My reaction to hiking the Bear Trap Canyon

HOLY SHIT! No apologies for the language. Holy shit!

That was probably the most physically demanding thing I've done in 20 years. It ended up being nearly a mile shorter than the 7.5 miles I'd intended to hike on Friday, so the round trip was about 13.6 miles, but still not bad.

It was very much a tale of two halves. One half was gentle and rolling and not too difficult. The second half was the complete opposite. I've posted a full description elsewhere on this blog (http://blog.ergoob.org/p/hiking-bear-trap-canyon-near-norris-mt.html) with a couple of photos and a link to an online album with more pictures.

In the second half, the way was covered with fallen trees and branches, rock slides (and we're talking some VERY large rocks), and all kinds of different undergrowth and shrubbery (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69iB-xy0u4A). The path was very narrow in places. So narrow, in fact, in some places that a small slip would have consigned you to the bottom of the ravine. It's a good job it hadn't been raining recently, else it would have been too slippery and dangerous (not that it wasn't already dangerous enough!) The other thing that made it difficult was the constantly changing elevation. This is not something you'd undertake lightly, or with the wrong equipment, or if you were in any way lacking in physical fitness and stamina.

You can read the rest of the account at the aforementioned page: http://blog.ergoob.org/p/hiking-bear-trap-canyon-near-norris-mt.html.

I was so sore and tired afterwards that I sat down at a bench/table at the trailhead and didn't move for an hour. If I could have slept there, I would have (not having slept much the night before).

I was really glad for the opportunity to soak in the Hot Springs at Norris for a couple of hours afterwards.

Now that I've made it out of there alive and I survived, I'm glad I did it. At the time, I was cursing and swearing a few times. I wouldn't do it again unless the conditions were absolutely perfect: good gear, good weather, the right time of year to avoid the snakes, a well-honed body to cope with the physical demands, etc. In short, those circumstances are unlikely to all be present (for me) at the same time in a very long time.

Bear Trap Canyon hike is today and tomorrow

In just over an hour I'll be setting off on a 100 mile drive towards Norris, MT, to start an 8-mile hike in Bear Trap Canyon by the Madison river. It's part of the Lee Metcalf Wilderness, a recreation area created by an act of Congress in 1983. After hiking down the canyon (there's only one way in for hikers), I'll hang my hammock overnight, then hike the 8 miles back again the next morning. It'll be my first night out under the stars in my new hammock - a good test for what's to come in six weeks time when Birdie (my daughter) and I go to Oregon to hike 100 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail near Crater Lake.

Some of the gear I'm taking with me.

I've got some home-made food, plus some Mountain House freeze-dried food; an MSR Micro Rocket stove with isobutane fuel; anodized aluminum cookware; a Sawyer Mini water filter, Aquamira chlorine dioxide water purification drops (as a backup); a First Aid kit with extra blister treatment supplies; Luci solar powered LED light; a couple of chemiluminescent light sticks; a trowel and toilet paper; 100 ft of 550 lb-rated Type-III paracord; a couple of 50 ft lengths of thinner cord for hanging tarps and fly sheets; sunglasses; bug repellent bracelet (no DEET); 130 dB ear-piercing Storm whistle; bear spray; spare laces for my hiking shoes; Gorilla tape; my camera and spare batteries; solar charging panel with cables; Leatherman multi-tool; Anker battery pack for charging devices; my Moto X Android phone; my new Delorme inReach GPS locator/communicator; a notepad and pen for writing; reading glasses; daily medication; my wallet with (not much) money and ID; (maybe a thermometer, and maybe a Bluetooth battery-powered speaker for listening to tunes this evening). 

Holy cow! That's a lot of sh**..tuff. There's also a backpack, with hammock, bug net and fly sheet; a thermal sleeping pad; a down top quilt; a hydration bladder with 2 liters of fresh water, and a drinking bottle for more water. I'm sure I've forgotten to list something (a spoon and fork, a towel of some sort). 

It'll be a good test of my preparedness for the great outdoors. It'll be a great hike, communing with nature. It'll be a great time to get away from the phones ringing at work, and clear my mind of any of that stuff. It'll be great to have time to think about my future, reflect on the successes of the past ten months (losing 92 pounds is a success, I'd say!), and to contemplate what I want in the coming months and years. 

To see my progress, later today and tomorrow, you can go to https://share.delorme.com/share/janesdaddy and enter the password (the name of the neaby town with Hot Spings - I mentioned it in the first sentence). Initially, there'll be blue dots (and a blue line connecting them) every 10 minutes once I start walking. After I get home and transfer the recorded data, you'll see the dots every minute (closer together). 

There'll be lots of photos after I get back, of course, and a full description of the journey itself. Have a great weekend, everyone! I will!

Missed it by that much 314 lb (PCT d - 44)

So, I missed my end-of-March weight target, but only by a smidgen, even after a couple of days of bad eating and excess carbs in the past week. Onward and downward towards 303 lbs now!

314.2 pounds (142.5 kg)

I'm excited because I'll be taking the day off work on Friday to go hiking next to the Madison River (Bear Trap Canyon) near Norris. It's about 8 miles from the trailhead to the powerhouse, past some excellent fishing and kayaking spots. I'll camp out there overnight, and do the 8 miles back up again the following morning. My reward will be to have a nice long soak in the Norris Hot Springs. For those who would like to follow my progress, you can go to https://share.delorme.com/share/janesdaddy and use the correct password (it's the name of the town I'll be near on Friday, with a capital 'N' - I've already mentioned it twice in this post). The weather forecast calls for a high at 4.00 pm on Friday of 74 °F, cooling down to 46 °F by 6.00 am on Saturday, but most of the night will be in the 50s (hooray!) The rain will stay away until 5-ish in the afternoon on Saturday, so I should be on my way home by then. It's set to be a great trip. It'll be a New Moon that night, so I'll be sure to take my head lamp with me, and it'll be great for star-gazing too.

Planning for the Utah trip, two weeks later, is also going well. Thanks to the power of the Internet, and YouTube, we've been able to check out the campgrounds that have trees suitable for hanging hammocks from (not that many actually INSIDE the Arches and Canyonlands national parks). It'll be a good test of the electronics that will be use on my Oregon trip four weeks afterwards.

For the third week in a row, I increased my weekly step count to a new personal best. After 57,400 and 57,800, last week I walked 58,500 steps. With the upcoming hike next weekend, I should be able to surpass 60,000 this week too.

Stepping up the steps (PCT d - 59)

I walked 57,000 steps this week, more than any other week in the last nine months. Actually, it's probably more than any single week in the past five years, maybe more!

Weekly steps measured using two Android apps, with a 3 week moving average

I've been steadily increasing my weekly number of steps, from about 25,000, through 30,000 and 35,000. Three times I've hit 47 or 48,000. Today was the first time past 50K, and boy did I shatter that personal best mark!

With less than 9 weeks to go until my Oregon adventure; less than 5 weeks until my 3-night Arches/Canyonland NP trip to Utah; and 3 weeks until I spend the night in Bear Trap canyon near Norris after a 9 mile hike, it's good that I'm able to step up my steps. Not only is the quantity of steps going up, but I'm deliberately tackling steeper terrain. It's still hard work. I'm still getting out of breath sometimes, but I don't stop altogether now. I might still take 15 to 20 seconds to catch my breath sometimes on the really steep parts and let my pulse rate settle down a bit, but I press on.

Through all of this, I am so thankful that my feet haven't given me any significant problems. My Moab Ventilator walking shoes (got mine at The Base Camp) have performed really well. I'll probably end up buying a second pair, so that there's a seamless transition when the first pair inevitably wear out. The only fault I can find with them right now is the laces that came with them both broke after just a few months. If I had to give them a rating out of five, it'd have to be ***** five stars. They are a solid, reliable piece of gear for me.

Speaking of reliable gear, one of the very first pieces of gear I bought, back in October 2015, was my trekking poles (http://blog.ergoob.org/2015/10/trying-out-walking-with-trekking-poles.html). They are a very lightweight (80% carbon fiber/20% aluminum) set of an unknown brand ("Flyingbird" is woven into the hand straps) for $50. With the exception of an occasional tiny slip of the locking mechanism (easily fixed), these poles have performed amazingly well. You can still buy them from my favorite online retailer (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Y82IYGS). Today, I had to replace the rubber "feet" at the ends. The old ones hadn't quite worn out, but I was beginning to hear a metallic-sounding clank from time to time as the tungsten-steel tips hit the paved road. I expect that, later this summer, I'll invest in an upgrade  to a pair from Black Diamond or Leki. For anyone looking to get into using trekking poles for the first time, I would certainly recommend these (***** 5 stars).

About ten years ago, I bought a Berghaus (European brand) 20 Liter day pack for little local hikes around the Berkshire countryside in England. It served me well at the time, and I brought it back to the States with me the following year when I moved back here. Then the plastic buckle broke. I contacted Berghaus, who didn't reply, so I more or less stopped using the pack. Today, thanks to Bob at The Base Camp, I not only have a new buckle for that, but also an extension for the "fanny pack" that is the lid of my new 60 Liter Osprey Aether backpack. That worked out really well, and for under $5 each.

Speaking of my Osprey Aether backpack, I was surprised that the hydration bladders were as reasonably priced as they are. I got the Osprey brand 3 liter reservoir for $36, although I doubt that I'll ever fill it all the way to the top. Now I'll have a way of carrying, say, 5 pounds of water (5 pints) on my back without any bulky bottles. I'll have a separate 16 ounce "dirty" water container for use with my Sawyer Mini filter, and a re-purposed Gatorade bottle for my immediate drinking needs. On the Oregon trip, at the end of May, there are plenty of lakes, and the streams will still be flowing with spring runoff (melted snow). The dry season won't be for a month or two after I've been there.

Dizzying heights and under 320 (PCT d - 72)

At the top of Mount Ascension on Sunday morning

 

Part of my preparation for the 100-mile hike coming up in ten weeks time is walking up hills. There are few bigger in the immediate Helena area then Mount Ascension, which I climbed for the first time on Sunday morning (thanks Ann!) To be fair, I didn't start from the very bottom, but it was still a good 1.6 mile round trip in 55 minutes. It was a bit windy in the exposed parts, and a bit muddy underfoot in places, but it was fun. I'm looking forward to exploring more of that area, using its extensive system of paths and trails. What an excellent resource we have, right on our doorstep! 

I was carrying my backpack, laden with 20 lbs of "stuff" (hammock and bug net, sleeping pad, heavy clothing, first aid kit, bear spray, solar panel charger and battery pack) to simulate the kind of bulk and weight I'll be carrying in Oregon. 

319.8 lbs (145 kg)

The exercise, and the continuing low carb diet, helped me get below 320 pounds for the first time in ... I don't know how many years, maybe five years. My target for the end of March is to be under 312 lbs. I have a good feeling about that. 

Checking out locations for my April gear test

Being so inexperienced in the ways of hiking and backpacking, I really appreciate my friends who have done it before and are prepared to make suggestions for me. One such idea was a venue to go at the end of April when I have a few days off work and I want to test all of my gear (and my physical body) before tackling the 100-mile section of the PCT in Oregon the following month. It's the Bear Trap Canyon wilderness, on BLM land near Ennis, Montana (about 8 miles from Norris).

http://alltrails.com/trail/us/montana/bear-trap-canyon-trail
http://www.blm.gov/mt/st/en/fo/dillon_field_office/recreation/bear_trap.html
https://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.aspx?trailid=HGR027-110
http://www.bozeman-magpie.com/visitors-guide-detail.php?id=45
http://southwestmt.com/listings/897.htm
http://www.visitmt.com/listings/general/b-l-m-trail/bear-trap-national-recreation-trail.html

It is reputed to have very mild weather, so the third week of April should be fine. It's well before the busy fly-fishing and whitewater rafting season, and before the warmer weather that allows too many rattlesnakes to come out. I guess I'd better get myself a snakebite kit, just in case. The route itself is about 9 miles long but can only be accessed from the northern end by hikers (access from the south was closed to all but rafters), so the round trip could be up to 18 miles long. With Norris Hot Springs being so close, this is looking pretty attractive.

Learning about bears and knots

When I go on my big hike in 115 days (!!) there is a very small possibility that we'll encounter a black bear. I'm not a fan of that. I want to be prepared, with noise makers (whistles and bells) and bear spray. When I posted a question online about strategies to minimize the chances of bear encounters, someone kindly pointed me towards this great graphic:

Never have ANY food where you sleep, not even an empty candy wrapper

The website that it's from, http://theultimatehang.com, looks pretty interesting too, if you are into using a hammock when you backpack or go hiking a lot.

Looking at that website, and remembering all the YouTube videos that I've watched lately made me think: I really need to start learning about and practicing tying knots.

In 2015, no-one succeeded in climbing to the top of Mount Everest

In another one of my 'influential moments' that I have from time to time, I spent a chunk of time today reading a story about a rich guy (probably a merchant banker, or something that rhymes with it ["wanker" for those not familiar with the English vernacular]) who is about my height and weighs 210 lbs. By his own admission he is out of shape. Apparently, he just paid some company $15,000 to take him to Mount Everest in May so that he can climb it, having absolutely NO previous mountain climbing experience. All the comments from other people are, like, "don't do it. You're going to die!", or "don't do it, you're going to cause other people to die" when they have to rescue him.

My interest was piqued by the Mental Floss story that in 2015, for the first time since 1974, no-one succeeded in climbing to the top of Mount Everest (http://mentalfloss.com/uk/nature/37508/nobody-reached-the-top-of-mount-everest-in-2015). Wow! Knowing how popular that has become recently, I couldn't believe it, but they had a bad earthquake there in April and another one in May. Since then, only one man attempted to reach the summit, and he "missed it by that much" to quote Maxwell Smart (well, this young Japanese guy missed it by 700 meters).

So, reading all the other comments about the out of shape guy's death wish made me think about my own recently published list of ambitious projects (http://blog.ergoob.org/2016/01/ambitious-plans.html). Unwittingly, I may have planned things so that the order makes perfect sense. Working towards being able to hike 100 miles in seven days will help build up my strength and help me lose weight.

Afterwards, and assuming the weight loss continues, I'll train towards a long bicycle ride, which will help with endurance conditioning and improving my cardiovascular fitness. I did decide that it would be more sensible to go from Portland to Helena, rather than the other way round. That way, the 'finish line' will be my home town, and I won't have a day or two of travelling back to do before I can celebrate or relax. It's also going to be a great psychological boost to see Helena from the top of McDonald Pass, and the final 18 miles will be aided by the thought of being home soon. My quick back-of-an-envelope calculation says that I should be able to do the 700 miles at an average of 10 miles per hour (including breaks) in 70 hours, and that six hours per day would make about 11½ days, plus a couple of rest days along the way. I should be able to do the whole thing in two weeks.

Then I had a bright idea! Just as my daughter is going to be with me to do the PCT hike in May of this year, why can't I find someone to accompany me on the bike ride next year - and do it on a tandem? Yeah! I really like that idea. And, as I'm writing this just now, it occurred to me that it doesn't even have to be the same person accompanying me at the end as at the beginning. I could have two companions, in case one can't get more than a week off work at a time.

Then I thought about some of the things I'd need to be doing before climbing Mount Hood. I'd need to be able to carry a 40 lb backpack for several hours a day (check!) I'd need to have experience of substantially ascending and descending roads/paths (by then, check!) I will need to have built up my cardiovascular endurance, my muscular strength and my flexibility. Hiking steep outdoor trails with a weighted pack will be important, as will practicing on a few smaller and easier climbs (Mount Rainier, perhaps). There's no problem finding small mountains in and around western Montana, or in Washington or Oregon.

I have a plan now to start doing some weight/resistance training at home. It starts off very easily, and will build up in time and intensity as my strength increases. Eventually, I will make a short video of some of those exercises, so that other people can watch and learn, and maybe be inspired.

Super grains for making hiking/trail snacks

In the context of lightweight food that might be suitable to take on a long-distance hike, I was reading about hard tack recently, in an online backpacking forum, when I was reminded that five years ago I made my own kind of long-lasting basic "survival" food.

Sesame wheat crackers, easy to make

My daughter, Birdie, and I made our own sesame wheat crackers, using flour and water and salt and sesame seeds, with some baking powder added, I'm sure. Usually, hard tack is made with just flour and water and salt, and it is slow baked at a low temperature for a long time (like, 200 °F for four hours, or something like that). Anyway, that much wheat flour is not consistent with my low-carb diet at the moment and, honestly, doesn't sound that appealing on the palette. If we're taking sustenance with us on our 100-mile Pacific Crest Trail section hike in May, we want it to actually taste good, and be nutritious too, right?

So, I looked up some alternatives online that were still easy to make, but had more protein and other micro-nutrients, yet would still make a light, flavorful snack. The addition of amaranth and quinoa, both gluten-free pseudo grains with essential amino acids, seems to be the most popular idea for adding flavor and texture and nutrients. Other good things you can add to the mix include spelt, Kamut, chia seeds and teff. Look online for phrases like "fortified hard tack" and you'll find more details.

This site: http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Markets/10-ancient-grains-to-watch-from-kamut-to-quinoa has some info on the health benefits of "super grains". It also reminded me that the US Department of Health and Human Services and the US Department of Agriculture recently published their new, updated 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. (http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/ ). Check out this link, from the same site: http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Ingredients/Cereals-and-bakery-preparations/Seeds-avocados-and-clean-eating-will-gain-traction-in-2016-RDNs-say

So, when I get my supply of amaranth and quinoa, in a few days time, I will be doing some baking and I'll share the results here.

First impressions - trekking poles

Last Monday I received my new trekking poles, so I've been using them for a week now. Here are my first impressions.

80% carbon fiber, very lightweight

Each pole weighs 8 ounces (220 grams). That was one reason why I chose poles that are made of 80% carbon fiber. They have EVA foam handles, not cork, which means they are slightly shock absorbent and allegedly sweat absorbent too, although my hands haven't sweated with them yet so I can't verify that claim.

Each pole has a pair of flip locks with large pressure-adjusting screws that let you change the length of the pole from 24" to 52" (61 to 132 cm). At 5'10" tall (1.78 m), I have mine set to either 46" (115 cm) or 48" (120 cm), which gives me a nice, ergonomic arm angle at my elbows. I've read that 2/3 of your height is about right, which is consistent with my own findings. If I'm going TO work (downhill) I'll make them slightly longer; if I'm coming home FROM work (uphill) I'll make them shorter. Either way, you can tell if they're too long because the tips will drag on the ground.

The first word that comes to mind, after using them for a week, is: stability. Having two extra points of contact with the ground, I feel much more balanced and steady on my feet - not that I was rolling around like a drunkard before, but I can imagine it will be a lot safer in the snow and ice of the coming winter. You can take off the rubber tips and leave durable tungsten steel tips that will be really helpful in staying upright.

The second thing I noticed: speed. With the consistent rhythm that you employ with your arms, you increase your speed, almost without noticing it. My time to walk home was reduced from 28 minutes down to 25 minutes one day, which was fantastic. I wasn't stopping as often to catch my breath because I was able to use some of my upper body strength to push myself forward. Carrying a heavy load was also slightly easier.

I wasn't sure how easy it would be to get a good rhythm going, and to avoid tripping over the poles. As it happened, the rhythm came naturally (two steps for every pole movement) and they are lightweight enough that they are easy to place accurately, even when walking at a normal speed. So far I've only had one minor incident when the flip lock wasn't tight enough (hence the adjustable thumb screw) and the pole shortened itself while I was putting weight (pushing down) on it. It was trivially easy to tighten the screw and flip the lock back and carry on.

I added some reflective tape to my poles since my morning walking, and soon my evening walking, is in the dark. At this time, I'd say that my $50 was well spent. The poles do what they were designed to do. Despite their super light weight they seem pretty durable. I shall continue to use them on a daily basis and look forward to taking them with me on the PCT next May.

Excited that my daughter will be joining me on the PCT next May

I had mentioned to my daughter, Birdie, about a week ago that I planned to walk 100 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) in southern Oregon next spring and she was excited for me. I had casually invited her along too, not thinking that she would be able to take the time off work or be interested in traveling 800 miles just to go walking for seven straight days. When I spoke to her on Friday evening, she was really gung-ho about the prospect of going with me! I was thrilled. It'll be a great opportunity for us to build memories together and have some father-daughter bonding time. It'll also mean I don't have to hike the trail alone which will be safer for me. And I'll have someone to talk to during that time so that I don't go crazy.

Many of the hard-core through hikers of the PCT, 90% of whom will be travelling northbound (nobos), will still be roasting their hinies in California at the end of May, so I don't expect there'll be many other people on the trail when I'm planning to be there. Although the nighttime temperatures by then will be in the low 40s °F (mid-single digits in °C) there will still be snow in the ground in parts of the Crater Lake National Park in late May, I think; hopefully just not on the bits that we'll be on!

The bonding thing with Birdie reminds me that it will soon be ten years ago (it was Presidents Day, so mid-February) that she and I spent a couple of frozen nights together in a rustic Forest Service cabin in the middle of nowhere. That was fun too.

Big plan for next year - PCT in 2016

The long walk movie trifecta is complete. I recently watched three different movies about the life-changing experiences of people tackling long treks:

1. A Walk In The Woods, based on the book by travel writer Bill Bryson, in which Robert Redford takes a long-lost old friend, played outstandingly well by Nick Nolte, for a hike along the 2,200 mile (3,540 km) Appalachian Trail.
2. The Way, in which Martin Sheen plays an American father who travels to France to claim the body of his estranged son who died at the start of the 500 mile (800 km) trek along the Camino de Santiago through the Pyrenees in northern Spain.
3. Wild stars Reese Witherspoon, who plays a recently-bereaved and divorced woman who briefly experiments with heroin. With no outdoors experience, a heavy backpack and little else to go on but her own desire to put her life back together again, Cheryl sets out alone to hike the 2,663 mile (4,286 km) long Pacific Crest Trail.

After my earlier post about trekking, I got to thinking (can be dangerous, I know!) that I should make a plan to walk part of the Pacific Crest Trail (http://www.pcta.org/discover-the-trail/)! In my excitement about losing weight, I had been telling my friend Emily about seeing A Walk In The Woods.

This was the brief e-mail I sent to Emily:

Three words: Pacific Crest Trail
Not this year but some time next year, and not the whole thing, just the bit in southern Oregon.
Just today I saw a story about a Seattle-area woman doing the Appalachian Trail unsupported in 54 days or something...

I'd love to see Crater Lake in southern Oregon some time, so this seems like a perfect time to do both: hiking and sightseeing. By the end of May next year (in seven-and-a-half months' time) I should be able to manage 15 miles a day for seven days, making the overall trip about 100 miles.

I spent the last weekend looking at Amtrak train schedules and checking out the cost of equipment and trying to imagine myself riding home on the train having successfully accomplished my mission. Even if I don't make it all happen (but I will), at least the preparation can be used as a form of motivation, where I can build up my strength and stamina in a focused way, with intermediate goal and targets.