Tag: training

March 13, 2025 – A New Year, New Gear Part 6

March 13, 2025 / / 0 Comments

What you see below is my new stove. Did I need a new stove? Technically no. I have an old 1980s era stove and my son also has a Jet-Boil (this stove is very similar). I thought about just borrowing my son’s stove and I also thought about taking my old stove as well.

First and foremost, the stove I already have. It works. My younger son uses it on camping trips. I have no qualms about the function. The main disadvantage is that it is heavy. I would guess that it weighs around five pounds. I like the fact that it uses liquid fuel as I am not a fan of disposable cylinders. I have an aluminum bottle that I use but again, that is more weight and bulk.

Using my son’s Jet-Boil was the backup plan. At one point, he said that he wanted to go. I am hoping that he is actually working by the time that I am hiking. I figure worse case scenario, I can trade out this new stove with the old one that my younger son is using. While I am enjoying this process, I will only be doing it so many times and I can put the old stove into backup duty rather than primary duty.

Why FireMaple and not Jet-Boil? The best reason is that it is cheaper by about 50%. I heard about this on the Explore Oregon podcast a few months ago. It was a show about getting into backpacking and this is the brand the expert recommended. I have to say, looking at the two side by side, they seem comparable quality and function.

In addition to the stove, This ‘kit’ comes with a 1L cup, a fuel can stabilizer and a pan adapter. Each of these pieces can be purchased individually because you can buy a stripped down option that is just the stove and pot. There are a few other things that you can add like a pressure pot (for high elevation cooking) and a French Press screen for coffee or tea. I am definitely not looking to add more weight to my trip but I am not opposed to using this stove on more trips.

The fuel cannisters come in three sizes 100g, 230g or 450g. The nice thing about the design is that both the 100g and 230g cannisters nest in the pot. Unfortunately, the 230g cannister is large enough that the lid will not lock on but it still fits. I don’t have a 450g can but that is what I am planning on taking with me. I need to do some duration testing but I am planning on only taking one cannister with me. The less the weight and bulk the better.

The stove does have a built-in igniter. I think that I will pack a secondary ignition source as well. I haven’t decided if it will be matches or a lighter. I like matches better but they limit your attempts. The old, strike anywhere matches I could light off of a zipper or rock but the the new matches are just not the same. If you wear out, lose or get your OEM striker, you matches are toast. So, it will probably be a lighter.

No doubt that this is a highly desired luxury. A water system failure can have deadly consequences. Dehydration and parasites are no joke. A stove is technically not required. In fact a friend suggested that I could eat cold freeze dried meal if I was looking to keep weight and cost down. No, not really but if I run out of fuel, it is not the end of the trip. From the other perspective, I suppose I could technically boil water so it is just another option in the toolbox.

End Your Programming Routine: Believe it or not, I am starting to get all of the necessities collected and moving onto the luxuries. The next purchase is going to be a water filter, definitely a necessity. I have plans of getting my tent at the beginning of next month. I am looking forward to that because then I can start doing some overnights. I will also switch over to my new pack on my weekend hikes carrying all the gear I will have with me.

March 6, 2025 – Do You See Me?

March 6, 2025 /

Early last week, I caught the crud. As a result, I took the whole week off. Trust me, I needed to because I could not breathe anyway. The photo below was taken the weekend before, when I was on my long hike. It was the first time I saw a game animal in the area that I have been hiking.

As I have been exploring the area, I see all of these great places that seem like ideal hunting spots. This is a research forest belonging to Oregon State University. As such, hunting is severely limited. I keep thinking that there should be an elk heard right there and I know that there are several in the area. Regardless, it makes me happy to see game. I just hope that I don’t have an unexpected cougar encounter.

I didn’t have a solid plan other than I wanted to go as far as I could before the weather started to change. Downpours were predicted to start around noon and unfortunately, I couldn’t leave until after 11AM because my wife wanted me to stop at the post office before I left. They keep extremely limited hours on Saturday only being open 11AM-1PM.

You might think, knowing all of that then maybe I should have targeted getting out of the house earlier. True, that might have been a better plan but by the time I got going and had breakfast it was 9AM. I really didn’t want to rush my training just so that I could make it to the Post Office in time. And my sickness aside, I need to have the mindset that I am going no matter the weather or other environmental factors.

True to forecast, it started drizzling at about 12:30pm. After about a half an hour, I stopped and re-arranged my pack to put my poncho on top. I told myself that if it gets much worse than this, I am going to put my poncho on. It never really got worse than intermittent drizzle until I was ten minutes from the car when it started actually raining. I figured I would suck it up and just get out of there which is what I did.

The final numbers on my hike was right at 10 miles in four hours. What I noticed is that each week I challenge myself, it gets slightly easier. From that I am gleaning, what I am doing is working. Was it hard? Absolutely it was. Did I feel like I wasn’t going to survive like on week one? No. I had to stop and catch my breath at times, my shoulders ached at points and my joints were ready to be done at mile eight, but I did it.

As I stated at the beginning, I didn’t have a real plan. The only real thought I had was to continue to explore this trail system that I have been working through. I wanted to take new routes and get familiar with all of the nuances. I had a rough idea that I was going to go to a new trail via a different route. My idea was to get to this new trail and go half a mile up the trail and turn around. By the time I got half a mile in, I wasn’t completely sure that I was on the trail that I thought I was on.

I looked at the map and I told myself that I should be meeting another trail within a couple of tenths of a mile. If not, I would backtrack the way I came all the way back to the car. As it turns out, I met the intersecting trail right where I expected it to be and so I carried on. The point I am making is that it is that desire to push a little bit farther, and then a little bit farther that is the mindset to get do more each week.

It is not like you are completely alone out there. As I was having doubts about my route a trail runner came by. If it came down to it, I would ask somebody as they seem to come around every thirty minutes or so. The area has hikers, bikers and horse riders. I have seen all three.

End Your Programming Routine: I keep telling myself that I have to embrace the suck. I distinctly remember shortchanging my half marathon training because I wanted and excuse to not do it. I literally wanted to not be fit enough to race. What actually motivated me to run was signing up. Once I had a date, I knew that I had to be ready. I probably will never be as ready as I like for this hike but I am making strides.

February 27, 2025 – A New Year, New Gear Part 5

February 27, 2025 /

Despite the fact that I listen to podcasts all day long, I have made a habit of not having anything in my ears while I do my long Saturday hikes. It is me and my thoughts with the idea that this is how it is going to be on my actual PCT hike as well as I need some time to engage with the brain. One of the things that I have come to the realization is that there are only six paydays between now and when I was thinking of doing my hike.

Paydays are how I advance my agenda. I try to plan and spend $50-75 each time and I have all of my gear wants listed out. Clearly, there are some things that are more than that like my tent, so that is excluded but this trip is coming up fast. But when I do buy my tent, I will not be spending the $50-75 that I would spend on a normal pay period. There are four items that fit that bill remaining. Today is not one of them.

After my experiment with the generic water reservoir, I have decided that concept is going to work for me. I purchased the Gregory 3L reservoir for a particular reason. Because my pack is also a Gregory, I figured that a complimentary water reservoir would have some advantages. As you can see there is a specific hook to hang it in my pack.

Is the upgrade over generic worth the money? Well, lets talk about some of the features that are different with the Gregory over the generic. The first one I already mentioned. Second, the tubing disconnect is placed in a position that you can leave the feed tube threaded through the pack and still take the reservoir out to refill. One of my future purchases is going to be an in-line filter that I will ultimately splice between the outlet and the tube connector. This will be my plan to have safe drinking water on this trip.

When the reservoir is out, there is a carry handle that the generic does not have. At the outlet point, there is a hook so that it can be hung upside down for cleaning and drying purposes. At the dispensing point, there is another on/off valve. This is nice because I have experienced some leakage with my generic model. A pinch on the supply nipple will cause this. Finally, the Gregory has a rare earth magnet connection that I am using as an extra securing point. But it could also be used to retrofit packs that don’t have the tubing loop on the shoulder strap.

Is the $35 reservoir better than the $20 reservoir? I would say in every way and this is particularly true when matching the Gregory reservoir and pack. I haven’t fully investigated this and there is nothing wrong with a Camel Back or other premium brands. I suspect that some of the benefits are negated when mixing brands of packs and reservoirs.

I don’t plan to throw out my generic reservoir. It will have a place in my gear as a utility item or backup because I have more than one pack. Ideally, I would like to have one drying while I use one. I simply plan to use the one with the best features on my hike.

I am going to have to make critical decisions when it comes to what I pack. I am seriously considering packing two bladders for the reason that at some points, water will not be on the trail. It will be an extra mile or two to water off the trail. My thoughts are after hiking fifteen miles, I am going to want as much water in one trip rather than making one at the end of the night and then in the morning.

The second reservoir would be for the purposes of carrying water for cooking cleaning rather than making two trips. I would plan to hike with it empty. In addition to that, what if the one I am carrying malfunctions? The trip is over. I cannot realistically carry backups for every item but the ones that are critical survival cannot be overlooked.

The other little package are some clips for straps. I plan on trying to address my pack constantly loosening with these. Unfortunately, I purchased the wrong size and I have the right size coming. They were not expensive but I do not know if they will work. More on this to come in the future.

End Your Programming Routine: As I alluded to at the beginning, this thing is coming fast. I need to be thinking of stringing multiple days together and not just procuring the necessary gear to get started. Picking and choosing gear in the right order is critical to enabling training as I go along. I am targeting my tent by Spring Break time so that I can start unlocking the next level of training.

February 20, 2025 – For Pain and Gain

February 20, 2025 /

If you look closely, you can see that I made it to the snow line this week. That is not because I went higher but because the weather got quite a bit colder. I took the same general route that I did the week before for the first part of my hike and my goal was to measure if there was any effect of my struggle the previous week. I am happy to report that I could see minor improvement.

This was a celebratory moment for me. It means that not only did I make measurable progress but that it was a sign that I was going to make it. Don’t get me wrong, I have a long, long way to go but this trip was a sense that what I am doing is working. Trust me, I don’t really embrace the suck but I know that it is necessary for my goals.

Before we get too carried away, I want to report on the bike. I got the basement cleaned up and the bike is setup but I have yet to seriously use it (at the time of this hike). So, I can’t claim that made any difference at this point. The week after the hike I used the bike a couple of times.

I don’t really have a solid plan yet. Part of the reason for the bike is when I can’t get a walk in outside be it daylight or weather or whatever. Because I live on flat ground and limited distances I can go, I am thinking of using the bike in addition to walking. The goal is to bolster cardiovascular fitness with the bike.

Last weekend we were at the beach so I have not tested the bike work yet. I also do not plan on taking the same route every week. Remember my theory of goal setting, the joy is in the process and not the achievement of the goal. I want to get to know as much of the trail system as I possibly can which means different routes each week. It is the same reason why my daily walks vary every day. Otherwise it feels too much like walking on a track.

The good news is that at my stage of fitness, I don’t have to continue pushing boundaries like distance. Doing repetitive hikes and even shorter ones can yield benefit. I was looking at the data from my hike the week before and I saw that my heart rate went as high as 153. That is too much stress.

The conventional wisdom says that your maximum heart rate should be 180 – minus your age. That makes my max heart rate to be 130. For that reason, I made this hike shorter. I don’t know if I totally buy that but the reality is that I am out of shape and midlife, I probably should be mindful of my boundaries. There is also spotty cell phone coverage in this area. Getting medical help in timely fashion is an iffy proposition.

This is not a race, I am not timing myself and measuring improvement. I am measuring improvement by how I feel and my ability to keep on going. Putting one foot in front of the other will eventually accomplish the goal.

End Your Programming Routine: As I head out the door to these longer weekend hikes, I have dread. I hope to someday look forward to doing these and enjoying the experience but right now it is necessity. I can’t afford to skip many of these and expect to not pay for it on my PCT hike. As long as I can be confident in my fitness, I am looking forward to that hike but I have a ways to go.

February 10, 2025 – Dirty Secrets From the Trail

February 10, 2025 /

Today I am going to talk about things you never hear at the sporting goods store. You don’t read magazine or blog articles about it. Heck, people don’t even talk about it. This might be because they don’t deal with it. But, my encouragement for testing or practice is all about the subject. These are the things that have happened to me as I continue to train for my PCT section hike.

January 30, 2025 – Roads of Our Fathers

January 30, 2025 /

It is a hike of sorts, but it is mostly on paved roads. I have done this twice now and that is a perimeter walk around the defunct military base called Camp Adair. It was a World War II training facility used to gear up soldiers primarily for the European theater. It was a POW camp for a short period of time and it was a nuclear radar facility up until 1969.

The extent of the base is much larger than what today is the official portion of the wildlife area. As an example, in the picture below the closest hill in the picture is actually a garbage dump. This was originally an artillery range which was deemed too dangerous to reclaim as productive land. In the surrounding area, unexploded ordinance is still occasionally found.

What today is the wildlife area was originally the heart of the base. You can see from the picture that I am standing on a paved road. This is an actual road around that heart. I am amazed that something paved over eighty years ago still looks this good. As you walk around the property, most of what remains are foundations and footings. There are still some structures, those contain the active facilities of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. By and large it is whatever the earth has reclaimed since it’s former mission.

I have lived within five to ten miles from this facility most of my life. It sits in-between where I grew up and where I live now. As I have been walking this loop, I have encountered hunters running dogs, I assume rabbit hunting. While I have fished the stocked pond a number of times, it makes me feel like I have not taken advantage of the hunting opportunities throughout my life.

This is one of those places that gets tons of multipurpose use. The newish archery range has been packed since it was built ten years ago. Mostly what I have known was the fishing pond. It is one of the rare places that people fish all year long. The most consistent year around users are dog and people walkers, My parents have picked blackberries, I see many apple trees and who knows what else can be found. The flat, paved roads make a leisurely bike paths. So, while it is a designated sporting property, many other people use it as well.

If you are paying attention, then the title might sound vaguely familiar. Yes, I modified it from the Clint Eastwood film ‘Flags of Our Fathers’. This movie is a historical recreation of the invasion of Iwa Jima. I think the point of the film is to highlight the grit of the figures instrumental in raising the flag on that island. For that reason, it is not purely rah rah patriotisms but showing the fabric and foundation of what people went through to complete an assigned task.

My grandfather was at training here. He was drafted where he promptly dropped out of college playing football for Oregon State University. Then he went to basic training at Camp White and finally here at Camp Adair before shipping out to drive Jeeps around both Europe and the South Pacific. As I walk around the perimeter, I cant help but wonder Is this a road that he was on eighty years ago?

For me, it is a little more emotional question than average. What I mean is not the street or the location but the exact pavement that was there. The level of fear and uncertainty that was awaiting deployment must have been palpable. He arrived in France in 1944 as the war was inevitably winding down. But, during those training years of 42 and 43 the outcome was far from determined.

With Europe in hand, they sent him to Okinawa to serve out his term. The Americans were heavily involved in rebuilding both theaters but Asia was almost exclusively American. Even today, Okinawa has the largest permanent military presence outside of the United States.

Was he a hero in the Iwa Jima sense? Probably not. He never talked about the war even when asked. The only story I ever heard from him was being offered wine in France. As the son of an violent alcoholic, he never drank. I had an assignment in US History to ask a Vet about their experience. I don’t think my teacher had much appreciation for the pain and trauma that war really had. I had three combat vets as immediate relatives and really don’t have a single story, just vague innuendo.

End Your Programming Routine: We have had a nice clear snap for the last several weeks. With the cold north wind blowing on me, I keep imagining this place filled with buildings, people and vehicles. I hear gunshots, not from rifles or artillery but a shotgun blast from a hopeful hunter. These are the roads of our fathers.

Log into YouTube to watch the whole movie “Flags of Our Fathers”. Link below.

December 5, 2024 – Not Even Close

December 5, 2024 /

The first thing that we did on the day of our arrival was to go on a hike. This is called the ‘M-trail’ at the University of Montana. It is essentially a mile up a very steep hill. I was interested to test my readiness and progression. Plus, it is like a bonus training exercise which I have been pretty lax about lately with lack of daylight and poor weather.

The M-trail goes to a giant letter M on the hillside. You get a complete look at the college as well as most of Missoula. It was very popular as we probably encountered at least fifty people going up, down and waiting at the top. Some were running, some were dogs, some were students and others were families clearly visiting for the holiday.

I did it. I wasn’t wearing a pack and I did have to stop a couple of times to catch my breath. I am not claiming to be in good shape but I think some of the strain was that we started at 3500 feet to begin with. Then we went straight up. I felt OK and maybe a little tired by the time that we were done.

The way that I looked at it though, is that I need to be able to do this ten more times with a loaded pack. The section that I am planning on hiking has some 20 mile stints between water sources. Granted, it probably won’t be this steep but the starting elevation is close.

I definitely felt it in my shins, they were sore the next day. I am not sure why exactly but I think that it has to do with rotating the foot, toes up and heel down. I am thinking that stretching movement was the cause. I am not too worried about the temporary pain but it does make me wonder if I can keep that level of strain for a week.

Clearly, I need to push myself more. It is difficult because we have no elevation to speak of. I walk the dog with a weighted pack but even then, I am only going an hour or hour and a half at a time. When I was younger, I would have dealt with it. But, at my age I don’t recover as quickly. I also noticed that I have been having some arch pain. My wife thinks that it could be the beginnings of plantar fasciitis. That is also something that you don’t want to come up on the trail, miles from anything.

It was a good check to see where I was at with readiness. Clearly I need to do more and fortunately, I have time to keep at it. It those days that the weather is nasty and I didn’t get out early enough that I need to not lose because I don’t have much time to waste.

End Your Programming Routine: You cannot tell from the picture, but my wife is in it. I was kind of torn between staying with her and pushing myself. Ultimately, I decided to continue on and wait at the top if she was going to make it. Believe it or not, the trail does continue to go up. We stopped at the official terminus but multiple people we met kept going up. It makes me wish I had something like this for my training purposes.

November 14, 2024 – What Is New?

November 14, 2024 /

Is there any news on the cancer front? No news is good news.

Am I reading anything else? No. I just finished reading the ‘Art of War’ this week and I still need to finish the Greek cookbook. It has been a slow grind this fall.

How about some exotic or fine cooking? No. Actually my wife has been doing a lot of the cooking lately. I figure that if she wants too, why not.

Did I start selling junk like I intended in the late summer? No, I took the pictures but have been lazy and not done anything.

Any big projects coming up? Nothing new. I want to get back to the wine cellar but it has been kind of out of sight, out of mind.

So really, my life has kind of stalled? In a way, yes.

If this was a job interview, you would have no choice but to take me at face value. And I admit, I wouldn’t hire myself based on those answers. I would argue that not all is as it seems. I want to be open about my humanity but I don’t want to leave myself appearing as a slug either.

Currently, I am waiting for the CB base station pictured below. I bought it on Ebay and the seller is taking his sweet time shipping it. I imagine that there is some kind of health problem because the date keeps getting pushed out. So I will patiently wait. The truth is I don’t have a suitable antenna anyway. I am just going to test mobile to mobile while I decide what direction I exactly want to go.

I mean, lets get real. CB is a low powered, very short range pursuit. We are talking about a couple of miles at best. However, this unit was cheap at $35. As I plan on gearing up with radios, why not learn and play in the cheap space. This had lead me to consider my workspace, battery back-ups and related topics.

I can’t express how the impact of training has on life. It becomes the number one optional priority. I realized this when I was training for my half marathon. It seemed like the only thing I ever did. If I wasn’t actually training, I was scheduling around it or scheduling training around other things.

This week has been miserably rainy. For that reason I haven’t done a lot of training. But, I am currently waiting for a reflective poncho so I can go out at night, in the rain. Once again, training has come top of mind.

Way too late in the election cycle, I realized that the future is uncertain. Right now, ammunition and reloading components are about 80% of pre-covid availability. I started building up my supply again. I pretty much stopped shooting regularly since Covid and what shooting I have done has been out of my inventory.

Fortunately, with the election results being what they are I anticipate at least four years of good fortune on that front. But as all good preppers should behave, it is the time of plenty that is the proper time to stock up. I have been inventorying and organizing trying to figure out where the gaps are and working to fill those gaps before the next shortage.

Now that my wife is back in action, the calendar has far fewer gaps than it did earlier in the year. Also with school in session, there have been a lot of activities. Trap finished up mid-October, trap fundraiser, the last weeks of my son’s cross country season and other family affairs.

Last week, we did something that we have done once before. It was the pumpkin shoot. We took our surviving jack-o-lanterns out as well as other decorative pumpkins and blasted them. We also shot hand thrown clays in a family friendly competition. If I had taken any pictures, I would have been writing about that exclusively, not just a paragraph.

We are going to Montana for Thanksgiving. I am not loathe to get too involved in anything until we get back. There are also some things that I need to finish up in the mean time. I would call that preparing for the trip and then there is the holiday season. Another dead spot in productivity.

End Your Programming Routine: It’s going to be OK. This has been a tough year and by all accounts I think I made it through pretty well all things considered. I wish that I could just go all the time, but there is a reason that nature has a season of rest. Consider that now as the time.

November 13, 2024 – Sometimes You Run Across the Darndest Things

November 13, 2024 /

I haven’t talked about this much, but at my age and fitness level I see my upcoming Pacific Crest Trail hike barreling at me. My wife tries to convince me that I have six months and plenty of time. But I see the evening darkness and prevalent rain kind of crimping my style. Living in the elements is part of the deal but I sure don’t want to get hit by a car because it is dark and cars can’t see me.

I am trying to get my walks in during the daylight. In order to do what I can, I am packing weight. I need to be able to pack a full load up to twenty miles. This is between water sources on the trail so it is pretty much a necessity. Anyway, I am worried that I am not doing enough, fast enough.

The bike in the picture below used to belong to my eldest son. He was in sixth grade when we bought it for him for Christmas. It was replaced by an e-bike three years ago. So then, this bike went to my younger son. Despite constant cajoling about locking the bike up, one day it was not in the bike rack after school.

How do I know that it was son’s bike? Well, there are quite a few things. First, it was the bike that my son was using when he was hit by a car. We replaced the petals. One crank was worn out so we bought a mis-matched crank that was used. The most telling part is the last time my son put on tires, we put road tires on a mountain bike. It meant that they didn’t wear out so fast.

Part of me was kind of glad the bike got stolen. I was hoping that the lesson would sink in about our guidance was for a reason. It was also hoping that walking to school the rest of the year would be payment enough. As a result, no police report was filed. No record of the crime exists.

One day I was walking and I saw the bike. There it was sitting in front of a house. I don’t know them though I am pretty sure the house has kids. I never expected to see the bike in one hundred years. When my locked bike was stolen in college, I never saw it again and I lived there three more years. I always looked for it.

My walks are part of my mechanisms to keep an eye on what is happening around town. I check on the progress of the new sidewalk work happening on my street. I walk into the new neighborhood to see what lots are starting to get built and what houses are finished and no longer empty. I see the new places homeless people hide their tents. And apparently, I see where my son’s stolen bike ended up.

End Your Programming Routine: There was a small part of me that wanted to get on the bike and ride off. There was another part of me that wanted to confront these people. But then, I have no proof that we ever owned the bike and no record it was taken. It has been gone years now, my guess it that they probably need it more that we do at this point. Keep your eyes open, you never know what you will see.