Two...Two...Two
Two more days of work before VACATION! The count down is on and my coworkers must be sick of hearing about it. I fly out Wednesday and my Grand Canyon hike begins Friday. My backpack is packed and ready. I took it for a hike today up the hills in the neighborhood to test it out. It weighs 23 pounds now. That's before food and water. So it will probably be a bit over 30 lbs for the hike. I had hoped to keep it a little less than that but there's not really anything I can eliminate.
Here's what I'm packing:
tent
sleeping bag
sleeping pad
two shirts and a tank top
two pairs of shorts
warm fleece top
convertible pants
rain jacket
river sandals
socks and underwear
one swim suit
small Maglit (also doubles as a hammer to pound in tent stakes)
toothbrush and toothpaste
campsuds
sunscreen
comb
hand lotion
sunglasses
digital camera w/ recently purchased 2 gig flash card
teeny, tiny notepad, pen, and super small (like 2 point type) New Testament
Now that I look at that long list, no wonder all that stuff weighs 23 pounds. But it's hard to decide what to leave behind. I guess living for 5 days with 23 pounds of stuff is pretty good. I know women whose purses probably outweigh that.
1 comment:
Don't forget to account for water. That's always the biggest weight spike for a backpack.
And be careful. When you hike a mountain, the adrenaline of trying to reach your destination helps get you through the uphill part of the hike. When you hike the Grand Canyon, the uphill part comes during the second half of the hike, after the rush of reaching your desination. Some have trouble adjusting to that.
Have fun!
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