. No, this is a different kind of hike...
I also get to go camping today (as part of the hike). And not the "Lets load up 10 cars with as many coolers of booze as we can manage and waay too much food, and 9 bedroom mega-tents with AC and queen size beds" either. Or, "lets park the RV near a body of water with nice electrical, water and sewage hookups and call it camping" either. No, this is a different kind of camping...
This camping/hiking is the REAL kind of camping and hiking. The kind where you drive down a road until you see a not-too-steep area of the glacier-covered mountain you're about to climb, then go off-roading for 30 minutes to get to the base of it. Then you pull out the backpack that has your place to sleep, stuff to wear, and stuff to eat for the next 3 days, put it on your back, and start walking.
You set up a tent in sub-zero temperatures and brave the 90 MPH winds while sleeping contentedly. After you wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of a bear sniffing the tent, you jump out in your boxers and take the bear on in hand-to-hand combat until he lies bloodied and beaten at your feet, and then have bear-burgers for breakfast! Yeah, THAT kind of hiking!
(Well, ok, maybe that last paragraph is a LITTLE exaggerated. Just barely exaggerated... it just has a touch of... dramatic effect... really... *coughs* :) )
To be fair, it is hiking and not mountaineering (which would be even cooler, but I'm probably going to do that on Mt. Hood this fall), but it's more than enough considering how much I've allowed myself to eat over the last month or so. :) So it should definitely kick ass. If I don't make it back by Monday, just assume that the bear won. :)
Now I'm off to pack!
I also get to go camping today (as part of the hike). And not the "Lets load up 10 cars with as many coolers of booze as we can manage and waay too much food, and 9 bedroom mega-tents with AC and queen size beds" either. Or, "lets park the RV near a body of water with nice electrical, water and sewage hookups and call it camping" either. No, this is a different kind of camping...
This camping/hiking is the REAL kind of camping and hiking. The kind where you drive down a road until you see a not-too-steep area of the glacier-covered mountain you're about to climb, then go off-roading for 30 minutes to get to the base of it. Then you pull out the backpack that has your place to sleep, stuff to wear, and stuff to eat for the next 3 days, put it on your back, and start walking.
You set up a tent in sub-zero temperatures and brave the 90 MPH winds while sleeping contentedly. After you wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of a bear sniffing the tent, you jump out in your boxers and take the bear on in hand-to-hand combat until he lies bloodied and beaten at your feet, and then have bear-burgers for breakfast! Yeah, THAT kind of hiking!
(Well, ok, maybe that last paragraph is a LITTLE exaggerated. Just barely exaggerated... it just has a touch of... dramatic effect... really... *coughs* :) )
To be fair, it is hiking and not mountaineering (which would be even cooler, but I'm probably going to do that on Mt. Hood this fall), but it's more than enough considering how much I've allowed myself to eat over the last month or so. :) So it should definitely kick ass. If I don't make it back by Monday, just assume that the bear won. :)
Now I'm off to pack!