Moving is hard!

Wow, it’s been a crazy couple of weeks. I moved with my roommate yesterday. We only went a couple of blocks away from the old house which made it easier than other moves I’ve experienced. I don’t have a lot of time available to take off from work, and what time I do have I want to use mostly for overnight hiking/camping trips, so I didn’t take enough time for this move. I had one weekend to prepare, and then went to work for a day. I finished preparing after work on Sunday then moved all day yesterday (7am-midnight), only to be back to work today. My roommate was much more realistic and prepared by taking a whole week off. I’m doing okay, but I’m pretty tired. I need to unpack some things just to get through the work week, and still have stuff to do at the old house, but I might just go to sleep instead.

Due to the move I haven’t done much hiking. I did manage to ride my exercise bike a couple of times last week, but we ordered pizza after the kitchen was packed up. Luckily the scale is packed away. I admit I enjoyed the pizza and alcohol more than I probably should have, but it was my unhealthy way of (not) dealing with the stress I suppose, and I’m sure it contributed to my fatigue now. Also, carrying heavy and unwieldy things for hours is probably a workout of some type. I’m sore! I have fallen behind in my training and weight loss goals. I know that if I lose weight before I start it will be helpful, but I have realized that aerobic/cardio conditioning is more important to me than losing weight before my hike. Both conditioning and weight loss will happen while I hike, so what work I don’t do now I’ll have to do starting in April. Plenty of people say that the only way to train to hike twelve hours a day is to hike twelve hours a day. That makes sense, but I still believe that conditioning and training ahead of time will make the whole process a little easier than it would be if I didn’t do any physical preparations first.

So, I got my sleeping bag, a Montbell UL Spiral Stretch #1 down bag that will keep me alive (but not comfortable) at 15 degrees and I also got a Jetboil Flash stove system. They were both used and I ordered them from a couple who help out hikers along the Appalachian Trail. I sure hope I get to meet the couple on my hike, they seemed very nice and the items are in great condition. I LOVE my sleeping bag. It really does stretch. I know, it says it stretches and that’s why I wanted it, but I still doubted. It totally stretches! Yay! As soon as I have my sleeping pad and a sleeping bag liner, or a protective and warm layer of long johns, I’ll sleep outside in my tent. The new yard has rocks and gravel covering it, so I will search out somewhere else to set up my tent and spend the night. Hopefully close to home, or at least the car, though, so I can bail out and warm up if I learn that I need to make some adjustments to my sleep system.

I haven’t tried the Jetboil Flash yet because I need to buy fuel for it, but it looks like it was barely used. It weighs about a pound, which is eight ounces more than the Jetboil Titanium Sol that I really wanted, but it was only $45 instead of $140 so finances will dictate how heavy my pack may end up being. Eight ounces is half a pound and those ounces add up quickly! I watched a video on Youtube about how to work the stove and it seems pretty easy, even for a NOOB (newbie) like me, but if I use it now I won’t be able to send it on an airplane. I’d have to ship it ground to meet me at the start of the hike, along with my bear spray, and a few other items that TSA hates. I’d still rather try it out first than have my first attempt be my first night on the trail, so I’ll probably go ahead and buy the fuel and try it out soon.

My brain is so fried that I even forgot to feed my dog this morning (sorry Maggie!). Forgive me if I’ve rambled or repeated myself, I must get myself to BED after my awesome roomie makes dinner. Goodnight!